BrokenPromise

Symphony of Espers

“FBI OPEN UP!”

— Su Fang

_{@SilverPaw@Majoras End}

Not quite what she expected. The entry hall looked clean on a quick glance. It was all pretty high tech too, just the kind of places Pax Septimus could use more of. But as clean as everything was, there were a few things that didn’t add up. The front door was locked at an unusual hour, and despite being closed, there was still a receptionist present. Maybe she was doing some “late night” bookkeeping, but it still seemed strange. The clinic was almost too clean. All the same, the last operation Su was in had too many civilian casualties. If there was a possibility the receptionist was a civilian, she didn’t want to shoot her. Though Su’s squad always came first. She might be reaching for a gun, a silent alarm, it didn’t matter. They couldn’t take her presence lightly. It was unfortunate that the lot of them looked like a bunch of gang members. Aside from her horns and the fact that her vest read “GEMINI,” She probably could have passed as a member of SWAT. Which was fitting, because…

“Back! Step Back! Away from counter!”

It didn’t really matter what the receptionist was doing. Su already had her gun drawn, so it was unlikely she could access anything before su could fire. And Su did fire, but it wasn’t a bullet. She fired a melody at the woman’s arm, which would cause all the garbage in the nearby waist bin to bind her arm.

“Make sure she not thrall! Detain her!” Su kept her gun aimed at the receptionist, should she reveal herself to be a thrall or worse. Since they came in expecting to detain the doctor, all of the espers should have received a few pairs of handcuffs for this mission. As one of her allies (ideally) moved in to cuff her, Su inhaled and spoke again, this time with a calmer tone. “Where doctor?”

Su

32 | Female | Gemini | Steel Gaze
Bipartisan | Handgun, Greatshield | Physical | Blast Zone
Dragon Breacher | Kevlar Vest
Debris | Wind | Locally Sourced
[Storm, Flight], Push, Pull, Construct, Purify, Restrain, Damage

DAMAGE: C | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: B | 500

Bronze Beam: Restrain = 48

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 452

---

”You woke me up for a ride in a JEEP PATRIOT?!!?!??!”

— Luna Gallo

Luna did not do a whole lot to prepare for the meeting with this stranger. Aside from going through her morning routine and talking to the other Mavericks, all she really did was all the basic preliminary work to make sure she wasn’t stepping into an ambush. Scout the location, have some lookouts, stuff like that. But even with all the preparation, she did have to get inside that car eventually. Her luck with working with people outside of Maverick had been pretty dismal as of late. It would be just her luck for the door to the car to shut and lock as she was smothered by a pillow, hit with knockout gas, or whatever typically befell cute girls that got in vehicles with strangers. But as soon as she got inside the car, Luna breathed a sigh of relief. She figured there would be a burlap bag over her head by now if something bad was going to happen.

The nun asked her question. Jezebel being referred to as a bird without her talons was a little disheartening. Maybe she was without her grimoire, maybe she was missing something else. But answering the question was easy. ”I think it’s worth it.” She almost added “good friends are hard to come by,” but that was too corny to tell someone she just met. ”As for questions, how about you tell me what to call you, where we’re going, and why you’re helping me for starters. .”

Not Su

21 | Female | Maverick | Fortune
Pit Boss | Staff | Arcane | High Roller
Croupier | Graceful
Gambit | Gravity | Draw 4
[Weightless, Suspend], Stabilize, Damage, Push, Transplace, Extend, Heal, Zone, Orbit, Recoil

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 750

Symphony of Espers

_{@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants}

Fritzi nodded along with their observations while jotting something down on her “notepad.”

”Unit cohesion is it.” She smiled while drumming a stylus against her chin. Though she did look at Lilliah when she delivered her next part. ”Most of your examples of ‘recklessness’ just stem from agents acting on their own impulses.” Her smile disappeared. ”But while Breacher’s choice to press against the Freelancers was ultimately the wrong thing to do, It was justified. You’re dealing with freelancers who value money so much they are willing to work alongside murderers and kidnappers. They could have routed and killed you all if you did nothing. Breacher did have her issues during that operation, but that wasn’t one of them. Though maybe I’m just hesitant to criticize her because out of everyone, she scores the highest in cohesion. Not by much, mind you, and certainly not high enough to avoid having this conversation later.”

Fritzi guided the agents deeper into the test course. While they walked, the holographic generators kicked on and their surroundings changed. The white floors became gray tiles, broken obstacles turned into giant stones with roughly the same shape, And the walls sported rows and rows of stone frames. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon, painting the sky in hues of purple. They were in a colosseum, frozen in the first minutes of sunrise.

”Speaking of freelancers, I commissioned one to spar with you today to help you learn cohesion. It’s full contact sparring, so you can get as rough as you like, but make sure to keep your defenses up.”

Not long after that, a metal gauntlet gripped one of the giant stones and shoved it out of the way. It bounced end over end across the arena floor. This revealed a gritty looking knight. His armor was covered in scratches, his sword crooked from countless battles with durable foes. His armor was scratched all over, and his cape was tattered and faded by long fights under the sun. His blade and armor were stained with blood, likely that of his adversaries. His helmet had become misshapen after numerous close calls. This was clearly a veteran of combat.

And his armor was colored pastel pink.

“Alright, I know you guys wanna fight me, but leave MAGICAL DREAM PRINCESS out of this!” The knight’s voice boomed before he cast his arm towards the tiny princess behind himself. She too wore a lot of pink, and even had pink hair. She was sitting behind the knight, lightly sobbing.

“Pwink Pwowndah! Dwont get huwurt! UwU” She handed the knight his shield, which unlike the rest of his armor, was in pristine condition. There wasn’t a single blemish on his shield, which had an image of the princess herself on its face. It was shiny and refracted the light like the paint job on a new convertible. “Pink Pounder” held the shield with pride.

Symphony of Espers

Pax Septimus wasn’t all ruined cityways, night clubs, and government buildings of. It also had a few functioning warehouses. Some became meetups for gangsters and monsters if not temporary shelters for the homeless to squat in. Though they were used to house goods on occasion. Wholesale merchandise could then be repackaged and distributed to consumers for a profit.

Some did many of these things.

”Mmmmm…”

One dark corner of this warehouse hid someone. Everything but a pink ponytail that was long enough to touch the floor. Her lips smacked followed by the occasional moan of satisfaction.

”Oros?” Sharr was sitting in one of the leather sofas the warehouse afforded. Most of them were packed up in crates, but this one had been opened up for a test. One had to make sure the sofas were comfy before they arrived at their destination, after all. ”What are you doing?”

The pony tail bobbed in the darkness as it continued to make sounds. ”Just pretending to eat a ‘par-cooked’ time traveler that had a nasty run-in with some caustic bovines.”

