901/NODE: City of Cycles - First Contact

NODE: City of Cycles - First Contact
Date of Scene:	02 November 2014
Location:	The Homeworld
Synopsis:	Users explore Homura's Node for the first time, a mirror of Mitakihara.
Thanks to:	Abby for running especially late.
Cast of Characters:	2, 183, 253, 331, 347, 380, 570
Tinyplot:	When They Return

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Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Entering the Witch Barrier Gate is simple and easy. One needs to be connected to Homura, of course, that's the means by which she can limit intrusion into her Node. A held hand or a hand on the shoulder works perfectly for the group to pass through with ease.

    Within, things are a bit of a different matter. The space is a strange one; it's Mitakihara, upside down. The stalagtite-like building structures above tick ominously, like giant clocks, while below, a sky full of stars shines. The Node Path, the structure which traditionally goes between a Node Gate and the Node itself, is a unique one this time. It's a massive arrow, held up by a titanic drawn-back bow. The huge wooden shaft of the arrow is ornate, with different designed viewed from each angle. It's thankfully wide enough that walking alongside it is easy, though. And it's high up enough that it runs close to some train tracks on the inverted Mitakihara above. That's where Mr. Speaks was, before. He's not here now.

    Exiting from the "barrier" that makes up the Node Path leads out to... A very normal-looking city. It's wide, expanding out great distances and expanding to the horizon, but it's still a rather normal-looking city. In fact, it looks a fair bit Mitakihara-ish. And not even in the horrible secretly-a-witch-barrier way, it seems pretty genuine.

    However, Homura and others who are capable of directly detecting the sort of things so associated with this sort of environment will know that there's a lot going on under the surface. The magical atmosphere is polluted in precisely the same ways that a town beset by combinations of witches and demons. However, it seems... Stale, as if isolated for a very long time, and condensed, as if built up in that same space for a similarly long time.

    The exit is in the center of town, high up on skyscraper where a radio broadcast tower rests. It gives a good view, and for those like magical girls, it makes for a good starting place to get moving in the city. It's currently EVENING. The sky is completely starless, for reasons unknown, but the area is well-lit by the lights of the city. it is the EVENING of JULY 11TH within the Node. It is PLEASANTLY HUMID.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura has either called people here, or they happened to be in the Homeworld at the time; either way, the end result is that people came, because for a variety of reasons she did not want to go in alone. Too many things to do, too little information, maybe too little time. Oddly enough, Homura has come dressed in her Mitakihara school uniform-- despite the fact it's 1. Sunday, and 2. she's not in middle or high school anymore. She brought spares, too, if people want to conform and blend in. Unfortunately she has no uniform Psyber's size.

    Sorry Psyber, you can't be a shoujo heroine today.
    She left his outfit choice at his discretion.

    Now mind you, Mitakihara has more than one school, but there's no point being picky about which uniform they wear. It's just to blend in a bit. Might turn out to be completely unnecessary, and people certainly have no obligation to wear them.

    As they walk onto the arrow, Homura provides a briefing:

    "There are two main things I would like to do today. Find the Incubator, and find the magical girls handling the city. I... do not trust myself judging the Incubator fairly, so if someone would like to take point on that one and select a partner or two, that'd be fine. You'll be in charge of talking to it. There are other things to do here as well, like checking the outskirts of town for a problem building up, finding the cause of the timeloops, and figuring out what sort of foes they fight here. But if we try to solve everything in one night we'll just be spreading ourselves too thin."

    They finally reach the Node itself, now atop the radio tower.
    Homura sighs, and glances down.

    "Ideas? Suggestions?"

Madeline Vance (380) has posed:
    For this expedition, Madeline has dressed herself up in what looks to be a typical 'generic' schoolgirl outfit. True, she's older than the girls in Madoka, but she can still pass herself off as 17ish with the right hairstyle and clothing. This is partly so she can carry a backpack, which has two pistols tucked in at the back of it, pinned beneath the back and her pack. Evidently she doesn't want to waste the Essence to stow them in subspace, given she's at her weakest right now.

    Seeing Homura's uniform, her own shifts subtly and takes on that look, so now she matches entirely. She says softly, "I'm not entirely sure of the details of this, so I think I will go on recon with anyone doing that. My unfamiliarity may actually help me in this case."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko has a hand on Homura's shoulder as they enter. That part's a little strange, or else it makes the doorway itself seem strange. She's a bit used to entering Barriers--but not quite like this, and it helps to remind her of the difference.

    Even for a Witch's Barrier, the sight before them would be unique. Per her usual, however, she voices no comment as she looks. It's when they get into the city proper that she speaks.

    "...never anything like this, before. Feel that? It's full of them."

    It's a good thing she's not wearing her usual coat, given the time of year. The Homeworld itself isn't cold, but she was expecting to need to transform after they were through. As is, she's dressed like the student of a school she's never been to.

    At Homura's instructions, she nods. "I can talk to--the incubator."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is here. The half-angel is wearing a black tracksuit with white trim along with some running shoes. He has a whistle around his neck, a ball cap on his head, and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He is currently holding what appears to be a strange sphere in his hand, which is clad in a red gauntlet, causing the ball to wreath with an ominous fiery presence.

    Meet Psyber: The Gym Teacher. You can all thank Mir for the existence of this persona later.

    "I dunno. It's such a lovely night, I was thinking we could all play a good round of RugBasFootCriSocBaseTennketball before they make it illegal again."

