MarisaStory: A Certain Magical Internet

[Third Eye Lem]

> Change clothes into a proper witching outfit and give ourselves a braid.

> You search through your outfits and find at least one that fits you. Unfortunately, Medicine is a bit shorter and smaller than you are, forcing you to take up one of your older outfits. At least Medi's hair color is similar enough to yours to keep the look you adore so much.

> ...So we no longer feel pain and alongside Medicine's body we probably gained the lifespan that goes with it. Wonder why Medicine gave herself such a raw deal.
> No wait, we're pretty sure being forced into someone else's immortal body is a bad thing. We've got to get our old body back! For reasons we will now go over in our head.

> If your encounter with Kaguya, Eirin and Mokou was any indication, you have deducted without a shadow of a doubt that IMMORTALITY IS OVERRATED. And painful. Seriously, you can only imagine what Mokou goes through every time she has to reincarnate...That being said, magicians tend to live for much longer than normal humans do, Hijiri can vouch for that. You'd rather live a long, happy life than one that lasts forever, but you haven't quite cracked that secret yet.
> That'll have to wait for now, why would Medicine do this? You pose this question to your miniature cohort, and she responds, Why else? She wants the satisfaction of being human on her own, even if she has to put up with the icky organic parts. Is that not the purpose of life? To live?

> Check with the pocket medic whether medicine usually has weird dreams.

> While you mull over what Mini-Medi said (the parser will probably just call her MM from now on), you also ask her about these dreams. You're joking, right? Medi's never had a true dream, much less along the lines of the one you just described. MM grins. Yeah, I watched you jot it down in your diary. Be thankful I can't talk, ze.
> The joke's on her, this diary is strictly for magical research!...At least you think it is. You keep so many diaries that it's hard to know which one contains which.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>For fuck's sake, you'd think Eirin would be able to get her a better solution than this.
>I thought Medicine hated humans, anyway? Or is that one of the things you two disagree about?
>Well, at least Alice saw through it. And if she gave chase, then we just need to figure where Medicine's trying to hide.
>How possible does it seem for our pocket medic to lie to us given the mental linking involved?
>Would anyone see 'Marisa' flying away to ask about where 'we' went, or will we have to predict Medicine's habits and guess?

[Third Eye Lem]

>For fuck's sake, you'd think Eirin would be able to get her a better solution than this.

> I dunno, Eirin doesn't seem like the type to dabble in that sort of thing. Said it was "ethically unsound," MM explains.

>I thought Medicine hated humans, anyway? Or is that one of the things you two disagree about?

> She hated them at first, but her time with the Eientei crew changed that, ze. Now she's more tolerant of them.

>Well, at least Alice saw through it. And if she gave chase, then we just need to figure where Medicine's trying to hide.

> Heh, she knows you all too well. Once she saw "Mari" was acting strange, she started pressing questions...Then Medi panicked and ran, she didn't want to fight her if she could help it, MM explains further. I have a feeling Medi might be heading back to Eientei, that's where she'll feel the safest...But getting to her will be a challenge, ze.

>How possible does it seem for our pocket medic to lie to us given the mental linking involved?

> While you have a telepathic link, you can't see her actual thoughts. However, you see no reason why MM would lie to you, she may be just as concerned about Medi as you are. Or she just wants to see you suffer.

>Would anyone see 'Marisa' flying away to ask about where 'we' went, or will we have to predict Medicine's habits and guess?

> Considering the time of day...It would be a tad suspicious for you to be out at this hour; you're usually home studying and relaxing unless otherwise. Most humans by this point are heading in for the night, but maybe a youkai or two might have spotted her.
> You take a moment to think about Medi's possible hideouts. The only other place you know she'd go aside from Eientei would be the Suzuran Field, but it'd be dangerous now that she's in a human's body. There is the possibility that she might have gone someplace unexpected to throw you off, as well...Ugh, it's times like this that you wish you just stayed home.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Maybe playing nice wasn't a complete wash...
>I'm thinkin' maybe moonbrain shoulda made an exception. Did Medi even bring it up with her?
>And what're you 'ze'in' for, ze? Don't tell me you're pickin' up my habits too!
>Gather up whatever combat gear we have lying around; it's violence time. Hopefully the body snatcher didn't think to take our mini-hakkero.
>Head for Eintei; it's obvious, but there's no other good choices. And if she did go to the fields and got sick, Alice would save her sorry ass. We have a backup broom, right?
>If we run into anyone reliable on the way there, flag 'em down and ask where 'Marisa' went.

