Scene #2063: Gumdrop Invaders

Owner	Pose
Miko Fujimoto	It's fairly standard in Midnight Shrine Tokyo for the brand new opening of some company or business, sudden popularity of a product or person, or some other unusual or noteworthy happenstance to coincidence with Nether Realm activity. They like to use such things as cover for their operations. The fact that entire generations of human girls have grown up on magical girl anime and manga where that is exactly the kind of thing that happens means REAL magical girls tend to catch on quick and already be mentally prepared for that kind of thing. Or at least the successful magical girls figure it out. Some just trust in their powers and other, smarter, magical girls to connect the dots. However, a simple truth is that those Important To Magic tend to run into each other regardless of their attempts to make such happen or to avoid it. Magic is all about possibility, and when possibility is changed, so is probability. And when probability is changed, weird stuff happens by seeming coincidence. This is what a fairy named White Rose calls the 'Synchronous Zone Effect'. Thus, the premise of today's operation is that a candy factory has been getting a lot of publicity lately, and Miko Fujimoto as decided to investigate. There's free tours of the factory floor and facilities going on right now, so they have an adequate cover explanation already. They can just go along with the tour group, keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and those sensitive to magic can attempt to detect any of it going on around them. Miko shows up in a white t-shirt with a blue denim dress overtop with a knee-length skirt, and black leggings. Some black shoes with bows on the buckles adorn her feet, and she has a blue ribbon on one side of her hair. They aren't allowed to bring bags or purses or other containers in with them, so as Miko stands among the group of people milling around waiting for their turn, she's trying to figure out how to bring White Rose in with her without anyone noticing. It used to be way easier when she was so insubstantial that no one but Miko could even detect her. "Listen, it's fine. Sakura is going with you, and she can sense magic real good! I think she has a harder time identifying TYPES of magic, but if you detect something just let me know mentally and I'll pop in somewhere inconspicuous!" the white-haired, red-eyed, flower-dressed fairy reassures as she flutters nearby. Miko looks left and right and then shushes White Rose as she tries to keep anyone nearby from seeing her. "Actually, I don't think Sakura is coming today. I heard she wasn't feeling well. But that Shirou boy is coming. I think maybe he can feel magic too. Anyway, hopefully it's not Chaos Magic if we run into any magic. That seems to interfere with our link." White Rose nods in assent and makes a displeased noise at the idea of both having to rely on Captain Swords and the possibility of running into more Chaos Magic. That stuff is super lame. The candy factory is a modern set-up. Big, shiny, clean, safe. Gomu Gomu Incorporated knows its candy and nothing really looks suspicious from out here. At least not yet...
Black Arachnia	Fortunately, 'Captain Swords' isn't going to be the only Unionite around - although if magic sensitivity is required, Black Arachnia won't be any help. Still, the Maximal fembot has been around industrial settings before, and the lack of a handbag or purse or the like probably simplifies matters for getting through security. She's even in her robot mode - at least for the sake of getting in the door - and is relatively polite in dealing with the security staff. She also specializes in espionage (and sabotage), but she's not telling anyone that until they actually need to know ... it's possible that Miko has heard about Black Arachnia from a couple of the other tech-oriented Confederates, in any case.
Kari Wolf	Harriet is quite big for a shinki-styled robot, twice the size, and consequentially might resemble some kind of walking-talking child's fashion doll- moreso than is usual for shinki! The augmented shinki and her robotic rabbit familiar are hanging around Miko, 'on assignment' as Harriet would put it. Just an ordinary tiny robot with platinum blonde hair in a bun and her shiny white-enameled hare, right? Harriet looks up at Miko and tugs cutely on the girl's skirt, pretending to be Miko's shinki today. "Master won't eat too many sweets after the tour?"
Rebound	Being new to the Union does kinda suck. There's a lot going on and it's really hard to keep track of everything, especially when you come from a world that just has occasional alien invasions and ninja attacks. Rebound has brought herself here at the urging of other members of the Union, though she has no idea really where here is. But if they need help, she'll do her best to provide it. At the moment she's trying to blend in as well as a six and a half foot tall kangaroo can in Japan. Which is to say really not very good at all. Still nobody's running in fear, so that's a good sign in and of itself. Plus maybe this candy factory will have free samples. She hasn't had candy in a long while and really thinks she deserves to finally have some again. Getting through security takes a bit but once she's inside, she straightens herself up and looks around. Though she's not sure what they're looking for yt.
Emiya Shirou	'Captain Swords' probably wouldn't appreciate that moniker, but he's here nonetheless - in a perfectly mundane outfit that no doubt hides some subtle armoring under his clothes. Gotta look inconscpiuous after all! It takes him some time to find the group but when he does he's rubbing the side of his head. "You're sure this place would be the target? I hope not. Buying some candy for the kids at Dun Realtai's sounding like a better idea all the time..." This guy... doesn't appear so reliable at any amount of glances, no...