    He pauses, and then says more seriously, "I'll take support role and just go where people need me."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Some time before entering, Mizuki dons the uniform as requested. Another of those things she would never say, and probably tried to refute prematurely by gently chiding its appearance, is that she rather likes the way it wears. Sure, it may not be in her usual crimson-black-gold color scheme, but it's adorable. That has an appeal of its own that she simply can't deny. Thankfully, there are the usual, more relevant distractions to get her back on track when they set foot inside the foyer barrier, and she's quickly whisked away into reverie before she can begin fussing with her bow again.

    There /has/ to be a reason that each Node she's been to has felt so homey, and though Mizuki swears to eventually found out what that reason is, now is the time for her to get her bearings. Now, she may be used to stagnant environments and places with more than their fair share of feelings in the vein of creeping dread, but she is not at all acclimated to being upside down. That really throws her at first, and she instinctively draws her wings out of her back when they arrive inside of the barrier. Ah, but... she's not falling, no; just another traipse through a bizarrely artistic landscape connected to the Abstractum crisis. Smirk~. She skips the typical embarrassed-flustered phase that she exhibits when something has given her a scare to arrive immediately at the 'curating' one. That's to say, where she silently appraises things with that coy look of hers.

    Then they step out of the barrier, and the world flips again. Again, she acclimates, but not without some effort, and some deep breaths. In and out. Alright. The dissonance between this area and the last allows her to notice how similar that facsimile - well, she's /assuming/ it to be a mere mimic for the time being - of a witch's barrier felt to the one Homura conjured when they were fighting to rescue D. Needless to say, that piques her curiosity. Here's a power that allows the user to impose their will in a very real way upon the greater world; a way far superior to the conjuration of little flames or the shooting of lightning bolts. She would ask her about this later, but she will not because she will almost certainly become distracted. All the better for her because all she would likely receive for her tone is a lecture on how costly such abilities are to use.

    Now, before she starts critiquing the night sky, planning. "If I may, Miss Shinobu, I'll volunteer to assist you. Some reclusive aspect of my intuition is hinting to me that I may be of more use to you that way." She taps her head a few times with a finger, gently. "And goodness knows my intuition is..." She reflects on some more recent happenings and reconsiders her choice of words. "... decent. Yes."

Himei (331) has posed:
    Yep, Himei is in a uniform. It's times like this that it's useful to be under that aging effect. Himei frowns, glancing at Madeline, but then she sighs, "I'll talk to the Incubator as well. Tempting as it is to shoot it, or whatever, I think I can handle things without doing that. I'll go with Kimiko."

    At least she isn't mopey or anything tonight. Just thoughtful, really.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "Alright. Mizuki, Kimiko, Radiant Empress, you'll be looking for the Incubator and checking the city out," Homura says, handing Madeline a paper map of Mitakihara. "If anything is significantly different from this map or stands out, try to mark it. It might not be a perfect mirror, and if the Node changed things it might be significant. Or it might just be the entire place that's different; that'll be worth knowing too. Mizuki is probably one of the best here at talking to people and getting information out of them, so pitting her against an Incubator seems like it'll work out for everyone involved."

    Then to Psyber: "I want you to check the city outskirts over there--" She points, towards where the horde the Familiars originated from when she got a glimpse of either the future or the repeated past. "-- and look for anything dangerous or, well, weird. This Node's idea of Walpurgisnacht, it came from over there. It might be dormant or hiding."

    Finally, to Himei: "And you're with me, sorry. We're going to find and question some magical girls. You have the most experience here after me dealing with Puella Magi and we both know I'm not... a people person. Chances are we might find them in the middle of a fight and your powers will come in handy to assist them, anyway. It's possible the Incubator could be with them, in which case the first team can either go on full city recon mode or regroup with us if we need help."

    She looks at everyone. "If you'd like to suggest changes to that lineup, go ahead. Otherwise, let's get to work before activity dies down for the night."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Sounds like a plan," Psyber says to Homura, watching out towards where Homura is pointing. The half-angel confidently and casually spins the ball on his finger as he looks out there, "I'll call for backup if I run into anything I can't handle."

    The half-angel steps off the edge of the tower and freefalls for a bit before his wings sprout, flap, and then he's off and towards the outskirts of the city, trying to keep high as he flies his way over there. Adjudicator is kept in gauntlet form clutching his strange sportsball.

    "Catch up with you all later! Call me if you need me!" He shouts backwards towards them.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Well, that settles that then. Mizuki offers Homura a swift curtsey in thanks for what she considers to be an acknowledgement of her linguistic prowess and, with several bats of her wings, kicks off of the ground and begins hovering. "I shall do what I can, Miss Akemi. Thank you for your confidence." The magical nature of those angelic appendages likely spares the uniform two horrible rips, but it probably completely voids its intended effect all the same. Ehhh... she would probably stand out either way, though. She tends to do that.

    It's totally the hair.

    She'll fly a bit ahead of the other two if they give her the opportunity, but not too far; after all, she really doesn't have any idea where she's going yet. Probably not the best idea to go charging off in what is likely to be an extremely dangerous place without allies -or- a map. Once she gets a rough impression of their direction, though, she would gladly begin leading again.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko spends a few moments looking over Psyber's disguise. Why does it fit so well? He's a man of many mysteries.