[capt. h]

> And worst of all, she made us short(er).

> The doll is pure evil. We have to put her in a woodchipper. For the children.

> "I have to wonder how welcoming Eientei will be of a thief in the night. We should find her before she kills me."

[Third Eye Lem]

> And worst of all, she made us short(er).

> The doll is pure evil. We have to put her in a woodchipper. For the children.

> You have half a mind to spark Medicine once all is said and done...Where the hell would you get a woodchipper, though?

> "I have to wonder how welcoming Eientei will be of a thief in the night. We should find her before she kills me."

> The thought of Medicine being mistaken for you makes you worry. Time is of the essence!

> Quest Added: Bad Medicine -- Medicine has stolen your body and absconded off to Eientei. Find Medi and stop her before she does something stupid.

>I'm thinkin' maybe moonbrain shoulda made an exception. Did Medi even bring it up with her?
>And what're you 'ze'in' for, ze? Don't tell me you're pickin' up my habits too!

> Nope, she didn't. I even suggested it to her, but she said she'd rather not get Eirin in hot water...What is if with humans and their reluctance to clone themselves, ze? They think they're breaking some kind of Unthinkable Natural Law... You look at MM funny after that last part. What?

> Awkward silence ensues, then you ask MM why she's copying your verbal tic. That's a good question...The way I--we were created, I was to serve as Medi's inner conscience of sorts. The thing is, I had no...Soul of my own, I guess you could say, I had to live off of Medi's soul and mind and base my thoughts and actions off of her, ze...Since you took her place, I'm thinking off of what you're thinking. I'm like a computer, and Medicine is the software, I can't really function without the latter, ze. You should be flattered I'm emulating you, since you think so highly of yourself, MM says with a big grin on her tiny face.

>Gather up whatever combat gear we have lying around; it's violence time. Hopefully the body snatcher didn't think to take our mini-hakkero.
>Head for Eintei; it's obvious, but there's no other good choices. And if she did go to the fields and got sick, Alice would save her sorry ass. We have a backup broom, right?
>If we run into anyone reliable on the way there, flag 'em down and ask where 'Marisa' went.

> Sadly, she did take your Mini-Hekkero. At least you have a backup broom or five. You head out of the house, making sure to lock the door on the way out (as if nothing else bad would happen to you), and just as you're about to take off, you hear...Singing? Wait, you know that song...

> _

[capt. h]

> Sing-along time!

[E-Nazrin]

>How much of that hardware/software explanation made sense for us?
>Grin back. Guess I am, ze! Just dunno whether it'll have any weird effects once we get all this fixed.
>... wait, we forgot to do something useful!
>Given the opportunity, stop back in real quick to sound the alert to our buddies online about the situation. Flandre, if no one else. They might not realize as easily as Alice...
>Who's singing? What's that song? Is Mystia doing the pokerap?

[Third Eye Lem]

>How much of that hardware/software explanation made sense for us?

> About 80% of it. You know that computers need software to run, otherwise they're just useless hunks of plastic and metal.

>Grin back. Guess I am, ze! Just dunno whether it'll have any weird effects once we get all this fixed.

> At the least, I'll have the memories I shared with you, ze. But it's not like I'm gonna blather to Medi about anything if we get reunited again.

>Who's singing? What's that song? Is Mystia doing the pokerap?

> Sing-along time!

> It is MYSTIA LORELEI, but she's not singing the Pokerap; she's singing "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. You decide to sing along with her to get her attention. Mystia's sitting in a nearby tree as she looks at you and asks, "Mari? Izzat you? You look...Shorter."
> You explain what's going on as best as you can, which makes the night sparrow's eyes go wide. "Jegus, that's rough. I guess that explains why I saw Alice tearin' through here earlier...I tried to see whom she was chasin' after, but whoopsie doodles, I missed her!"