”Pretending to eat?” Sharr tipped her head.

”Yea.” Oros walked out of the shadows. ”Because it was a make-believe time traveler. So if I wanted to eat it, I had to pretend to eat it. Because if it was real, I would have actually eaten it. Something like that is too dog-gone good to pass up!”

”I see…” Sharr’s eyes followed Oros as she took a seat next to her. ”Mind if I try some?”

”Help yourself!” Oros held out her hand. ”Want something to drink? It’s a little dry.”

”I have a glass of caustic bovine milk right here.” She “lifted” her “glass” and gave it a shake.

”Do you have the fortitude for that?”

”I used to eat at Taco Bell every week.”

”Yeesh!” Oros pulled her hand back. ”There’s depraved, and then there’s mexican every week depraved.”

Sharr was seldom without a smile, but her lips curled up just a bit more than normal. ”When you were younger, did you play pretend?”

”Nah, just here and there.” Oros slouched and crossed one leg over the other. ”Not like I had much in the way of siblings and classmates, and my parents were pretty rigid. Kinda hard to even want to play pretend when nobody wants to play with you.”

”You’re not missing much.” Sharr kept her hands folded in her lap. ”I had a younger brother that loved to play pretend. It was fun, but as we got older, we became more competitive.” She chuckled. ”At first, we were content to just go on adventures, but with age came pride. Everything we did had to be bigger and better than the other one, to the point where we would have ‘debates.’But it was just the two of us, so we both had the freedom to pick our own narrative and discard the other one.s. Though I think that was more upsetting to him than it was to me.”

”Riveting stuff.” Oros placed her fist under her chin. ”And what do you think about your new memories? Those make believe to youl?”

Ah yes, Oros had made good on her promise and took her out of this world to meet a doctor that could ‘restore her old memories’ among other things. ”At the time, they felt alien, but they are growing on me. Though that might be because of all the parallels between the ‘old’ me and the ‘new’ me. We both knew you, we were both magical researchers, and there are a lot of other parallels.” With a sigh, her head fell back into the sofa cushions. ”But the scale is so much bigger. I know so much more about the universe, and even the connecting universes..”

”You had a brain to match your ego, yea.”

”But is this a hallucination, or real memories?” Sharr hopped off the sofa and stepped forward. After reaching behind her back, she produced a tiny gourd, capped off with a cork. With a twist, the cork popped free, and out came a “workstation.” Welders, a loom, various benches with hammers and knives at the ready, all from a gourd slightly bigger than Sharr’s fist. ”I knew my subjects well in my ‘old’ life it seems. I should be able to build something with this required knowledge. In doing so, I can confirm that what you say is true. That you and I were originally from a different reality.

”Need anything else?”

”Between what we were able to scrounge up from Penny, and what you plundered from Bob, I can probably start on something.” She placed a hand on the side of her head.

”Still out of it?”

”Yes, the incense our good doctor had me inhale is strong. I’ve had a mild headache, but it seems to be going away. Nothing to worry about.” She noticed Oros stand up. ”Heading out?”

”Yea, I got a date. Not to mention I wanna see how the Grand Magistrate managed to screw around with the Doctrine of Combat Supremacy. How do they justify magic getting so weird after every patch update?”

”You see Oros, in places where mana concentration is highest, the ebb and flow of magic can be expected to change how melodies behave, sometimes affecting certain notes and even espers over time.”

”Right, I was waiting for a shoe-horned exposition. Later.”

”Be back before bedtime.”

---

It didn’t take more than a minute for a reply to be received.

‘1342 Industrial Avenue, 1PM’

Any other message from Tetrad would be read, but ignored. It appeared likely that the PirateBayRat was only interested in sharing information in person, and for all the prep work that the Maverick Esper may plan on doing, it didn’t matter. They would have to show up. Who knew what they’d miss out on if they hadn’t?

…

That being said, it wasn’t as if it was impossible to scout out the place beforehand. 1342 Industrial Avenue lead to the outer core of the city of Pax Septimus, where more than a few construction suppliers were lined up. There were steel mills, recycling plants, repair shops for large-sized vehicles, and so much more, all of them with only minimal activity, if they hadn’t been completely abandoned. A previous mayor had offered subsidies for such businesses to flourish, but when those subsidies ended up in the pockets of local mobs instead, such benefits were quickly cut off, and now, the monolithic buildings only remained as silent observers to whatever crimes were committed away from the city’s core.

The facility that Tetrad sought in particular was a cordoned-off manufacturing plant for computer parts, one that had long been set for demolition and yet spared over the years, until it became so overloaded with graffiti and dilapidated from mistreatment that it could qualify as modern art. Before the rusted rent-a-fences stood a Jeep Patriot, painted a flashy red with windows opaque. The rear passenger door was open, inviting, and when Tetrad decided to bite the bullet and step in, she caught the gaze of the individual lounging against the driver’s seat, a half-full cigarette tray balanced above the dashboard. One of the woman’s eyes was hidden by an ornate leather eyepatch, and her long dark hair was tied back into a low ponytail.

“Hey,” she drawled, “Glad you made it. Now, before you get to your questions, I’ll ask you one first, copy? There’s gonna be a lotta killin’, and it’s going to be for a little bird who won’t even have her talons anymore. Still worth it to you, doll?”

---

_@Izurich

The phone number on the van turned out to be the same one Silmeria found online, which led to the “seemingly legit” business. Of course, this was the first time Silmeria was in front of one of their actual vans, and it seemed like it was unlocked. She used the muzzle of her gun to swing the back doors open and peer inside. At the very back there was a small lawn mower and a weed whacker, but of greater interest to Silmeria was the crate in the back, which looked very familiar.

Just over the top of the crate, Silmeria would be able to see Aria running into the nursery. It was odd, really. Usually espers were so careful about revealing their true identity, but Aria had de-transformed in the mission area on a few occasions, and Silmeria was able to recognize the Protector when she was out of the esper state. After she disappeared inside the house, Silmeria’s eyes drifted down to the crate in front of her.

The crate that weretigers loaded young damsels into.

That Silmeria and Aria helped fight, no less.

…Shit.

If there was an upshot to this, it was that they probably didn’t know Silmeria was here yet. That meant that she would have plenty of time to-

”Chase me!”

The front door to the nursery was thrown open yet again as a teenager barreled outside. While Su lead a fairly private life, the one thing that almost everyone in her squad knew about was her adopted daughter Mika. During operations at odd hours, she would usually leave Mika at the nursery. She was probably a little old, but always seemed to enjoy her time there, and none of the caretakers seemed to mind the older girl’s presence.