    She nods to Mizuki. "That would be fine." And Homura supplies a map. Apart from checking that, Kimiko should be able to notice /some/ of the differences, if they exist. She's lived in Mitakihara for a couple years, after all. Madeline gets a curious look from her. She's not sure that they've really met.

    "This way, then. May as well attract a little attention. Not a lot. Just enough to be obvious to those looking for it."

    Kimiko pauses at the edge of the broadcast tower with a thought. Oh. Basically everyone but her can fly. Again.

    She shrugs, and steps off the edge, sliding down the skyscraper on shoes that probably weren't meant for that kind of friction without losing contact with it, occasionally making a leap from one point to another to continue the descent at something like a moderate pace, all things considered. This continues until she can make a wide-spanning leap to another, shorter building.

    She uses the radio to voice her thoughts, keeping the others abreast despite any physical motion. "An Incubator won't appear until it means to, but if it's expecting us, it shouldn't be long. Other Puella Magi, if they're here, will be on the lookout for anyone hunting their territory. If they find us first, we can ask if any of them are frequented by an Incubator."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Psyber finds the first strange thing.

    When he ascends, high, high above the buildings, he begins to feel something. There's a... strange sensation of geometric wrongness, alongside a deep and intense saturation of magic in the air. Moving out and up makes hitting this strange border more intense.

    "We are at the incorrect altitude." Adudicator says, before long. "We are supposed to be at least a few dozen feet higher than we are. There's something wrong with the space around the city."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "This is weird, Jude. I'm gonna mess with our Air Supply and see if that does something," Psyber says to the gauntlet on his hand. His free hand reaches into his pocket and adjusts some piece of electronics before a loud score of music starts playing from inside the pocket:

"I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you
I know you were right, believing for so long
I'm all out of love, what am I without you
I can't be too late to say I was so wrong."

    Psyber grins at Adjudicator as he holds up the iPod, "Haha, get it? Aaaah, we do have fun. Let's get going." He's probably lucky it was just him and his Abstractum.

    Psyber flaps his wings and stops trying to fly up, instead focusing on going forward.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Mizuki's flight is important here. She can identify a high density of MAGICAL MIASMA, with a large male humanoid thing standing tall, its arms hidden in a long white coat-like formation. His face is obfuscated by flickering, flashing spatial distortion.

    There are many such formations, some with more than one humanoid, in areas where the population density of civilians that she can see is low. They're potentially identifiable as DEMONS, and they reach up many dozens of yards high. If they're going to take the route the INCUBATOR CONTACT GROUP seems to be interested in taking, slaying one of those would be a good idea.

    Equinox makes a sick sort of noise. "I don't like the... space around them. It's... Disgusting. Eugh..."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Kimiko's approach should be able to reach any group Mizuki scouts out; she'll shortly be able to see them by line of sight. Koishin is already burning with a soft red fire. "Ready when you are! I think it'll grab some Incubator attention! I feel a little weird actually following along with what the weird crown says, but, I mean, if it works!"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would, of course, smile at Equinox's commentary, coming to a halt in the air long enough to study one such darkling, resting a balled fist at her chin inquisitively. "Unfortunately, Equinox, you must speak for yourself here. I find them quite pleasant. In fact, they remind me a bit of the amicable shadow people that live in the attic back at Silent Night. Though by amicable, I mean 'wont to elicit nightmares in any that behold them', of course." In spite of her words, she would still cup a hand around Equinox as if to comfort or placate him. Ever mindfully oblivious to the emotions of those around her.

    For now, she waits, perhaps making herself a bit translucent to make her flying form less conspicuous. She takes advantage of the atmosphere to circumvent the usage of full invisibility, though.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    With everyone gone, that leaves Himei with Homura.

    She produces her Soul Gem and starts scanning the city. She doesn't want just any old trouble, she wants an ongoing hunt. Finding the Puella Magi acting in this city will be as simple as finding dying Demons, Wraiths, or Witches. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

    "By the way... sorry about the whole... gunpoint threatening thing. I got nervous. I don't actually distrust you that much," she awkwardly tells Himei, looking around from atop the radio tower.

    "Any idea where to start looking? Any headaches?"

Himei (331) has posed:
    Look for the Incubator, huh? Himei looks out over the city. "Doesn't Kyubey, at least, favor high-up places? I guess we could go rooftop to rooftop, huh?" She rubs her head. "No... actual ones. Just the kind of throbbing like there's one coming, and that's probably the background evil."

    She glances over, shrugs. "And don't worry about it. It's not like I never had to snap a classmate's neck or something before. You didn't think it was really me, or at least had reason to suspect it. I'm just glad you remembered the 'only once' rule." She'll pick a nearby rooftop and spread out her wings(or White Rose's, if possible) to glide down to it, heading toward the school.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    "As long as we're killing Demons, it's no different from our normal work."

    Kimiko makes her quick way toward Mizuki. She's already using the power of it, but now she actually transforms, the school uniform disappearing and being replaced with the outfit that marks her as--for a world like but unlike this one--one who hunts Demons. Whether what Mizuki found really /is/ a Demon or not, she's unsure. They can only tell the outer form, so far, and analysis isn't her strong suit.

    "It feels like... there are too many. Where are this world's protectors?" Idle musing. Won't slow down her work. "Watch my back, Koishin. If anything gets too strange--make sure to protect Mizuki, and call for backup. We'll pull out before trying again." Few have ever died, that she knows of, from preparing too much.