>... wait, we forgot to do something useful!
>Given the opportunity, stop back in real quick to sound the alert to our buddies online about the situation. Flandre, if no one else. They might not realize as easily as Alice...

> You tell Mystia to hold on for a sec, while you go back inside and dash to your PC. Chen and Flan are still online...But something else catches your attention: a friend request from one "FlowerPowergirl4444."

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Ohhhhhhh shit. Yuuka noticed us, didn't she.
>Exactly how bad is our relationship with her? How bad can she get?
>Well, whether she's allied with Medicine and asking for Alice ransom, mad about the dream world thing, curious, or what, she'd be handy to get ahold of... is there a way to message her without necessarily adding her to our friends list or making her able to tell whether we're online? Is that likely to be a problem with her?
>If Yuuka knowing our online status wouldn't be a problem, accept and ask whether it's her, ze.
>Give Flandre the abridged version and... we can probably ask her spread the word as best she can; Medicine causing trouble impersonating Marisa would probably be about as big a problem as having some of the power players trying to take advantage of the situation. Get Chen in on it too, though it would be nice to not have Yukari interfering. Anyone else that might be in a position to help? From Eintei, perhaps?

I don't know what to do about abandoning Myschi like that sadly.

>How annoyed is Mystia likely to get if we take a while? Is it normal for her to be near our house?

[Dumanios]

>Well, if Yuuka's giving us friend request, then things can't be all bad between us, right? After all the fun times together like that time we beat up Alice's family.
>Huh.
>Well, that's assuming this is Yuuka and not someone else entirely.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Ohhhhhhh shit. Yuuka noticed us, didn't she.
>Exactly how bad is our relationship with her? How bad can she get?

>Well, if Yuuka's giving us friend request, then things can't be all bad between us, right? After all the fun times together like that time we beat up Alice's family.
>Huh.
>Well, that's assuming this is Yuuka and not someone else entirely.

> It's actually pretty decent, though you barely see her much. Ages ago, Yuuka tried to harness the power of the dream world to make herself stronger and try to take over Gensokyo, but failed when you and Reimu intervened. She showed up some time afterwards, to stop all the rampaging tourists visiting her home, and once again during the Flower Viewing incident of August 2015. Yuuka hasn't shown up since then.
> You're not sure why Yuuka did what she did, but she said that she was unhappy with Gensokyo at the time, and wished to change it. Then she tried to spark you in the face when you tried to press the issue. Yuuka seems to have some anger issues, but hides them with a sickeningly sweet and polite demeanor...If she were any more genki, she'd be tickled pink. That's all there is to say on the matter.

>Well, whether she's allied with Medicine and asking for Alice ransom, mad about the dream world thing, curious, or what, she'd be handy to get ahold of... is there a way to message her without necessarily adding her to our friends list or making her able to tell whether we're online? Is that likely to be a problem with her?

> You have heard her talk about a thing called a "telly fone" once...But you don't have one handy. Sending her a letter isn't exactly the best idea because it's really easy to get lost in the dream world, so the internet is probably your best bet.

>If Yuuka knowing our online status wouldn't be a problem, accept and ask whether it's her, ze.

> You accept, and immediately she starts IMing you.

Code: [Select]

FlowerPowergirl4444 said: I sense a great disturbance in the force...
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: Was that you, Mari? >:T
risingstar82 said: I have no idea what you're talking about.
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: Well, I felt *something!*
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: In fact, the somethings have been increasingly more and more common over the past few weeks.
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: Ever since I got my laptop, my dreams have been punctuated with this loud screeching and ringing
noise...Then I heard the familiar sound of a Spark being fired off.
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: Unless someone *else* has been copying my spell, it had to have been you!
risingstar82 said: I may or may not have sparked someone, ze.
risingstar82 said: Seriously, I've been having weird dreams too.
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: O RLY? =) Do u wanna share?
risingstar82 said: I could but...I'm kind of on the clock here. I have a guest outside, kinda.
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: Oh, my bad then! LOLZ. I'll let you take care of him or her, then.
FlowerPowergirl4444 said: Just do me a favor, dearie...I'd start keeping a dream journal, just in case! You never know if it'll be
handy. ;)
risingstar82 said: I'll think about it, ze. Thanks.