Miko Fujimoto	Japan is weird enough without kangaroos and robo-spiders showing up. But lots of weird stuff happens these days, and they've kind of just shrugged and accepted it. It's okay for foreigners to be weird. It's kind of expected. And with the Multiverse being involved, even weirder things are tolerated now. Miko is somewhat startled by the arrival of Black Arachnia, as she hasn't met her before, but figured she's not from the Nether Realm. They don't tend to be so... Obvious. "Ah... I don't think we'll be eating anything, just getting a tour. I might have free samples at the end though?" Miko suggests in response to Harriete's question and skirt-tugging. She isn't sure how she feels about being called 'Master', but if it's part of a cover, then she'll go along with it. When Arachnia and Rebound are joined, Miko makes sure to introduce herself first. "I'm Miko Fujimoto, the one who is organizing this..." She looks around. "...Group venture. I take it you two are with the Union?" She may have once seen a kangaroo somewhere, but she isn't making the immediate mental connection with what Rebound is supposed to be. She does seem curious at least! White Rose, however, has vanished at the sight of Black Arachnia for some reason. Probably nothing to do with her being kind of insect-like with her fairy wings, and Arachnia being kind of spider-like. Nawwww... When Shirou joins them, Miko bows to him and says, "Thank you for coming. Yes, it would be fortunate if nothing happens, but that usually isn't the case. Let's keep an eye out." A few moments later, someone blows a whistle to get their attention, and calls out, "Everyone in group five! This way!" The tour begins, with the group heading into the entry area, a spacious room with nice furniture, paintings on the walls, and so on. They get a nice little speech about the company's history. Meanwhile, unnoticed by all, a line of figures watches from the shadows. One of the misshapen beings announces in a high-pitched voice, "We have detected M-type particles emanating from two of them, Robo-Robo Emissions from the other two, and Bizarro Vibes from the fuzzy one. This should be the ideal situation to test our capabilities against the people of this world!" Another voice, almost identical to the first and yet with a slightly different speech pattern to it, asks, "What about the Robo-Robo Emitters?" The first figure turns to the second and says, "What about them?" "Well, we know humans like candy, so they'll trust us in these forms, but do Robo-Robos also like candy on this world?" The bulbous creature strokes its... Well, its 'place where a chin might be if it had a face to have a chin on', and says, "I don't know... We don't have enough data. We'll have to be careful." A third creature of the same shape as the first two, and again with an almost identical voice except for speech pattern and a slightly different pitch, comes running up waving its thin arms and legs. "Leader says it's time to begin the operation! We should join up with the others!" "Right!" the other two affirm. Then the three squat creatures go running along through the shadows, headed for the roof of the candy factory to join up with their fellows.
Black Arachnia	"Union, yes," nods the robotic woman. "Name's Black Arachnia. I figured I might be helpful." If she even notices White Rose, she shows absolutely no signs of thinking the fairy might be a decent snack - or even an indecent one, or anything even remotely resembling 'edible'. Then again, she's not going out of her way to be social beyond the necessities of teamwork ... and that may be giving her credit for more effort than she's actually engaging in. She does seem to be taking note of the others' names, if other people are introducing themselves - and when 'group five' is called, presumably that's this group; Black Arachnia follows along, although she's letting Miko (as the organizer) take the lead.
Emiya Shirou	Shirou of course returns the casual bow as is proper. It's brief, but that's the point! It's not like this is a business meeting. "It's no problem. Keeping problems from getting out of hand and hurting people is something I want to do." Independent of Union, Confederacy, honor, whatever... Shirou simply wants to help people who need help. "Nn! Coming!" he answers back and falls into line with the tour...
Kari Wolf	Harriet glances at Rebound's form. The mutant kangaroo kind of resembles Harriet's armored form. Interesting! When the group is called forward for touing, Harriet's familiar unfolds, latching onto the shinki to form shiny white armor that strongly resembles a humanoid rabbit, complete with long ears on the helmet that seem to be constantly moving and twitching. This allows Harriet to keep up with the group by hopping along with them, seemingly in defiance of gravity. "I've never been inside a candy factory before. Do they have shinki working inside to keep the machines from gumming up?" Harriet asks in a curious tone, oblivious to the bad pun she just made. One might assume that Zarenna used a Maochao or Howling CMS to give the giant shinki life.
Rebound	"Yeah, I'm with the Union. My name's Rebound." Replies the 'roo, as she looks at Miko, "Don't mind the way I look. I'm still totally normal." She says, "I mean minus the obvious." She hmms, "Guess it's lucky our little group all got put together, huh?" She says, following along behind the tour guide with the rest of group five. She moves along at a quick enough pace to keep up, though at the question about how they keep the machines from gumming up, she thinks. She met a shinki on her first night here, "I don't think they would use a shinki. Though it might not be a bad idea if you have to get into those really hard to reach spots."
