Okuu Quest Subsequently - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"No, Renko. I totally understand where you're coming from. I almost feel like I'm being a bit unfair, but it's not my call to make. I wish she could communicate with you. Heck, I wish she could communicate with ME better than she does... although I think that may be improving, a little."

>"On a related note, I think I've got sort of a tour of the research facility arranged for later this evening. I know there's all sorts of rumors of weirdness about that place, but I was wondering if you might have heard anything more specific? Anything I might be able to keep my eye out for while I'm there? I'll probably be chaperoned, so I don't know how much I'll be able to see, but every little bit helps."

[Jana]

>Her response seems to be, in essence, "What crow spirit?" It seems she is completely unaware of it.

>We should try to do something about this. Assuming the crow is still on our head, try to communicate with it in the same way we communicated with Stargazer.

[Hello Purvis]

>"No, Renko. I totally understand where you're coming from. I almost feel like I'm being a bit unfair, but it's not my call to make. I wish she could communicate with you. Heck, I wish she could communicate with ME better than she does... although I think that may be improving, a little."

>"On a related note, I think I've got sort of a tour of the research facility arranged for later this evening. I know there's all sorts of rumors of weirdness about that place, but I was wondering if you might have heard anything more specific? Anything I might be able to keep my eye out for while I'm there? I'll probably be chaperoned, so I don't know how much I'll be able to see, but every little bit helps."

>"Well, maybe she'll get better at it with practice," says Renko. "I mean, she can learn things, right?"
>You talk about your upcoming trip to the Research Institution. "Oh god damnit!" says Renko, making Stargazer draw away behind you, "I knew we should have gotten that spy camera! But no, I just had to go with the metal detector!"
>"All we know are vague rumors, nothing really helpful," says Maribel. "I'd just look out for strange things."

>We should try to do something about this. Assuming the crow is still on our head, try to communicate with it in the same way we communicated with Stargazer.

>You don't know if you can. You don't feel anything from it at all. It is like it is not even there.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Reassure Stargazer that Renko wasn't upset with her, but with something unrelated
>"Well, strange things seem to have a tendency to find ME these days, so I'll keep my fingers crossed."
>"I'm just worried they'll keep me safely in the publicly presentable part of the facility. The stuff you can file boring press releases about. Although... maybe I can find a way to get separated from professor Okazaki and innocently 'lost' in one of the more interesting places. Hell, if she's half as bad as Nitori says, she might insist on taking me to one of them, herself, just so she can show off... One can hope."

[Hello Purvis]

>Reassure Stargazer that Renko wasn't upset with her, but with something unrelated
>"Well, strange things seem to have a tendency to find ME these days, so I'll keep my fingers crossed."
>"I'm just worried they'll keep me safely in the publicly presentable part of the facility. The stuff you can file boring press releases about. Although... maybe I can find a way to get separated from professor Okazaki and innocently 'lost' in one of the more interesting places. Hell, if she's half as bad as Nitori says, she might insist on taking me to one of them, herself, just so she can show off... One can hope."

>You try to reassure Stargazer. You feel she didn't care for that outburst at all, and doesn't seem to understand why it happened.
>"Yeah, really." says Renko. "Good luck with that, just keep us updated, you're pretty much the best source we've had ever."
>You share your concerns with exploring. "Yeah, that's a point," says Renko. "If you can play off that professor, I say go for it."
>"Just keep an eye out for security types," says Maribel.
>"I do wonder, though..." says Renko, looking toward Stargazer.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Wonder what?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Wonder what?"

>"They're not gonna see her, are they?" says Renko, looking at Stargazer.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That's.... actually a good point. I was going to say that she's good at keeping out of sight, but I figure a place as secure as that has to have cameras...."

[Hello Purvis]

>"That's.... actually a good point. I was going to say that she's good at keeping out of sight, but I figure a place as secure as that has to have cameras...."

>"Well, unless she can hide from them, they're probably going to film her anyways," says Maribel.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, exactly. Well... I don't know how far she can vanish from sight, if I ask her to. Perhaps not far enough..."