>Give Flandre the abridged version and... we can probably ask her spread the word as best she can; Medicine causing trouble impersonating Marisa would probably be about as big a problem as having some of the power players trying to take advantage of the situation. Get Chen in on it too, though it would be nice to not have Yukari interfering. Anyone else that might be in a position to help? From Eintei, perhaps?

> You consider IMing them on Guildies, since you can talk to them at once, but you decide to leave them messages over Skype. Flan is...Understandably confused and worried about this development, but she says she'll keep an eye out and warn the others as well. Chen doesn't respond, she seems to be away from the computer at the moment.
> As for people who might be able to help, you decide to stay away from Reimu for the time being. As much as you trust her, she'd probably just follow the crumb trail back to what it is you're doing, and you don't want that. Hijiri's too busy to help, but Keine and Mokou might be able to assist, so you shoot them a line as well. You also think about people within Eientei itself...Reisen might be able to spot Medicine's behavior right off the bat, but you don't exactly know her contact info, and you're not sure if she'd be willing to turn Medicine in. Kaguya's probably out of the question for obvious reasons, and forget Tewi...Looks like you might be going solo on this one.

>How annoyed is Mystia likely to get if we take a while? Is it normal for her to be near our house?

> That is, if a certain bird youkai wasn't politely knocking on your door.
> "Oy, is everythin' okay in there? You've been inside for a while!"
> Mystia is usually pretty friendly with you despite her punkish attitude; she knows not to mess with you after that Imperishable Night incident. She does, however, live within your vicinity, in a part of the FoM known as the "Night Grove." It is called that since out of all the places in the forest, it is the darkest, so nocturnal creatures love to live there.
> Either way, if you're gonna dismiss her or indict her, it's best to do it now before she starts singing. You don't want to be the target of her singing, especially at this hour.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Well, we were a half-step ahead of Yuuka's advice, at least...
>While it'd be nice to grill the flower girl for any information about Skella or whatever the fuck happened there, we ARE on a clock and we don't want to let the Medicine trail get too cold. Set up an away message and get back outside to Mystia.
>"Yo, sorry about that, ze. Realized I had somethin' important to take care of before I left and forgot!"
>"I should be rushin' off to help Alice, though, so I probably shouldn't stick around to chat. Where was she headin'?"

[Third Eye Lem]

>Well, we were a half-step ahead of Yuuka's advice, at least...
>While it'd be nice to grill the flower girl for any information about Skella or whatever the fuck happened there, we ARE on a clock and we don't want to let the Medicine trail get too cold. Set up an away message and get back outside to Mystia.

> You go ahead and do all that (and lock the door, heaven help you if your house gets broken into).

>"Yo, sorry about that, ze. Realized I had somethin' important to take care of before I left and forgot!"

> "Happens to me all the time, heh," Mystia replies. "Usually when I finish an album and prepare to take it to the Prismrivers for printing."

>"I should be rushin' off to help Alice, though, so I probably shouldn't stick around to chat. Where was she headin'?"

> "Uh, I think she was headin' off towards the moon princess' mansion? I think it's in that direction, right?"

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Frown. "That's what I woulda guessed. Thanks, Myschi. I'm gonna try and catch up; go ahead and let people know about the whole body-swap mess, if ya feel like it. Later!"
>Head for the House of Eternity!

[Third Eye Lem]

>Frown. "That's what I woulda guessed. Thanks, Myschi. I'm gonna try and catch up; go ahead and let people know about the whole body-swap mess, if ya feel like it. Later!"

> "Uh, you sure you're gonna be ok by yourself?" Mystia asks. You assure her you can handle things yourself. "Well okay...It's just...The bamboo grove has been awfully quiet as of late, so be careful...Bye!" Mystia then flies off without another word. What the hell was that about?