The native American kid was running as fast as her legs would take her, clutching a keychain in her hand. It was glowing between Mika’s fingers. Hot on her trail was a disgruntled man, who just looked a little bit more like a mobster than a landscaper. His clothes were just a bit too clean, and his hair had been greased back. He had a hand on his hip to keep his pistol from bouncing out of his holster.

Silmeria had to act carefully. This could turn into a hostage situation if it wasn’t one already. But once she fired her gun, the genie was out of the bottle.

---

_{@SilverPaw@Majoras End}

Havoc made quick work of the door, a simple twist of the backspike sufficient enough to pop the lock off and swing the door open. Immediately, the smell of herbal aromatics blew towards the three agents, incandescent lamps and near-inaudible music combining to make for an atmosphere similar to that of a spa. Light too shone from the walls, large monitors creating virtual depictions of ‘windows’, ‘windows’ that depicted a more pastoral setting than the grungy city block right outside the refuge. It wasn’t too bad of a place, upon retrospect, and the furniture in the waiting room looked to be rather tasteful as well, sleek and unintrusive, but certainly designed with ergonomics in mind.

Of course, all those environmental details didn’t mean much when there was only one other moving individual within the reception area, and only one corridor leading deeping into the clinic.

The receptionist, a young woman in comfortable but professional attire, widened her eyes at the sudden, violent intrusion of three costume-wearing nutjobs, then widened them even more at the very real weapons that they all wielded. Sure, Pax Septimus was a bad place, but what the hell? “Uh, uh?!” she stammered, flicking her eyes from one of them to another. But her hands remained hidden by the large desk, and the way her shoulders shifted made it clear that she was reaching for something.

---

_{@The World@Ponn@ERode}

They didn’t have many opportunities to speak before the date of the operation, and as a group of individuals from all walks of life, there was reason enough to not speak too much about what they could do until they were literally in front of Sofron’s apartment. Plans were discussed, melodies were cast, attention was gotten. A group of whispering girls was the most natural thing in the world, but the bartender immediately took notice of Klava’s melody. Was he in on it or not? If they hit Sofron soon, there wouldn’t be much he could do about it anyway.

…

The Grizzly Rose was a fairly standard night club, but the real star of the show was the apartment that sat on top of the joint. The club downstairs was fine for mass raves, but for those that wanted a smaller party with just their closest friends, this was a superior atmosphere.

The apartment was very modern. The kitchen, living room, dining room, and main hall were all one room. They were loosely divided by an island counter, which cut off the kitchen and dining room from the living room and main hall, which was where guests would enter from.

The dining room was strategically placed to offer a view of two different vistas. One was the giant glass wall that let one view the harbor. But at this hour, most of the sailboats had come in, and dark would be falling soon. Which left the second vista, which was inside the apartment itself. On the other side of the main hall was a dance floor. Above it was a giant glass dome housing a transparent rose. It threw hues of neon light all over the floor as the sculpture refracted lights in its prismatic body.

”This is nuts!” Sitting across from Sofron was a star struck young woman. She was wearing a red dress, which couldn’t contain the massive squirrel tail protruding out the bottom of it. Of course, one could also just look at her face to tell there was something off about her. Her eyes were giant black marbles, and spaced a bit further apart than normal. Her nose was also a bit wider than normal, and she had whiskers. But none of this bothered the butler sitting across from her.

"The noise damping is pretty good, yes." He was enjoying an almond scone and tea. The perfect end to an evening. "It’s not badly priced, either. Well, it’s more of a job perk for me, but you know."

”Yea, you told me!” She took another bite of her scone, her eyes transfixed on the giant rose in the distance. ”So this whole place is named after that sculpture?”

"The sculpture came later, I believe the name is a reference to beauty and the beast, actually." He held his chin. "The beast was cursed, and if he did not find someone who loved him before the rose died, he would remain a beast forever."

”It does kind of look like the one in the Disney cartoon. I mean, aside from the whole hanging upside down bit.”

"The beast had a decade to find his true love, but real roses usually die in a week or two."

”Well, you don’t have to wait that long if you don’t want to.”

Sofron glanced down at his hip. His cell phone was vibrating. "I’m expecting company in a few hours."

Symphony of Espers

“Where you go, cotton-eye joe?”

— Su Fang

_{@SilverPaw@Majoras End}

Su knew why she had been included on this assignment, that didn’t mean she had to like it.

Jacqueline was a reliable ally, if a bit too focused for her own good. She had caused some property damage to the police station they were trying to save along with a few bottles of Jack Daniels, and drew her own blood in front of a night walker. Though these lapses in judgement were more than made up by her sheer determination. Su did not know many agents that would have the endurance to continue fighting with their guts out of place, or to have a cool enough head to talk someone like Rottweiler down.

Finn was not someone that Su had much experience dealing with. During both operations they were only in the same room for a moment before they parted ways. He had been an effective ally it seemed. though his obsession with Betty was problematic, and something that could indirectly crop up anywhere. His emotions needed to be tempered a bit, much like her own adopted daughter. So long as he listened, she was sure things would be alright.

Aaaaand now he was just pulling on the front door. The chances of the front door being boobytrapped were pretty slim, but Su would have preferred to do as little to alert the enemy as possible. Though maybe now was a good time to talk strategy.

”Timekeeper, stay with Leroux or I at all time. No running ahead, okay? Keep us safe, keep you safe.” Su had been briefed on Finn’s abilities after he was recruited. Support, and one armed with a rapier. Not a combination that made Su happy, but none of them chose their grimoires.

”Leroux, behind me when enemy not present. Remember, detain doctor, not kill.” She smiled a bit to let Jaquiline know she wasn’t totally serious about her concern involving the mission target, except she was.

She cast her gaze towards the door. If Finn managed to open it, she would raise her shield and enter the clinic first, expecting the other agents to fall in line behind her. Otherwise, she’d gesture for Jaquilne to “pick” the door open first.

Su

32 | Female | Gemini | Steel Gaze
Bipartisan | Handgun, Greatshield | Physical | Blast Zone
Dragon Breacher | Kevlar Vest
Debris | Wind | Locally Sourced
[Storm, Flight], Push, Pull, Construct, Purify, Restrain, Damage

DAMAGE: C | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: B | 500

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 500

---

”I always wake up to trouble. But do I ever wake up to a foot rub? Noooooooooo…”

— Luna Gallo

Luna’s typical morning routine involved Billy’s voice booming through the halls of the Bastion, a literal wake up call that poured through the speaker system. When that failed, or in certain emergencies, Trixy would barge into her room and shake her awake. She could sleep through most things, and was honestly a little suprised her phone had managed to wake her up.

But she was glad that it had.