    "Not that I intend to let it survive a single strike."

    The sword Kimiko pulls from the air is fully twice her height in length, a straight slab of metal with two cutting edges and shallow curves to a point. Her magic amplifies every step she takes, leaving symbols on the ground in counter-rotating circles that quickly disappear behind her, flashes of silver that come more quickly as she accelerates into her charge.

    She makes a single leap, slashes across the midpoint of the body of the Demon before her, straight through its arms if they're there, trusting her momentum to carry her beyond and into a comfortable landing.

Madeline Vance (380) has posed:
    Madeline frowns, and she pulls out one of her pistols, but with Kimiko leaping ahead she doesn't join in the attack. Instead, before Kimiko leaps, she lets out a little of her power in a golden aura, flaring around her and flooding Kimiko's body with warmth and a little extra 'oomph' for attacking creatures of evil ad darkness. A passive support, this time.

    Not that it stops her from drawing a bead on the Demon from where she stands. It's long range for a pistol, but when has that ever stopped someone of her abilities. "I apologize, but in this state it's better if I don't engage in direct combat."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    White Rose is eager to be wings! It's already at her back as soon as she sets off. "Hey, sounds good! Brooding on rooftops has to be a full, what, eighth of our job?"
    "U-um... We're usually... Just using it as a lookout point, actually..." That's Claire, of course, speaking up as the pair are likely to be setting off.
    "Brooding, lookout, toma-toe, toma-toh." White Rose says. "Hero business! Let's just be conspicuous, I'm sure they'll be nice and come give us a welcome if we're hitting their territory, you know?"

    And of course, this route is about right. The pair does eventually come upon someone that looks like a magical girl, though. There's a red-haired girl in a 20's-era-inspired magical girl outfit, some sort of strange visual combination of mob hitgirl and mahou shojo. She seems to break off of a recently-killed Demon and leap over several rooftops, skidding to a stop somewhere on the intermediary. Homura will recognize a universal "hey, this is my turf, what are you doing here" sort of posture, no doubt, from a long history of being a magical girl. "Talk here or get out of town, there's already magical girls here." The motion says, wordlessly.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Telling another person to stay behind and protect her? Well, that gets another nice raise of her brow. Whether she earnestly felt that she needed a protector or whether she just wanted to make absolutely certain of everyone's safety in light of the situation is unclear to her, but either way, this is certainly her first time having someone so readily suggest that she should have such protection. It's an interesting feeling, as though she were being treated like royalty; far too lovely a thing for her to internally revel in for her to be the slightest bit put off by it.

    And her weapons certainly don't defy a look of fragility, either -- from the absence around her left hand comes Aelinos. She won't dash in to the fray immediately this time, though, instead generating one of those monochromatic balls in her right hand tossing it straight toward the demon. When there, it would expand into a quickening field and, if all goes as planned, have an effect that is the inverse of one Kimiko is intimately familiar with: her movements would grow more swift, and her strikes, by virtue of their velocity, more powerful. She didn't want to gamble on the fact that the demons would be affected by temporal manipulation how she hoped they would, particularly considering the owner of this node, so she instead gambles that Kimiko will make the most of her little 'gift'.

    Next, she would attempt to slip out of the flow of time to position herself behind the might-be demon for a rapid volley of six shots that could be made all the more punishing by another, smaller quickening field Mizuki tosses in front of her own line of fire. Her contributions finished, she would attempt another clockwalk to beat feet for the time being.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "It doesn't seem to be doing anything." Adjudicator says, in a particulay dry tone to Psyber. "I have to assume that whoever made the border has bad taste."

    There are familiars in the streets where Psyber is heading, at the outskirts of town. The kind that a witch sends out of her barrier to hunt more, the kind that could eventually become a Witch themselves. But they're strange; strange cat-like beings formed out of obsidian spikes, that look like stop-motion-animated carvings. Only one or two get seen by Psyber, though, and they seem... Wounded. The Familiars seem like they're heavily, HEAVILY wounded, as if they had to crush themselves down to fit somewhere, or through something.

    "They have the look of escaped criminals." Adjudicator says. "Why would a Familiar need to escape from their Witch?"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "I can't deny the rooftop brooding," Homura admits to White Rose, before she takes off Himei. Rather than make herself an extremely visible target via bright pink wings, she's just going to jump around as safely as she can. She's still mildly enhanced even untransformed after all and doesn't need wings to survive a big fall or jump. Thankfully. Well, radio tower to ground maybe, but rooftop to rooftop, she'll be fine.

    "I know, but I wanted to apologize anyway," she then tells Himei as they move, headed for the school. It's when they come across the red magical girl that she finally stops, probably joined by Himei by then.

    Okay, huh...

    Homura gathers herself and then flips her hair, trying to stare the other girl down. "We're not here for your food. We're here for information, and then we'll be off if you can't stand us. Akemi Homura," she decides to start with, introducing herself first for once.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Good question," Psyber says to Adjudicator, looking at the gauntlet on his hand and bouncing the ball several times. He sighs as he jogs after the Familiar that he can see, "Hey! Heeeeey!" Psyber calls out after the familiars. He doubts they can speak, but there's always a chance, "What are you running from!"

    At the very least, Psyber can trace the direction they're fleeing from and try to backtrace it to the origin of the Familiars.