Miko Fujimoto	As the tour guide explains, Miko turns her attention back to Black Arachnia and lowers her head in a slight bow. "A pleasure, Miss Black Arachnia." Then she looks to Rebound as well, and offers a similar acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you as well. And yes, I tried to time it so we'd be part of this tour." There's other people all around them, so they have to keep their voices down a bit - not only to avoid revealing their true purpose here but also so as not to be disruptive to the rest of the tour. Miko appreciates Shirou's heroism greatly, but also is hoping he can serve the purpose that she can't and serve as their magical radar. She has no idea if he can actually fulfill that role or not, but she needs SOMEONE to, and it SEEMS like Shirou can use magic what with those sword-making powers of his! Then again, Miko can use magic too, and she can't sense diddly. Either way, being willing to help out, no matter if it's at the request of someone from the enemy faction, is an admirable trait. "Ah, not quite. We don't have Shinki here. Except, obviously, for visitors like yourself! Most work is done by humans or non-intelligent machines, supervised by humans." Miko explains with a smile to Harriet as she armors up. She has always found Shinki to be super adorable, ever since first meeting Kari at the mall. Though this one is larger than the two or three she has encountered. She isn't sure why she assumed they were all around White Rose's height! "To summarize for those who may not be aware, my world has various types of invading magical creatures from another dimension known as the Nether Realm trying to infiltrate society for various purposes. Draining human life force, stealing human souls, converting humans into monsters, establishing a foot hold for a full invasion... You name it, there's a group out there trying to get it. They usually act with subtlety, however, to avoid drawing attention or causing a panic, and also to avoid getting the attention of magical girls - Earth's natural defense against Nether Realm natives. So we have to be on the look-out for peculiar events, strange coincidences, and otherwise inoccuous things that might actually be a Nether Realm plot. So that's why we're here." Meanwhile, back with the mysterious creatures, they're all lined up on the roof. And who are 'they'? Why... A bunch of... ...These things! https://foodimentaryguy.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/www-hdwallpapersinn-com.jpg Yes, they are just gumdrops. With little white arms and legs that could easily be made out of plastic or something sticking out the sides and bottoms. There's about seven of them, each a different pastel color, with a pinkish-red one seemingly acting as their leader. "We have finally found an unsuspecting world, ripe for conquering!" the leader announces. "We have assumed one of the most beloved of forms among its native population! Now we just need to take control of the situation down below, and they'll all obey us! Soon, we'll-" Then a green, yellow, and orange gumdrop come running up, huffing and puffing somehow despite not having lungs or even mouths. "Sorry we're late, commander!" The leader points to the line with the others and says, "Get in line, fools! We don't have time for your lollygagging! Now, then, our first step is to identify any threats! Then we'll-" But the leader is cut off as a crow comes swooping down and scoops him up in its beak with a loud 'CAW CAW' before taking off. The other gum drop aliens freak out. "LEADERRRRR!" They weep and rub at their non-existent eyes, until a green one stands up and says, "Don't worry, leader! I'll take command and make sure this mission is a success! Let's get back in there, everyone! For ex-leader!"
Black Arachnia	"So we're looking for hints that this new candy company is a front for an otherworldly invasion," Black Arachnia attempts to condense what Miko just said. That sounds REMARKABLY familiar somehow, except that with the Decepticons prior to her era and (debatably) the Predacons of her time, they didn't bother with anything as complicated as a 'front company' and just blended in by assuming relatively innocuous alt modes. "Just out of curiosity, Fujimoto, what will you do if the new candy company turns out to actually be just a candy company?" asks Black Arachnia before turning away to look over one of the packaging lines ... and, as much on a whim as anything, running what she can see through various filters to try and pick up on out-of-place heat signatures, energy sources, or the like.
Rebound	"So basically extra-dimensional aliens are trying to invade by doing...Well a lot of stuff." Says Rebound, as she listens to the explanation, "That about covers it, yes?" She asks, rubbing her muzzle a bit, "And yeah, I guess if it's not this place then we'll at least get some free candy and can try to intercept the next one, right?" So far stuff seems uneventful but that's probably because she can't see the horrible abduction of the leader that's taking place on the roof as she speaks.
Kari Wolf	Of course the reason Harriet is so large is because there aren't any other shinki her size. Harriet's sensor vanes wiggle about, keeping constant track of the space around her to avoid being kicked by the big people. Oh, there's a railing, even better! She hops onto it and keeps pace with the group through that. "What if," she says quietly to the Troubleshooters (the name she's mentally given the people who've come to help Miko...) "... no... that'd be stupid." And, privately, the entire operation being mind-controlled by be-tentacled space aliens is something Harriet thinks that Kari would consider.
Emiya Shirou	"I'll keep my eyes peeled," Shirou promises, "But spotting things like that isn't easy." Yup,. His... 'magical radar' kind of sucks. Easier to listen for screams, unfortunately! ... Very unfortunately... More headscratching. But even so... "Trace, on..." The muttered phrase is so reflexive by now that Shirou barely thinks about it. His Magic Circuits spring to life and circulate power. The sensation is like being shot through with electricity, but he 'reinforces' his vision strongly and hearing slightly...