Did she believe this ‘rat’? Not exactly. It would be too easy for GEMINI to use Shimr to bait Tetrad into leaving the safety of the Bastion. But she couldn't discount the chance they might know where Jez was. Even if it was a gem, capturing them could get her closer to Jez’s location anyway. Hundreds of scenarios played out in her head, and they all made persuing this lead seem like a good idea.

Alright. you have my attention.

She reached into a mini fridge under her bed. Half a slice of cold pizza later, she was in her bathroom brushing her teeth. But her phone was always there, waiting for PirateBayRat's next message.

Not Su

21 | Female | Maverick | Fortune
Pit Boss | Staff | Arcane | High Roller
Croupier | Graceful
Gambit | Gravity | Draw 4
[Weightless, Suspend], Stabilize, Damage, Push, Transplace, Extend, Heal, Zone, Orbit, Recoil

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 750

Symphony of Espers

Normally villainy has to be planned in secret. It’s not wise to openly talk about illegal activities. But that only applies to places where the bulk of the inhabitants aren’t mindless zombies or unpleasant people. The police force was still weak, GEMINI had less than ten active espers, and Maverick had fewer still. The freelancers were numerous, but also divided and not without their own unsavory sides.

Why wouldn’t Justin just abduct Betty from the Great Escape?

Ditching the Bates was easy. In the end, the city was on his side, it was his to wonder, and even two reasonably powerful espers didn’t have the manna to fight everyone. It just wasn’t feasible to attack Justin out in the open like this. But that wasn’t to say this whole thing was favorable for him.. Justin had lost several irreplaceable treasures, and one of his favorite homes.

The vampire had since split off from his companions. Sofron would lead Betty and PAc-A-Fist to another one of his lairs, but Justin had other business to attend to. He drew a black capsule from his coat and popped it open, revealing a gold phone.he punched in a few numbers before holding it up to his ear. The person he called didn’t greet him. Likely because they saw his name via caller ID.

”Morning Dragon Fruit the eighteenth.” The vampire clenched his teeth. ”Are you still interested in the Burns estate? I may be willing to part with it. ”

A chipper, feminine voice responded to him, absolutely seething with glee.

“Ah, is this Mr. Carthage speaking? It is an absolute pleasure to hear from you again! How are you, good sir? I do hope you were able to evacuate the majority of your vanity projects from the estate before, as you’re well aware, your own minions sunk the value of the property to the price of…” Obnoxious clicking and clacking sounded, as if someone was just mashing their fingers against a calculator. “...a mobile home from the 70s!”

”The mansion, yes, but not the property.” Justin slinked into an alleyway, stepping over an open bag of garbage. ”You’re going to knock it down and build one of your business ventures anyway, so whatever’s on top shouldn’t matter.”

“Ah, yes, so a matter of land prices, right? Thank you for being so understanding, Justin! I will certainly have a completely independent appraiser to determine the value of the land after you’ve revealed that the neighborhood is infested with gun-toting criminals and giant ants!” A girlish giggle sounded immediately after.

Justin curled his lips inside his mouth. ”I think we should continue this over a meeting. Glex should be dropping by, and I have something that would interest her.” He grinned. ”Have a place I can drop by, or would you rather come to one of my mansions?”

“And of course I’ve got a place! The carnival’s in town, so how about a nice and enigmatic meeting inside a mirror maze?”

He snorted. ”I hadn’t realized your family was visiting. Very well, so long as it meets her expectations, it will do.” Justin had been dealing with this woman long enough to know that the meeting spot she suggested was not a joke, and trying to sway her mind would just lead to even more ridiculous places. A moving carnival was, admittedly, a pretty discreet meeting place. By the time anyone thought to search the area for clues, the evidence would be packed up and moved away. ”Can you meet us there within the hour?”

There was ‘beep’ as the phone switched to ‘Speaker’ mode, and in that moment, Justin heard both the shrieks of children and adults alike, as well as the demented accordian shriek of carnival music.

Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. ”Right. Don’t go anywhere.” He hung up without waiting for a response.

---

There wasn’t much to say about the carnival. Like so many other moving carnivals, it was a bunch of cheap thrills that were designed to be set up and packed up quickly. Most of the attractions were small, and charged exorbitant prices You could pay twenty dollars to throw a weighted basketball at a hoop that, while looked normal, was actually a few feet taller than a standard regulation basketball hoop. This was probably more fair than the six-shooter that you could use to hunt seven ducks, fling a bouncy ball into shot glass, or any of the other “games” that offered prizes that could be purchased cheaper online. In contrast to this, the food was cheap. Even if you spent most of your money getting conned by the games, you’d still have enough money to buy some greasy chicken afterwards. And the other attractions were somewhere in the middle. Not as cheap as the food, but probably more enjoyable than the games. Though as technology progressed, the thrill of riding around on a carousel or entering a labyrinth of mirrors became less appealing. Such childish attractions would only amuse children.

Or those with child-like minds.

Justin refused to dress modestly to fit in, which caused a few of the carnival goers to confuse him for an employee. Several children wanted their picture taken with the count, but they were ignored. He made a beeline for the mirror maze. Though he had to pace his steps with the blonde woman wrapped around his arm. Unlike him, she very much fit the stereotype of a carnival goer. She was on the skinny side and had her hair cropped half way down her neck. Her jacket and shorts were all denim, and she wore a shirt that read “I’m in my own little world, but it’s okay, they know me here.” More than her clothes, what marked her as a carnival goer was that everything she saw impressed her. Yet there was also something off about her, something indecent. Maybe it was the dark rings around her eyes, the fact that she never blinked, that her gaze hung below everyone’s shoulders, or just how pleased she looked to be in some cheap carnival. This wasn’t the 1920’s anymore, it was the 2020’s.

Once they entered the mirror maze, it was what most could expect from a five dollar entry fee. The maze itself was inside a modest sized tent, with a few fold out walls. It wasn’t much of a maze, and was more of a linear path from one side of the tent to the exit at the other side. Though one could stop and see how each mirror altered their reflection. Vampires did not traditionally have reflections, but that was only the case when Justin exposed his eyes. Otherwise, his clothes and makeup showed up in the mirrors just fine. That wasn’t to say seeing his majesty distorted by some carnival mirrors was to his amusement.

”So.” Justin grunted. ”Morning Dragon Fruit the eighteenth is probably around here somewhere. I didn’t see them on my way in.”

.”Then we just gotta find her!” The blonde wandered down the hall of mirrors. .”Yo-hoo! Fruity? Where are you hiiiidiiing?”