Himei (331) has posed:
    "Thanks. I'm sorry for the doubt too. You are pretty much my best friend," Himei notes... then stops as they find a girl right then and there. Since Homura is introducing herself, Himei does as well.

    "Shoutan Himei," she states, hoping the wings aren't too off-putting. She should have thought of that. For now, she chooses not to address White Rose so as not to muddle matters. "We're looking for a few things. Right now, an Incubator. I don't suppose you can get in touch with the local one?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Best defense is a good offense! Strike Driver!" The bracer on Kimiko's arm flares red, and the blade she wields hums with a soft red glow. The demon in front of her goes down easy, like they normally do, though. The Demons here aren't special or unusual. The next one will be the same. With a combination of Mizuki's Equinox-enhanced time effects and Madeline's enhancement coming in with a broad magical band by way of Majestic Crown's Tandem, she'll easily be able to turn into a blender of Demon death in the thicker clouds of Miasma.

    Of course, nothing happens the first time. Much like how it took some time for Psyber to reach the edge of town, and how it took some time for Himei and Homura to reach a magical girl, it'll take Kimiko some time to properly draw attention. By that tie, of course, it'll be MIDNIGHT of JULY 12th within the Node. That's around the time that the Incubator does approach. It does so with uncharacteristic caution though. The tiny fluffy-tailed creature can be seen peering at them from a rooftop, swishing a tail apprehensively and as if trying to catch attention, but averse, in a way that incubators normally aren't, to approaching directly, and very much trying to present itself in a way that seems harmless and otherwise unthreatening. It seems to be approaching Madeline specifically, having seemed to have identify her as both the leader and the least likely to be harmful, and looks curiously especially at Mizuki.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko takes a sharp swing of her sword through the air, to little apparent effect, before resting the flat of the blade against her back. Sneaking up on her would be a bad idea just now, should she turn around suddenly. For the moment, all enemies within her immediate proximity slain, she is focused solely on the small, fuzzy creature on the rooftop.

    "Incubator." It isn't focusing on her, though. Homura said it wasn't looking for contractors, but rather... what? Maybe it would recognize Homura were she here, but they'll make do. She turns her head, keeping an eye on Mizuki for a moment--but she seems fine, and these Demons aren't outside her expectations, so Kimiko will leave her to whatever strange thing she is attempting.

    A rapport with a being spawned by paradox? That really would be something.

    Dismissing her sword into so much silver light, Kimiko takes a few quick leaps, landing against eaves that clearly should not be able to support the impact of even a girl her size travelling at anywhere near the speed she is, but without even being particularly noisy. This gets her up to the same rooftop as the cat-like alien, but at some distance from it, so she can finish her approach more slowly.

Madeline Vance (380) has posed:
    Madeline looks at her pistol, then tucks it back into place, turning to assess the Incubator with a neutral expression. She thinks for several seconds on how to approach it and what to say, but then she settles on giving away as little information as possible. Leaning forward, she places her hands on her knees and clearly addresses the skittish white creatures.

    "Hello," she calls out softly. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt?" It called here for help, but she isn't certain if that's a good thing to say outright.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Soon after she's noticed, Mizuki would return the Incubator's look with one of her own, shifting her coy expression into one that's at once authoritative, but a bit less foreboding. She would then give an airborne curtsey, floating gently toward it in the most gradual and non-threatening way that she can muster. In a voice raised just enough to make her words carry, she would address them. "Hello! I do not know if you are able to understand my words," The hell she doesn't, "but at the very least your mannerisms seem to suggest some degree of sapience. I am Mizuki, and I came to inspect the unusually chaotic conditions concentrated around this region. Since it seems you've been here a fair bit longer than I, would you care to enlighten my associates and I on a few points? Well, if indeed you would, then please listen carefully."

    She clears her throat. "Firstly: would you happen to be in need of some assistance? If I may beg your pardon, you appear rather... frazzled. Though I would be, too, had I recently been so close to a rampaging conflagration of evil without some vehicle for my own self-defense!" She attempts a conversational smile. "Ah, and if you'll indulge my curiosity, would you happen to know -why- said abominations are here at the moment? For if we are going to help you to be rid of them," She raises a finger and attempts to convey that 'helpful' feeling in abundance despite her omnipresent pomp, "we must have some foreknowledge. Their weaknesses, their reason for being, that sort of thing. And the natural last inquiry is, if I may be so bold: why are -you- here? Were you simply hiding from those foul things, or was there some other goal you had in mind?"

    If she's allowed to come close enough, she would land beside the incubator and swiftly withdraw her wings. Looking 'normal' might help the proceedings here a bit.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The girl that Himei and Homura find is young, even for a magical girl, which makes her unpleasant nature and mature outfit a little strange. "Yeah, yeah, not buying it. This weird space stuff goes up and you show up around the same time, not likely." She brandishes a weapon suddenly in one hand, a large crowbar, pointing it at the pair.

    After a brief pause, she flips it and slings it over one shoulder. "But whatever. I fight the bad stuff, not girls. Takenaka Mio. Our Incubator went missing. One second, next to me, the next, spooked out of his damn mind, telepathing up something about 'cycle forty' and we haven't seen him since. Something wrong with yours too?" She frowns. "Don't have anywhere to put all these damn cubes."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "That's what we are investigating," Homura answers, eyeing the girl. The Incubator got scared off? Now she needs to meet whatever is causing this mess and ask for tips. Sadly that's almost definitely not going to be on the table.