>Head for the House of Eternity!

> You head for the aforementioned Bamboo Grove, remembering to fly low due to the anti-anti-gravity generator. You also recall the traps you have to navigate...Ugh. At least you have Mini Medi at your side.
> As you fly into the grove, an eerie silence hits your ears. The place is almost devoid of the regular wildlife noises you're accustomed to. Even at night, there's a soft cacophony ringing through the air, but now...Something doesn't feel right, and you hesitate to continue.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Well, that's not good.
>Look for any poisoned wildlife that would normally be making noise. Or Spark marks, or downed Alice dolls.
>Failing that, there's probably some other new threat with a silencing ability, and hopefully not one of Skella's friends. She was creepy enough.
>Shout out a 'ze' to see if that does anything. Pity the yamabiko's a bit outta the way...
>If nothing of interest happens, proceed with caution.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Look for any poisoned wildlife that would normally be making noise. Or Spark marks, or downed Alice dolls.

> You search and you search as you climb up the walls but nothing seems to stick out. However, you see lots of cut ropes and trip wires all over the place, whomever was here must've wanted these traps out of the way; the inaba usually recycle their ropes and stuff. You don't see any traces of poison, but apparently Medicine's eyes have the ability to "see" toxic material; plants, animal droppings, etc. It seems that whatever went through here scared away all the animals.

>Failing that, there's probably some other new threat with a silencing ability, and hopefully not one of Skella's friends. She was creepy enough.

> You wonder about something with the ability to silence things...In the vocal sense, not the lethal sense. The only thing that comes to mind is Nitori's half-sister, but she doesn't like talking about her very much.

>Shout out a 'ze' to see if that does anything. Pity the yamabiko's a bit outta the way...
>If nothing of interest happens, proceed with caution.

> You call out into the forest. Rapid flapping of wings and scurries in the distance imply that not everything in the forest is MIA, but still...You don't hear anything calling back at you, so you move on to the mansion.

> The lights are out. The faint hum of electricity you normally hear from this place is absent. The front door is wide open, mostly due to said door being torn off and tossed to the side. Footprints mar the normally clean porch and atrium floors. You can't tell how many individuals forced their way into this place, but it must've been a lot, and they were wearing heavy duty boots or similar footwear.
> Well...This is a fine sight to come back to, ze. Shall we go in and say hello?
> A low moan can be heard inside.
> On second thought...Maybe not.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Boots? Isn't Alice practically the only one in Gensokyo to wear heavy boots? But there wouldn't be twenty of her... someone else was here. The hell has Medicine gotten us into?
>Any indication this might have something to do with the Lunarians? Did those moon rabbits from when that moon princess ate our danmaku have boots like that?
>The voice behind that moan is unfamiliar, presumably? Was it of pain, or more like a zombie?
>If not a zombie, approach cautiously to try and help/question.

[capt. h]

> We've charged blindly into hell and beat up a nuclear god. And we are currently made of plastic, so zombies can't eat our brains anyway. So hopefully, this shouldn't be TOO bad.

> Not that we're saying Eientei was eaten by zombies.

> Steal everything we can while they're distracted. Uh... I mean, enter the house and see if everything is alright. Yeah, let's go with that.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Boots? Isn't Alice practically the only one in Gensokyo to wear heavy boots? But there wouldn't be twenty of her... someone else was here. The hell has Medicine gotten us into?

> Alice does indeed wear boots, but these aren't her footprints...At least, from what you can make out, it's kind of a mess.

>Any indication this might have something to do with the Lunarians? Did those moon rabbits from when that moon princess ate our danmaku have boots like that?

> From what you remember, the Lunar Defense Corps also wore boots, but they didn't have much in the way of treads. These boots, however, have a much more textured tread on them. In fact, the boots remind you heavily of Nitori's boots...Could she have been part of this? No, that wouldn't be her style. She's a gadgeteer, not a Navy SEAL.