Despite the simplicity of the maze’s design, there were nevertheless more than a couple ways of hiding one’s self within a linear path. Namely, all one had to do was remove the hinges off one of the mirrored walls and slip behind it. And when some names were shot out, well…

“It’s Morning, not Fruity,” chimed the chipper voice. The mirrored wall two meters off from the strange couple’s location creaked open, and a perfectly manicured hand beckoned them to come within, drawing them into the darkness of the other side of the looking glass. A woman, a professional-looking woman in a crisp business suit and glasses, smiled at them the way a child would. Morning looked to be in a good mood indeed, and her expressions, as genuine as honey scooped out from a hive in a forest, were infectious, alluring.

“Are the big boys coming too, or are we just here to kiss little Justin’s boo-boo?”

”Oh, that won’t be necessary. If I had any wounds, I have plenty of attractive servants to shower them with kisses.” He chopped the air with his arm, as if to sever the current thread of conversation. ”I thought Glex might be interested in what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks.” He turned to look at the blonde woman he entered the maze with. ”Last time we met, you said that Oros might be in Pax Septimus to collect some espers, and that we should do everything in our power to ensure she doesn’t meet them.”

Glex was examining a corner of the empty corridor before she turned to look at Justin. Their eyes didn’t meet though. ”Yes, they were talking about Betty on Shimr.”

Justin’s grin only grew. ”I believe that a gentleman should work to surpass what is expected of him at all times. I acquired Betty Barton last week, and Pac-A-Fist just today.”

Glex’s eyes flicked up to meet Justin’s ”You acquired them?”

”Yes!” He had no trouble letting his pride show. ”If our enemy wants a precious resource, I’ll sacrifice anything to get it. I had a close scrape with GEMINI and Maverick, however-”

”They didn’t discover the hand of entropy exists, did they?” Glex hadn’t blinked since she started looking at Justin.

”I don’t know how they could have. We don’t exactly keep documents or anything like that.” Justin averted his “gaze” . turned away from Glex. ”I’m not sure what Oros was going to do with them. They have fairly modest power as far as espers are concerned, but given what the Monarch has become after coming in contact with her, I think it’s fair to say I’ve only scratched the surface of what they can do.” He shrugged his shoulders. ”Of course, if you think they should be executed, that can be arranged.”

Glex hummed. ”Mmmm, nah, they might be useful in a few weeks when the diver arrives. We can’t assume Oros wants them alive anyway. Killing them might bring on even more bugs.” Her eyes dropped down to Justin’s hands and her smile returned. ”Alright, I guess you did okay, but I don’t like this game.” She pouted. ”Penny isn’t around to draw heat off of you anymore. You need to be more careful, or it’s game over!”

”No need to worry about me. I have far too many places to hide, and too many willing to die in my place.” He turned to look at Morning. ”So Morning, if that is how you’d like to be addressed, I do have the deed for the Berns estate on my person. Name the right price, and it's yours.”

The suited woman stared through Justin as if he were glass, no more than a transparent obstruction to larger schemes. Like a human looking upon an anthill. Like an old god looking upon Sodom. There was, in that moment, a perfect stillness.

Then she broke it with a smile, and slapped her fist against her palm. “Right, the Diver! Thanks for the reminder, lil Glex. That event totally slipped my mind.” With catastrophe on the horizon, there was no need to be too hasty with new acquisitions after all. “I’ll let this slip once as well, Mr. Carthage. Glex gets to call me Morning. You may address me by my full name. And, of course, we can discuss the matter of property after the Diver’s done their detour.”

Even without owning the land, after all, she still had her fingers in construction.

Justin curled one of his fingers into his palm and pressed on it with his thumb until it cracked. ”If that is your preference, so be it.”

---

_{@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants}

”Good evening, agents.”

Fritzi paced back and forth in front of Samuel and Lilliah. Her eyes were locked on her tablet, which she was prodding with a stylus. They were standing in the new and improved training room. Ashley had been the first to test it out, but Binky had made a lot of enhancements since then. Remnants of the old obstacle course were still in place, which had recently been used to test Finn’s abilities. It seemed that they had not yet been repaired. But Sam and Lilliah were enlisted agents, and evaluations were seldom conducted after one was hired. Neither one had an idea as to why they were here. After making them wait in silence for the better part of a minute, Fritzi looked up at them with a smile.

”I don’t think the operation at Justin von Carnage’s mansion was anyone’s finest hour.” She tapped the top of her stylus. ”I read your reports. It seems our enemies are more numerous than I initially thought, and I wasn’t too generous with my initial estimation. The nun, in particular, will be troublesome.” With a huff, Fritzi placed a hand on her hip. ”Well, I read your reports, but now I want to hear your opinions. What do you think your squad’s greatest weakness is?”

---

Morning broke bright, heralding a brisk, blue sky, but down in the depths of Bastion, the only indication of the transition between night and day came from digital clocks and mood lighting. Living a subterranean life had benefits, but the inability to synchronize the body and mind with the rotation of the planet was not one of them. Unless, of course, one had a phone with alarms set religiously to remind them when to sleep and when to wake.

This time, however, no such alarm roused Luna from her slumber. Rather, by chance or by fate, the Maverick Esper found herself blinking her eyes open to the sound of a ‘ding’. A message, sent from a username that she didn’t recognize on Shimr.

‘PirateBayRat.’

In most other circumstances, such messages could be ignored, of course. It was too damn early for a booty call from a random, and it wasn’t as if Shimr was free from hackers trying to steal account log-in info with innocuous image links that just don’t seem to be able to load. But while it may have been only by luck that Luna was roused by a message, it was by intention that she became wide awake immediately after.

‘A little bird on a decaying grapevine told me’

‘where your lost little lamb is’

---

_@mantou

Aria’s shift at the nursery was about to start. She had given herself plenty of time to arrive, but the subway was packed today, and the diminutive woman couldn’t see over most people. The way Aria was getting bumped back and forth, they might have mistaken her for a ball of mochi. None of them were getting off at her stop, which made it even harder to reach the exit in time. But she managed. Aria wouldn’t need to take a detour this time.

After a scenic walk to the city’s outskirts, she saw it, the orphanage where she worked part time. It was just a small cottage that had been converted into a nursery. It stood between two newer homes, but there was a row of trees at either side that kept the nursery isolated. Not that anyone was home during working hours anyway. Aria’s shift ended around three to four O’clock, at which point all of the kids would be picked up.

And speaking of kids, it was not uncommon for Aria to find a few of them waiting outside already. Though if she looked a bit harder, she’d make out some of them walking behind the windows.

They had gotten inside.Had the last caretaker forgotten to lock up?

---

_{@SilverPaw@Majoras End}

When it came to agents that were both capable and mentally sound, there really was only one that fit the bill: Dragon Breacher. The others were all either immature or possessing particular fixations, after all, and Silhouette, the one who could be trusted at least to rein in his predilections, was occupied. But while any old patrol of Pax Septimus could be handled by just a duo of agents, today’s occasion was different.