    "Fourty? I thought we were only on number thirty-five..."
    Looks like time keeps flowing between visits. Ugh.

    "Have you noticed anything off besides the spatial anomaly over the city? And when did that appear? Do you actually hunt alone? I thought I saw two more magical girls in this city. One in blue, one in yellow, didn't catch their names."

    As for the cubes...

    "My Incubator is still vaguely around, but not here. I can get the cubes to him once you've used them, that's not a problem. Better than leaving them in the wild, they'll probably hatch or cause problems."

Himei (331) has posed:
    Himei glances at Homura, but then she steps forward. "A lot of weird things are happening, and we're just trying to make sense of it. We showed up because of the strangeness, not as the cause of it. As Homura said, we're trying to investigate."

    Himei hesitates for a moment, then decides to hedge the truth just a little. "We're thinking we might be able to get some answers with me around. I'm not actually a Puella Magi, I'm just a potential. I just cheat a little. We're hoping that might get us some answers. My friend here can be a little abrupt - and so can I - but we aren't here to hunt in your territory. Just tell us if we're asking something that's making you uncomfortable."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The Familiars attack, as is to be expected, by dashing around various buildings and leaping at him. Wounded though they may be, they're still vicious, inhuman, and dedicated to doing awful things to humans or half-humans in this case.

    Jude lights up and becomes a sword, and killing them will be easy with its massive offensive capabilities.

    Psyber traces and traces, but for now, the only place he can manage to pin down is somewhere in a rather empty sort of warehouse district, where, at this time of night, nobody seems to be around. Looks like he may need to spend more time at work on tracking these things, since only one or two escaped from... Whatever they were breaking out of... Or, you know, bring a magical girl by. Since obviously this problem will be simple enough that it can be solved directly like that.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber dual wields! He has a sword in one hand and a camera in the other. The familiars don't pose MUCH threat to him, so he takes the time to take a few photos of the strange cat-like beings formed out of obsidian spikes. And then he kills them all, likely taking a couple minor wounds from doing so.

    The half-angel then starts taking pictures of the warehouse district. This may be a dead end, but he wants to document it to show the others later.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "You are here. Good. The Operators claim I need to find you to solve this." The Incubator speaks immediately and frankly, to Maddie. It approaches with less caution now, with its more characteristic apathetic mannerism. As it grows closer, it becomes clear that this incubator is... Wounded! Something tore off part of its ear, and it hasn't replaced this body, for some reason. This part should be something Kimiko notices that's off about things first.

    "Your planet's energy quota is at risk, as well as that of potentially several other worlds. The girls here need your help!" It swishes its tail. The words are just off of the usual mannerisms, like something... Desynchronized from the norm. It turns to Mizuki now. "The Demons you have dispatched are just a symptom. I would call it a fever in space. Miasma has increased because of the damage being done here."

    "This city's been cut off from the rest of the universe. Something in here is repeating the same few days over and over. I need your help to breach the border. All you have to do is break the boundary!"

    Kimiko, a veteran of dealing with these incubators, will be able to discern the gaps in dialogue that indicate things are being left out, as is by now the norm for them. But there's also an unusually... Disconnected feeling to the dialogue. It feels less like a committee decided every word.

Madeline Vance (380) has posed:
    "Sealed away... I see why this is a problem," she states calmly. She doesn't have the history with the Incubators that the others do. "Then most likely, we need to find a way to breach the border, or to find out why time is repeating. The latter would likely prevent a repeat, and may give us some insight."

    She straightens and beckons the Incubator over. "Let's look at that ear. For now, you tell us anything that may have happened strangely, and at what point the loop restarts."

    Of course she knows very little medicine other than pain relief, so she asks, "Mizuki, do you know any healing magics? Miss Shinobu, do you know anything about Incubator anatomy?"

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko lets the incubator talk, and listens to the radio. Operators, huh. Energy quota. Barrier. If it can't get out of the loop, it can't know what's going on. Thus, the bit about the energy quota is baseless speculation. It's what the incubators really care about, though. She doesn't blame it for being focused. To the extent of ignoring its own state, though--she's never seen Kyubey stay injured. What else is going on?

    When asked, she nods. "Incubator bodies are disposable." Probably not the medical knowledge anyone was expecting to hear. "That is the normal mode."

    She addresses the alien directly. "What is your name?" That's the first point. "Are you unable to procure replacements? What injured you? What do you know about the rampant familiars?" She's made no move to help, though her tone betrays no hostility.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki's authorial sense tingles to indicate that her tone of 'polite condescension' (tm) is wholly unnecessary shortly before she begins her second address, so she doesn't bother this time. Her eyes narrow, her arms fold, and she otherwise assumes a look of complete disinterest whilst staring down one of cat Satan's many faces. Under her breath, she would chide, 'Energy Quota. How gleefully arbitrary.' Little ticks her off quite as much as crap that sounds like it belongs in a business letter.

    Then something about breaking a border. "I'd very much like to be informed of any potential side effects breaking this nebulously defined 'boundary' would have before we bring it crashing down around our heads. I'd also be equally interested to know how a /lack/ of energy results in the spawning of untold numbers of shadow beings that would theoretically consume a fair amount of said energy themselves. Some further description of the link between the two would be delightful before we proceed, but I understand that we're all quite pressed for time and that they will likely require time to answer. That's always the case in times like these, isn't it?"