>The voice behind that moan is unfamiliar, presumably? Was it of pain, or more like a zombie?
>If not a zombie, approach cautiously to try and help/question.

> We've charged blindly into hell and beat up a nuclear god. And we are currently made of plastic, so zombies can't eat our brains anyway. So hopefully, this shouldn't be TOO bad.
> Not that we're saying Eientei was eaten by zombies.
> Steal everything we can while they're distracted. Uh... I mean, enter the house and see if everything is alright. Yeah, let's go with that.

> As much as you would like to pilfer the mansion of all of its valuables, you lack anything to put them in; Medicine swiped your entire inventory when she swapped bodies with you, that little pest. You resolve to get to the bottom of this, and beyond it if you have to. But first, you address the moaning...
> ...Which is not zombie-like at all. Even if a zombie couldn't eat your brain, it could still hurt you, but thankfully this is not the case. In fact, the voice producing the moaning is familiar to you--it's Tewi's voice. You can just make out her dress and trademark black hair as she lays on the ground, cringing.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>"Am I gonna regret asking what happened, ze?"
>Don't tell me this was a kappa mob attack from Maneki...
>touch fluffy tail

[Third Eye Lem]

>touch fluffy tail

> No one must know of your rabbit tail fetish.

>"Am I gonna regret asking what happened, ze?"

> Tewi strains to look up at you. "Marisa...? Oh gods, it was awful...A bunch of soldiers in masks stormed the place...We tried to stop them but...They were too tough for us."

>Don't tell me this was a kappa mob attack from Maneki...

> You have no clue if it was even the kappa or not, but you decide to ask Tewi who was responsible. "I...I don't know. They never took off their masks...And when they spoke, they sounded like robots. I think...Urgh, my everything still hurts."
> As you speak to the inaba prankster, you hear heavy footsteps from another hall.

> _

[capt. h]

> Pretend to be inanimate.

> Follow robots home to their master. Or wait for the master to come to the robots.

> No sense fighting the small fry when the head honcho's just gonna make more, right?

> Note that this plan does assume that robots distinguish between living beings and inanimate dolls.

[E-Nazrin]

>Eat Tewi whole to conceal the evidence
>Well, at least we're recognizable as ourselves instead of our impostor!
>Robots? That still points at mechanics which points at kappa, but... the hell?
>And Alice certainly wouldn't do this, would she?
>Is it clear which hall the footsteps are coming from? Set up an ambush directly above them if so! If not, can we easily scoop up Tewi and fall back so she won't get caught in the crossfire? Plan C: Stand guard and see what of our usual firepower we can pull off..... if they don't assume we're an ally.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Eat Tewi whole to conceal the evidence

> you don't even have a stomach wtf is wrong with you

> Pretend to be inanimate.
> Follow robots home to their master. Or wait for the master to come to the robots.
> No sense fighting the small fry when the head honcho's just gonna make more, right?
> Note that this plan does assume that robots distinguish between living beings and inanimate dolls.

> Your attempt at playing dead fails miserably. The figure walks up to your inert form, kicks you to make sure you're still alive, then shrugs and heads off...Then they chuck a sticky bomb behind them and detonate it, reducing you and Tewi to cinders. Let this be a lesson to you.
> BAD END FOUND: "You play dead, you play for keeps!"

> Meanwhile, back in the alpha timeline...

>Is it clear which hall the footsteps are coming from? Set up an ambush directly above them if so! If not, can we easily scoop up Tewi and fall back so she won't get caught in the crossfire? Plan C: Stand guard and see what of our usual firepower we can pull off..... if they don't assume we're an ally.