Two hours before, Dragon Breacher, Leroux, and the newly-recruited Timekeeper had been briefed on an assignment of utmost import. While Justin’s own hideout remained out of the grasp of the GEMINI’s own analysts, CCTV monitoring and ‘collaboration’ with local authorities had uncovered a couple of key threads, the most promising of which the trio was sent to investigate now.

A month or two back, a private clinic, the Aspiria Refuge, opened up in Pax Septimus, offering up mental health services. This was good and normal, and they operated as such, paying protection money to the Mixed Nuts Gang. In the last week, however, surveillance had caught an influx of patients coming in. Patients that did not come out, and patients that were not reported as ‘missing persons’ either. The reason behind it, after some cross-referencing, became obvious.

Those patients were thralls. The same escaped thralls that GEMINI forces had come to battle with during the initial raid of the Carnage Mansion. Possibilities of all sorts could be surmised, of course, hypotheses stacked atop each other, but in the end, speculation was meaningless, and the mission was clear.

Enter the clinic, detain the doctor, and investigate the premises.

So now, there the three of them were, across the sidewalk facing Aspiria Refuge.

In person, it was an unremarkable building. Two stories tall, with the second floor serving as a living space for the doctor, presumably. White-washed walls glistened in the noontime sun, more a sign of anti-graffiti measures than an obsession with a well-kept building. The signage was blocky and friendly, with the logo being that of a dove carrying the Rod of Asclepius.

There were no windows, however, and a paper sign on the metal door read ‘Closed’.

A medical clinic, closed during the middle of the weekday, at noon of all times.

It was a good thing, then, that the GEMINI agents possessed a no-knock warrant.

---

_@Izurich

The other agents were with Fritzi or preparing for an operation, which left Ashley and Silmeria to patrol. Silmeria’s shift had ended about ten minutes ago, but she decided to continue her patrol outside her usual route. Surely even the monsters were aware of their patrol paths, and it wouldn’t hurt to do something a bit more extra.

But then where should she go? Just wander?

She wouldn’t need to think about it.

Silmeria came across a van. The clear coat had dulled from years of baking in the sun, but it was well maintained. The rims had all been cleaned, and barring a few scratches here and there, it looked to be in good shape. The newest addition to the van was a vinyl logo. “Pax Landscaping,” with a cartoon tiger jubilantly pushing a mower over some turf, followed by “We stripe it!” and a phone number.

It did look like a good time to mow down some weeds.

---

_{@OwO, wuts this?}

The roar of six cylinders sounded out through the desolate streets of Pax Septimus, a muscle car prowling freely in the night. Apollo, as it happened to be, was driving, fresh off the sort of pub crawl that would make most lesser specimens keel over and get rushed into the hospital for a new liver. He, of course, was built different. A chad amongst chads, a machine bound in flesh, the man was driving straight even with a liter of pure alcohol being processed through his veins, cruising through the neon shitscape of the City of Blood n Sin with both windows open. Monstrous music blasted out as the cool wind flowed in, whisking the sweat of premarital sex off his skin.

Aftercare and bedtalk, after all, were both beta things. Apollo was the man who was out before the first cigarette even finished.

But perhaps he wasn’t alone in enjoying the 4AM roads after all. Hi-beams flashed against his rearview mirror, then dimmed to reveal the silhouette of another car: a scarlet red Pontiac Firebird, its hood vibrating with the force of its own engine. The windows were too target to make out anything of the driver within, but the intent was clear as the car first changed lanes, then caught up to Apollo’s own vehicle. The intent was clear enough, and this road, following the path to the abandoned industrial section of the city, was a winding, deadly one, well known for both fatal car accidents and absolutely badass street races.

Of course, knowing all this, there was only one path and one road for Apollo…unless, of course, he was feeling like a little bitch instead.

---

_{@The World@Ponn@ERode}

As it turned out, Ashley and Marrie had no reason to wait for High-Priest to acquire another esper. After Tetrad gave Klava Marrie’s number, Marrie and her talked and realized they were both trying to find Sofron. High-Priest seemed pleased with this outcome, citing the Maiden as a reliable and experienced ally that was perfect for rounding out the team. They offered pay suitable for the mission’s completion,and some instructions. You’re not really working for a mysterious patron without following a few obscure instructions.

The trio walked down an alleyway in the dead of night. The only thing lighting the way was two barrel fires situated at either end of the street. After spotting a table with a tarot card depicting the high priestess, Marrie showed her phone to one of the players, which had a PNG of the tarot emperor loaded onto it. One of the players sneezed, and then three card players from entirely different groups approached the espers. There was a fox girl wearing a police uniform, only she had decided to forgo her top for a leather harness and a bikini, which her badge was clipped to. Another “officer” just wore a vest, which was open and revealed the awesome six pack he was rocking. He also had a mustache that glistened in the evening sun. The last one was the tallest. This officer wore a strange knit garment that only covered his arms and the lower half of his face, but exposed his torso, which was only covered in a net.They looked strange, but not more so than the espers before them. They locked arms with the espers like they were all besties going to a club together, casually chatting with each other.

And then they guided the espers into Grizzly Rose, a night club.

Not that anyone could tell on the inside. Once you were inside, all you could feel were sensations. Hues of red and purple light hit the espers like a freight train, or maybe it was the dated electric techno music. Clouds of smoke rolled out of some vents, which were bathed in neon light. Silhouettes of warm bodies swayed and bounced, but not to any particular rhythm. They were just as eccentrically dressed as they were, if not more so. The night had just begun, however, and their guides were able to steer them towards their destination.

The first floor of Grizzly rose was a fairly standard rave, but there was a penthouse a few stories up that allowed for a more relaxed environment. Justin had purchased it for Sofron, and according to High-Priest, he was using it tonight.

The esper’s guides took them far away from the dance floor and sat at the bar, where they continued their conversation. It was actually quiet enough that one could hear themselves think. But just beyond the bar was a staircase that led to the penthouse.The only other way in was through the window that overlooked the sea, but that wasn’t exactly a subtle option. Then again, the door leading in was likely locked, and Sofron probably wasn’t taking visitors.

For now, the espers were on their own.

Symphony of Espers

&

Marrie Knight

Finding individual espers was hard, but Marrie had time.

She hadn’t had much luck finding “The Knight of Tomorrow” on the day High-Priest contacted her. Luna was stopping by later with Pizza, and it was probably for the best that Stacy wasn’t the only one to greet her. The following day was more fruitful, however.