    Then, to Madeline. "Er..." She cups a hand around her mouth. "... ordinarily? No. I can manipulate time, but I cannot reverse it in the ways that would be necessary to actually heal wounds. Unless Equinox could help me to accomplish such a thing, I'm afraid you'll find me quite unhelpful in the realm of arcane medicine." She gives the Incubator's ear a passing glance and briefly laments getting snippy with them. Briefly.

    She gets a bit disinterested for a moment here, studying the sky for any more signs of 'boundaries' or 'spatial anomalies' and the streets for other puella magi and-or demons. It would probably help to get an impression of just -how much- action is taking place around here now that she's settled. She vaguely remembers the answer to that question being 'a lot' from when she was in the air, but a second look never hurts.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko adds, for Mizuki's benefit, "Those things we fought are Demons. Defeating them provides us with these--" She holds up a hand containing a collection of small cubes. They don't look like much. "We give them to the incubators. Energy comes from nothing. That's the system." She gives the incubator a pointed look. "But that doesn't explain why they would be called a 'symptom.'"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki's expression eases up a bit when Kimiko speaks, and she gives a pair of gradual nods. "Ah. Thank you. If energy is derived from them rather than being taken, that would explain much." After another moment or two of staring at the cubes in her hand, she begins to squint. "I... don't suppose I could borrow one of those for a second? Just a simple curiosity."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Only the small fry. We go after the big fish together." Mio says, slinging the cubes at Homura immediately for later. "Mostly because we're not interested in being dead or Witches. I know those two. Names are harmless stuff to hand off for you. Blue's is Yamauchi Chiyo. Yellow's is Mizushima Miki. Hurt them and I'll punch your clock, don't and we won't have any problem. Thirty five? You know something about what's going on?" She narrows her eyes and crosses her arms

    Himei's sort of smoothed things over though, but in the process drawn a lot of her attention. "Nothing makes me uncomfortable. If you ask over the line, you'll be the uncomfortable one. If you're going after answers, fine, go after them. Long as you're actually trying to fix this stuff, I don't care any more than helping fix it myself. Normals getting antsy about it. I don't like it. If you track down Q before me, that's your business. Tell them to come back or something, Gonna have a lot of these damn cubes before this is done, with everyone stressing out about it."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Psyber's photos map out the entirety of the warehouse district in one fell swoop, making for valuable data to be used in the next investigation into what's going on here. It'll need to be another push on a later date, but it should provide some information on what, precisely, is going on here that might pin down where this weird witch influence emerges from...

    This will last approximately until MORNING OF JULY 12TH.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "I see. That's smart, then. It also seems like the city has an ample supply of food too. As for the number, that's... Himei will explain, you may not appreciate the blunt answer coming from me," Homura says, before eying the sky. She catches and pockets the cubes, to toss them at Kyubey later. He's probably going to be giddy he's getting extras, that must be good for the quota.

    "Q? Is that what your Incubator is called? And... the sky, was there anything there before this started? Stars? Odd activity? For that matter, how long as it been like this?"

    A distracting and light question to prepare for Himei's heavier load.

Himei (331) has posed:
    Hearing that news makes Himei grimace briefly. She waits for Homura to say the lighter things before sighing. "We... we've run into a situation /somewhat/ like this before. It's not exactly the same, and the first was worrying enough. Assuming we're right," she hedges. "But we have some pretty strong reasons to believe that someone or something is resetting time. Over and over, trying to get a result they want. Like... save-scumming, if you're familiar. Only problem is it's having these weird side effects."

    She glances up at the sky. "Which means that it's going to get worse. I don't know if you can remember the previous times. Probably can't. But I'd bet that when the loops first started, nobody noticed anything strange. Now it's starting to cause problems. Homura's sensitive to this stuff and she last checked it at thirty-five. If it's forty now..."

    She stops and reconsiders. "Unless it's saying something like, 'by cycle forty this place will tear itself apart,' which means we only have five left... and we need to find out who is doing it and how."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "The loop occurs when a fully-grown high-level Witch seems to appear without origin and vents the contents of its barrier. Obsidian spikes are the signal. Something magical occurs, and the entire contained area returns to the date of July 11th at precisely 2:11 AM. The magical girls here don't seem to remember. Only this space undergoes the loop. The way I remember things is based on principles very different from how you remember things, so I'm currently the only one aware." Incubator speaks simply and frankly.

    The Incubator then moves forward. The ear was torn off recently. Something attacked it. "I was injured by a magical attack of unknown origin. My body will be replaced during the next loop." That's a technically accurate statement, but it leaves a lot of information out of this. "The familiars are all wounded. I think someone made some kind of environmental hazard that they're getting around." Then it tilts its head. "The local magical girls have taken to calling me 'Q'." Though, that could be 'cue' or 'queue', honestly.

    "I believe breaching the boundary will vent out a pressure buildup that is threatening to explode violently otherwise. The shadow beings are called Demons. They arise from the miasma of human misery. The stars have disappeared and the city is cut off. The humans seem to have reacted overemotionally to this. Human misery creates a buildup of energy within this bound space. The Demons multiply tremendously in number as a result." Cue shakes his head. "I am injured, but it will not be a risk to me."