>"But we're in this together, now, so I'll have to make due. If they see her, they see her. Even if I weren't heading there tonight, other people will eventually find out sooner or later. It's probably inevitable. And the quicker I act, the more things are likely to be in my favor as opposed to someone else's."

>"And if some of the wilder rumors are true, and it gets me into serious trouble while I'm there....? Well, I'm honestly not sure. A couple people know that I'm going to be there tonight, at least."

>"But it might just be a mundane trip at this point, for all I know."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, exactly. Well... I don't know how far she can vanish from sight, if I ask her to. Perhaps not far enough..."

>"But we're in this together, now, so I'll have to make due. If they see her, they see her. Even if I weren't heading there tonight, other people will eventually find out sooner or later. It's probably inevitable. And the quicker I act, the more things are likely to be in my favor as opposed to someone else's."

>"And if some of the wilder rumors are true, and it gets me into serious trouble while I'm there....? Well, I'm honestly not sure. A couple people know that I'm going to be there tonight, at least."

>"But it might just be a mundane trip at this point, for all I know."

>Renko nods. "That seems to sum it up pretty well. Either you're going to have to hide her as best you can, or just make as much use of her as possible."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I'm not sure how I can 'make use of her'. But I wonder... this may be too complicated for her to understand, but I'm going to try something."

>Try to communicate to Stargazer that later tonight we will be entering a place where it is not safe for her to be seen. But even when she's been hiding, there are certain things which have still been able to see her. Can she hide more deeply than she was hiding before? And could she try it now so that we can see if they still see her?
>If she acknowledges this, and vanishes, ask Maribel or Renko to try taking a picture

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I'm not sure how I can 'make use of her'. But I wonder... this may be too complicated for her to understand, but I'm going to try something."

>Try to communicate to Stargazer that later tonight we will be entering a place where it is not safe for her to be seen. But even when she's been hiding, there are certain things which have still been able to see her. Can she hide more deeply than she was hiding before? And could she try it now so that we can see if they still see her?
>If she acknowledges this, and vanishes, ask Maribel or Renko to try taking a picture

>She seems to understand what you mean to some degree, at least the concept of hiding better. Stargazer walks toward you, and...into you. Your whole body tingles for a moment; you can feel her a sensation of her within you, a curious kind of warmth. Then the warmth fades away, you can still kind of feel her, in a sense, as a kind of awareness, but there's no physical sensation nor any sense of her thoughts. You want to say she's asleep now. You think you can reach her to wake her up.
>A camera flash brings your attention outward again. "Just the crow, now," says Maribel. "She's gone."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Wow, that worked better than I was expecting, actually. Not much I can do about the crow, though, I think. I can't sense her, and neither can Stargazer, for that matter. At least she doesn't look quite so obviously out of place."
>Tell Stargazer that she can come back out now. That she hid well enough, and should be safe if she can do that when I ask, later tonight.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Wow, that worked better than I was expecting, actually. Not much I can do about the crow, though, I think. I can't sense her, and neither can Stargazer, for that matter. At least she doesn't look quite so obviously out of place."
>Tell Stargazer that she can come back out now. That she hid well enough, and should be safe if she can do that when I ask, later tonight.

>"Isn't that what you said she did with that tree?" Maribel asks.
>You reach toward that vague feeling of Stargazer's presence. A moment later, she steps out of you, still visible. She seems a little disoriented by the experience; she doesn't seem to remember where she is immediately, it hits her a second latter in a burst of realization.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Seems when she does that, it's like falling asleep randomly, or being knocked out, it took her a second to realise where she is and such when she stepped out of me."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Seems when she does that, it's like falling asleep randomly, or being knocked out, it took her a second to realise where she is and such when she stepped out of me."

>"Well, I suppose that's fair," says Renko. "I mean. She pretty much did just, um, possess you, sorta? Are you okay?"

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "It was almost like she became a part of me. I felt a tingling sensation for a moment, then it seemed like she wasn't their any more for the most part. So I think it basicly would work like her sleeping then, for all intents and purposes. she can't be detected by the naked eye, and your camera couldn't detect her either."
> "I find it a bit pesky that both me and her can tell that something is wrong with the world, but neither of us have any clue on what is wrong. Neither of us even have any leads on what is wrong either."
> "By the way are either of you any good at KoF?" Assuming KoF is the game we play with Nitori.