Marrie had figured out that the GEMINI espers patrolled the same general area. The exact route varied depending on who was patrolling, but there were certain areas that they could be expected to check. It made sense, there were probably a number of GEMINI’s enemies that would study the exact route and lay an ambush. But there were certain areas that the agents could always be expected to arrive at. One such spot was a usually empty intersection that served as a four way stop. If one was willing to leave the main road, it provided the fastest and most discreet route to the police station.

Orion had been spotted here, and she would show up again in time. Marrie just had to decide on how to best approach her without coming across as hostile. Should be easy, provided her mark had a rational mind.

So she decided to simply wait there in esper form, leaning against one of the stop signs and watching towards the police station. She had her Instrument put away and was watching her phone at the same time, glancing between it and where she expected Orion to appear from. If all went well, she’d notice her the same time that she was noticed.

Ashley was going about her assigned patrol, when she noticed a young woman leaning against a stop sign. She had distinctive blue hair and was looking at something on her phone. Since she didn’t appear to be hostile, the G.E.M.I.N.I. agent decided to cautiously approach her. “Hello,” Ashley greeted. “Are you waiting to meet someone?”

Purple hair, check. Green visor, check. White leotard… also check. If High-Priest’s description was right, this was probably her. ”Hiya.” Marrie replied. ”I’m hoping to find someone called ‘Orion’, do you know her?” She asked in the most unassuming voice she could.

“Oh! Um, that’s me,” Ashley replied. “Agent Orion, Knight of Tomorrow, at your service!” she announced with a friendly smile. “How can I help you?”

Wow. That was easy. Marrie thought to herself before speaking up. ”Oh, cool! I’m also a ‘knight,’ of sorts.” She laughed slightly. ”But anyway, I’m supposed to see if you’re willing to help, basically, defeat a certain vampire? I’d be psyched if you would share some way to contact you for that purpose.”

“A vampire?” Ashley repeated, her eyes widening. “Do you mean Justin von Carnage?! Of course I’ll help!” she declared, her voice filled with fierce determination. “I saw the horrible atrocities that monster inflicted upon the people of this city firsthand,” she continued as she retrieved her phone from a pouch on her belt. “And I’ll do anything to ensure he never hurts another innocent ever again!”

As a precaution to protect her identity, Ashley had purchased a second phone for use while doing G.E.M.I.N.I.-related activities, and so the number she provided Marrie wouldn’t allow the girl to link Agent Orion and Ashley Avenir together. “May I have your contact information as well?” she inquired.

Marrie blinked. She wasn’t sure this was supposed to go so easily. ”I’ll do you one better,” she said as she shifted her phone around to face Orion, ”I’ll also give you how to contact someone who claims to be able to help too.” Her phone, which she’d set up info in an extra tab on, displayed Pac’s phone number, her own number, as well as her Shimr contact and High-Priest’s in a note tab. ”I can just text this to you if you want, but there’s the two numbers I can be found at, and my Shimr and that of the other person I’m… working with? I don’t know how I’d describe our work relationship, but we’re both after Justin right now.”

“Oh, wow, thanks,” Ashley told the blue-haired girl as she entered the various numbers in her phone. “So, um, what should I call you?”

”Gale works.” Marrie had been thinking for a long time now about an alias, and she was no closer to a good one than when she started. But this would be fine for now.

“Okay,” Ashley replied as she added the name to her contacts list. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Gale,” she added with a smile once she’d finished. “I’m looking forward to working together.”

Marrie nodded with a smile before turning around to go home, waving over her shoulder. She’d let High-Priest know that she was successful after checking on Stacy.

And later, Marrie would receive a reward for her efforts that outstripped the difficulty of the operation. Nearly half of the reward money that she would have gotten had Justin decided to pay up for a job that just required a bit of searching.

…

…

…

But Ashley would receive a text message not long after Marrie’s reward went through.

Hello, Knight of tomorrow. Would you mind taking a picture of your face? I’m confirming your identity.

The message was from the aforementioned High-Priest that Gale had shown her earlier.

-“How’s this?”- she texted back after sending the requested picture.

You could stand to smile a bit more, agent. But yes, that passes muster. The time of day and location look correct.

I'm not sure what the other esper told you, so I'll lay it all out here. I am interested in bringing down Justin von Carnage. While there are many people in your company that likely wish to do the same, I believe you are most suited for this operation out of all of them. I am interested in keeping this operation as secret as possible, which means limiting the number of people who are aware of it. I think we can both agree that the siege on Justin's mansion had less than desirable results. He was able to prepare for it due to the bickering online, and it seems that both GEMINI and Maverick were aware the other one was going to attack that day, which created other problems. This suggests the existence of moles in both organizations.

Working in a small team means that we need to take small steps, however. Justin will not be toppled in a single operation, but we can cripple him a bit at a time. Due to the nature of this operation, you cannot let your superiors or friends know what is going on, and you may have to work alongside people in unsavory standing. Would you be willing to work under these conditions for the greater good?

Ashley hadn’t been smiling because she was still somewhat apprehensive about the mysterious individual she was conversing with. Although they were interested in taking out Justin, without any idea who they were, she was left to wonder whether on not she was dealing with someone just as sinister as Justin himself, if not even worse. Still, she did know Justin, was agonizingly familiar with the suffering he had caused already, and would continue to cause, as long as he was allowed to exist. She also knew that this “High Priest” was right. The high-profile nature of their operation against Justin’s mansion had doomed it from the start. Something smaller, more secretive, was needed, and even if that meant going behind the backs of her superiors, she would do so, as long as it ensured the end of Justin von Carnage. Indeed, the extermination of monsters for the protection of the human race was G.E.M.I.N.I.’s primary mission. Thus, the Knight of Tomorrow would stop at nothing in order to achieve that goal. And if it turned out that this “High Priest” also harbored evil intentions, then she would just kill him, too.

-“I would.”- she responded. -“What’s our first move?”-

Our first move is to defeat Justin’s favorite servant. I am referring to Baleful Sofron. He is Justin’s most trusted minions, and one of the reasons why Justin was able to elude combat so easily. I have located many of his favorite hangouts, but I will need more time before I can safely say where he will be.

I also feel that the team needs at least one more member. Someone with experience. I will let you know who I have selected as soon as I know who they are.

Some time passed, and Ashley received another message.

I am picking you all for very specific reasons. I am not sure if you got the chance to converse with the other esper, but I believe that they are a good sort. They are reliable, and while they lack experience, they will never allow harm to come to anyone so long as there is a chance there is good in them.

That is why I need you.

They may be committed to stopping Justin, but Sofron is a man. There can be no hesitation when dealing with him. I’ve chosen to include you in this mission because I believe you know how important it is that he is killed without question. You have seen what Justin is willing to do first hand. I know you will not spare someone who happily serves someone like him..