Madeline Vance (380) has posed:
    Madeline examines the ear, and does what she can... but medicine is not one of the skills she has. For all her many years and experience, she just plain has some gaps remaining. "I don't think this will hamper you much," she says mildly, then gives the Incubator a small pat on the head. Only then does she get serious.

    "Breaching the barrier is a last resort. We simply don't know enough about what side effects there will be," she states. "If you can remember, then we should set up a regular meeting schedule upon a new loop. The radio tower, perhaps. We may need what you know if we are going to find the root cause of this. It's not my call to make unfortunately. I am here for tactical support, not the one to make the final decision."

    Madeline's voice has a small note of irritation. She /likes/ being in charge.

    She looks at Mizuki expectantly. Kimiko asked some good questions, but Mizuki seems to have a more esoteric approach. Did she miss anything?

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "The miasma of human misery?" Mizuki rests a cheek in her left hand. "... that sounds a good deal more poetic than it has any right to. But." She locks eyes with the Incubator briefly here. "If I'm to understand you correctly, there's an overage of energy within this isolated space on account of the low morale of the citizenry. So in order to break this cycle, we have two readily apparent choices: we may fight off the culmination of that misery ourselves, or we may come in from the start of a younger cycle and attempt to alleviate that misery in some other way. Or is that what removing the boundary would be for?" She narrows her eyes faintly. "Pardon me very much if I'm a bit hesitant in taking that option when you proposed it as a solution first with no viable alternatives. I'm made to muse on whether you have your own misery being disconnected from others of your kind," Something she pieced together from listening to the radio, "and if destroying the barrier would 'reconnect' you somehow. If that's the case then our goals are certainly not mutually exclusive, but I still feel like there is some piece of this jigsaw missing."

    So for now, she continues to think. But first, a test. She looks up at the Incubator, barely suppressing a smirk. "Certainly you understand that the objectively superior tactic from a position where you do not have enough information is to gather more. Even if this world is about to collapse and enter another cycle, that is no concern of ours. You will die, yes, but that's inconsequential; we will return with greater solidarity from the time we spend analyzing the information we gathered here. There is no downside, yes?" No downside, that is, if you can't fear your own death. This is her way of putting the Incubator's alleged apathy to the test, as she's not entirely convinced that it's genuine. Certainly not in light of what she saw when she first arrived.

    Looking back to Madeline, Mizuki nods before looking back to 'Q'. "See? My associates and I are in agreement. We shall find a solution soon. Please be patient until then." She waits a few moments before adding, "Though you may rest assured that we -will- find a solution in due time." As a bit of an afterthought, Mizuki adds, "And what of the magical girls? What are they typically doing in the final moments of each cycle? Have you ever tried telling them that the cycles are occurring before? It would be helpful to know if we can count on them in any capacity."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko looks at one of the 'grief cubes' in her hands. Mizuki *did* help claim them... but this does not change that she is not a Puella Magi. On the other hand...

    She will not be explaining their most important purpose. She probably would not do so even if Mizuki were the only one present.

    She does, however, toss one Mizuki's way. "I will need that back, when we leave."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Mio narrows her eyes again. It's incredulous. She frowns and looks like she doesn't particularly think that makes a lot of sense. Homura gets a nod, though. "We call him that. 'In-cue-ba-tor'." That last part comes in engrish. "So we just take one part of it. They're all the same, though. And of course there were stars in the sky. They were there and now they're gone. It's only been that way about a day though. Started around this time yesterday."

    She crosses her arms and looks dead-on at Himei now. "I don't like the sound of that. It sounds like it's crazy or it's bad. I don't think I wanna deal with either of those. You tell me if you need something from me to get you off our turf faster, that can be fine. I'm a girl who knows basic respect. Silly for a magical girl to say it, but I can't just take everyone claiming time travel face value. I'm gonna see if I can find Q, get him to explain this, the little rat."

    A bat is suddenly in her hands, instead of the crowbar. Nails through it, a little wrapping of barbed wire. It's starting to become increasingly clear what this girl's gimmick is. It matches up with old habits even further when she leaves rather abruptly. Not ninjalike, just kinda, you know, 'CONVERSATION OVER' in mannerisms.

    "Why do I feel... Like... L-like we're being... Infringed on..." Claire whispers, quietly.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "I'll meet you at the radio tower if I can, at the start of the cycles! And I know it may look like we've got a lot of time to deal with it, but the more cycles we go through, the worse things are going to get, so be careful!" Cue says, tilting his/her head. The :3 remains there, always. "If you're going to preserve the energy quota for this planet, you'll need to remove it eventually."

    Majestic Crown speaks, frankly, in Madeline Vance's ears. "It clearly fears for its safety and it's clearly holding things back from us. And we have the benefit of a temporal reset. Next time we meet it, I'd recommend an interrogation campaign. Kill it painfully the first time, threaten it with the same the second to get it to indulge our human concept of 'lies of omission'."

    Mizuki's discussion about the Incubator being disconnected from all other Incubators gets a long, hard look. "We are all Incubators. Standard circumstances do not allow us to be isolated." More obvious technical truths. "Take the time you need. Don't take more, though! And of course I tried. I told them to try to breach the border. Things go wrong." More tail-swishing. "I will keep trying. I have more information to go gather." It waits for the others to finish this conversation, though, before leaving, politely giving them the chance to walk away before it mysteriously disappears. And staring at them with that awful little ":3" the entire time of course.