[Hello Purvis]

> "It was almost like she became a part of me. I felt a tingling sensation for a moment, then it seemed like she wasn't their any more for the most part. So I think it basicly would work like her sleeping then, for all intents and purposes. she can't be detected by the naked eye, and your camera couldn't detect her either."
> "I find it a bit pesky that both me and her can tell that something is wrong with the world, but neither of us have any clue on what is wrong. Neither of us even have any leads on what is wrong either."
> "By the way are either of you any good at KoF?" Assuming KoF is the game we play with Nitori.

>"Well, it certainly looked like she did," says Renko.
>"There is the cat ghost," says Maribel. "And, I guess we have confirmation now there's some kind of magic."
>"Actually, you lived here for a long time right?" says Renko. "Tell me this. Does that forest often have so many flowers?"
>You honestly don't know, as you've never really been in it before. But you've never really heard of it having a reputation for wildflowers.
>You ask if they're much for fighters. "More into RTS, myself," says Renko.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> What are some RTS we know of/play?
> "The forest... haven't really been their until recently, and I haven't heard anything about it either."

[Hello Purvis]

> What are some RTS we know of/play?
> "The forest... haven't really been their until recently, and I haven't heard anything about it either."

>None, really. You messed around in some Blizzard stuff, but you're no good at all the micromanaging that online play requires.
>"Might be worth looking into," says Renko.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Try to ask Stargazer whether she remembers that cat ghost from last night. Could she sense anything about it?
>Try to ask Stargazer if those flowers are usually there. It IS her forest, after all

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to ask Stargazer whether she remembers that cat ghost from last night. Could she sense anything about it?
>Try to ask Stargazer if those flowers are usually there. It IS her forest, after all

>You ask her about last night. It doesn't seem she remembers last night at all. What she recalls mostly is making contact with you, and then being sort of asleep for awhile, until this morning.
>She feels it is unusual, but she's not sure if it's worth worrying about. They've certainly been increasing over the past few months.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmm.... Well, Stargazer says that the amount of flowers there is unusual. But she doesn't seem too concerned by it. Who knows?"

>"I asked her about the cat ghost, too, but I think the charm was keeping her too suppressed to even be aware of her surroundings at the time. Of course, I don't know if she'd know what it was even if she saw it. Who knows how many kinds of spirits there are, and how different they are from each other."

>"You said you're planning to have another look for it tonight?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmm.... Well, Stargazer says that the amount of flowers there is unusual. But she doesn't seem too concerned by it. Who knows?"

>"I asked her about the cat ghost, too, but I think the charm was keeping her too suppressed to even be aware of her surroundings at the time. Of course, I don't know if she'd know what it was even if she saw it. Who knows how many kinds of spirits there are, and how different they are from each other."

>"You said you're planning to have another look for it tonight?"

>"Definitely worth looking into, then" says Maribel as you explain the flower situation. "Flowers don't just manifest for no reason; they're not like weeds and grass."
>"Pity that," says Renko, "It'd be nice to get some input from her on that, but I suppose it can't be helped."
>"Yep," says Renko. "Wanna come along?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It might be worth a shot. I'd like to know if Stargazer can make anything of it. I don't think I really have other plans for later this evening. Should be long done with the research center by that time, I assume. Barring any surprise events, I think I'll tag along. Same time as last night?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"It might be worth a shot. I'd like to know if Stargazer can make anything of it. I don't think I really have other plans for later this evening. Should be long done with the research center by that time, I assume. Barring any surprise events, I think I'll tag along. Same time as last night?"

>"Same time, same place," says Maribel.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Sounds good. I'll be there."

>Current time

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sounds good. I'll be there."

>Current time

>They nod. "We'll see you there," says Maribel.
>It is a little before 5:30.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I probably ought to take off now. There's a couple things I need to do before tonight, and I don't want to be late. Here's hoping for good luck for us all tonight."

>Take the bus towards our neighborhood and head for Akyuu's house