> The footsteps are coming from the hallway behind you, IE the one to the left of the entrance as you enter. You float up and out of sight, and judging by the lack of a quickening pace in the footsteps, they didn't spot you. The footsteps get louder and louder as they approach you...Eventually, you see someone, clad in a black jumpsuit and armor, wearing a mask. The owner carries a rifle of some kind and has clawed gloves; the rifle seems to be built specifically to accommodate their clawed paws.
> Tewi moans again, which gets the gunman's attention. This worries you.
> "Still hurting after that?" the gunner says, approaching Tewi. Their voice doesn't sound quite as robotic as Tewi recalled, but it doesn't seem natural either. "Too bad for you. Rabbits aren't known for their pain tolerance...Don't worry, though. It'll all be over soon..." the figure snickers.
> Not wanting to give this person a chance to make good on their threat, you pounce. The parser would like to take a moment to point out that all of your brooms are made from Manabirch Wood, a dense but still light lumber that makes great material for dolls or broomsticks. Getting hit with this would be like getting hit in the head with a bat, which is basically what you do to this unsuspecting soldier. A satisfying WHUNK is heard as broomstick meets noggin, and the soldier collapses...Right on top of Tewi. The impact causes the poor rabbit to scream in pain, and curse at you for not thinking this through better. Whatever, she's still alive, right?

>Well, at least we're recognizable as ourselves instead of our impostor!

> The limited light and your silhouette were enough for Tewi to tell it was you.

>Robots? That still points at mechanics which points at kappa, but... the hell?
>And Alice certainly wouldn't do this, would she?

> Nope. You don't think she's up to some crazy mastermind of a scheme. Furthermore, just because something sounds like a robot doesn't mean it is, so this deserves some more investamagations.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Well, considering the circumstances, Medicine somehow coming up with an invasive doll army sounds like the right alley to peek down.
>If the gunner is unconscious, good. Otherwise, kick the gun away if we can't grab it from our victim easily, knock it off of Tewi if possible, and keep the pressure on so they can't get up. Break the mask if we can!
>If the soldier IS unconscious, push it off Tewi and yank off the mask to get a look at what we're dealing with. Dolls? Golems?
>... wait, masks? Wasn't there that one girl with a bunch of those?

[Third Eye Lem]

>Well, considering the circumstances, Medicine somehow coming up with an invasive doll army sounds like the right alley to peek down.

> You wouldn't put it past Medicine to make small army of dolls, but the question is, would Eirin even approve of such a thing? As much as you would want to punish Medi for her backstabbing you, you'd rather see some solid evidence first before going after her.

>If the gunner is unconscious, good. Otherwise, kick the gun away if we can't grab it from our victim easily, knock it off of Tewi if possible, and keep the pressure on so they can't get up. Break the mask if we can!
>... wait, masks? Wasn't there that one girl with a bunch of those?

> Kokoro? Yeah, she had a whole collection of 'em, but this mask looks nothing like the ones she has. This looks more like a traditional gas mask.
> You pull the soldier off of Tewi, who still chews you out for letting that happen in the first place, but you ignore her. You confiscate the gun, and with a bit of effort, the mask as well...What you see is something rather unexpected. The soldier in question looks like a male, a young man perhaps, but his buck teeth, pointy nose and whiskers give off the impression that he's a rodent of some kind. Judging by the googliness of his eyes and his tongue hanging out, you knocked him out but good. So much for the doll and kappa theories.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Rodents? Rats?... Nazrin? This is just getting weirder and weirder.
>"Guess I could have struck sooner, ze, but it doesn't look like I'd be able to overhear anything useful with him like this."
>Turn the zonked-out rodent for Tewi to see. "Any idea what this is supposed to be, ze?"

[Third Eye Lem]

>Rodents? Rats?... Nazrin? This is just getting weirder and weirder.

> As far as you can tell, this rodent-man doesn't look a thing like Nazrin...Then again, male youkai usually don't, but how often have you seen one of them aside from Kourin (who's half youkai), and Genji (who's a bloody flying turtle)?

>"Guess I could have struck sooner, ze, but it doesn't look like I'd be able to overhear anything useful with him like this."
>Turn the zonked-out rodent for Tewi to see. "Any idea what this is supposed to be, ze?"

> It was either knock him out, or risk Tewi becoming rabbit stew, ze.
> Speaking of which, you present the soldier to Tewi. "How should I know...?" Tewi grumbles. "He looks like a...A mole-rat or something. Look...You best get out of here while you still can...If they catch wind of you breaking in, you're toast."

> _