-“Yes,”- Ashley agreed. -“Anyone who willingly serves a monster like Justin no longer deserves to be called a human, so please be assured that I will not hesitate in eliminating the threat they pose.”-

I would not have picked you if I doubted your dedication.

I will speak with you two again in a few days. Until then, watch your back. Your enemies are everywhere.

Symphony of Espers

The patch work on the modification notes is donezo. If you wanna know exactly what was done, please look here. It's mostly just some small cost adjustments and clarifications, though I do recommend looking at any notes that you use with your esper. the DoCS reflects these changes, so you can look at whatever is more convenient for you.

In addition to the note updates, Condition and Logic Gate Notes will be available for all espers over the next operation. So you have them even if they are not listed on your genre. This will either be cool or end hilariously.

Next downtime I likely won't have too many notes I wanna implement, so I should be able to add some of those new features we discussed in the past. Last thing I wanna do for notes is give them some keywords and maybe implement note speeds for those times when melodies are flying left and right, and timing matters. But everything is good for the moment.

Operations should commence tomorrow, so good luck with that.

SoE Patch Notes

-Construction given slightly more versatility, and its durability has been clarified.

Old:

Construction: Mana cost (4)
Makes a solid obstacle out of an esper’s element. The obstacle’s size is dependent on the rank of the melody. at E rank, it can be no larger than a 5x5 cube. Every rank above E increases the max dimensions by 5 feet. Some level of complexity is allowed, such as making drawbridges and doors. Machinery and equally complex items cannot be made. Lasts 10 minutes.

New:

Construction: Mana cost (4)
Makes a solid obstacle out of an esper’s element. The obstacle’s size is dependent on the rank of the melody. At E rank, It cannot have a volume greater than a 5x5 cube. The final shape of the Construction need not fit inside a cube, but none of its dimensions can go beyond double the cube’s size. Every rank above E increases the max dimensions by 5 feet. Some level of complexity is allowed, such as making drawbridges and doors, but machinery and equally complex items cannot be made. Constructions are brittle, but retain defenses equal to the rank of the melody. Lasts 10 minutes.

-Craft makes a return for different type of constructions:

Craft: Mana cost (2)
Make tools out of an esper’s element. The tool's size is dependent on the rank of the melody. At E rank, it can be no larger than a 1x1 cube. Every rank above E increases either the dimensions of the tool by 1 foot or the quantity of Crafts by 1. If other notes are used along with Craft, they can be imbued in the tools created and released when the tool is consumed/struck against a target. Using Craft like this will lower the rank of the imbued notes by one for each extra tool created. As an example, an elixir of protection made with a silver cast note would normally have a rank of C, but if two potions were made instead of one, they would be rank D each.

- Zone better clarified

Old:

Zone: Mana cost (4)
Creates a zone at a target area that solid objects can pass through. The zone can be any simple shape the caster wishes, from a pillar to a wall to a carpet. So long as the shape is no larger than a 20 X 20 foot cube. All effects after this mod are applied to anything inside the designated area as it persists. Instantaneous notes like damage and heal are gradually applied to anything inside the zone and need to remain there for a full 6 seconds to receive the full effect of those notes. Timed effects like acceleration affect targets as long as they are in the zone. The zone lasts for 6 seconds.

New:

Zone: Mana cost (4)
Creates a zone at a target area that solid objects can pass through. The zone can be any simple shape the caster wishes, from a pillar to a wall to a carpet. So long as the shape is no larger than a 20 X 20 foot cube. All effects after this mod are applied to anything inside the designated area as it persists. Instantaneous notes like Push and Dispel are gradually applied to anything inside the Zone and need to remain there for a full 6 seconds to receive the full effect. Timed effects like Magic Sense and Speedster affect targets as long as they are in the zone. The zone lasts for 6 seconds.

-Rain has been reworked and split into two separate modification notes, Rain and Scatter.

Old:

Rain: Mana cost (2)
When placed before a projectile cast note, the projectile will break apart into multiple projectiles overhead and rain down over an area. When it descends. The area can be no larger than a 30 foot circle, and it’ll be smaller if the projectile cannot achieve maximum height. Not recommended indoors,

New:

Rain: Mana cost (2)
The melody comes from an area fifty to a hundred feet above the casting esper. The usual tells of preparing a melody happens where the melody is going to come from, and is obvious enough that espers will notice it being cast.

Scatter: Mana cost (2)
Causes a cast to be split into several smaller projectiles mid-flight, creating a shotgun-like scatter. The scatter can be no wider than 20 feet, and the projectiles can only affect a target once per melody. The center of the scatter must follow the trajectory of the cast.

-Channel is better clarified as a multi-hit modification for melodies.

Old:

Channel: Mana cost (2)
When placed before a cast note, it allows the cast to be sustained for 6 seconds. Projectiles are fired like that of a machine gun, beams persist for several seconds, Spawns can be maintained, and touch and self spells have a lingering effect. The drawback is that the power of such melodies are reduced, and sustained/repeated contact with the target is necessary for the effects to proc with full strength. The melody can be cast again if the esper wishes to sustain the melody longer.

New:

Channel: Mana cost (0)
The melody has the ability to multi-hit. It is delivered in several bursts (up to 3) which can be aimed at one or multiple targets. The rank of the melody is unaffected, but the potency or duration of each effect are divided among the bursts. The bursts can be aimed at different parts of a target, or different targets if they are close enough together.

-Fixed a typo, Extend and Full Extend were always supposed to work for the whole melody.

Old:

Extend: Mana cost (2)
Makes the next effect note with a duration last 12 seconds longer.

Full Extend: Mana cost (4)
Makes the next effect note with a duration last 30 seconds longer.

New:

Extend: Mana cost (2)
Make notes with a duration last 12 seconds longer.

Full Extend: Mana cost (4)
Make notes with a duration last 30 seconds longer.

-Removed Contract. It’s vague, and we’ve since moved past the need for more notes that make other notes stronger.

Removed:

Contract: Mana cost (4)
Make the next effect with a duration last half as long, but be twice as potent.

-Delay has been clarified.

Old:

Delay: Mana cost (0)
Adds a time delay before the rest of the notes activate. Swirls of elemental energy let all know the melody isn’t over. The duration of the delay can be decided by the esper, but it cannot be changed after the melody is cast. It can be anywhere between instant to 30 seconds.

New:

Delay: Mana cost (0)
Adds a delay before the rest of the melody activates. The duration of the delay can be up to 30 seconds, but must be decided before the melody is cast.

-Expiration, too, has been clarified.

Old:

Expiration: Mana cost (0)
After all the effects with a duration before this note expires, the next notes are allowed to activate.

New:

Expiration: Mana cost (0)
Delays the next notes until all other notes in the melody have run their duration.

-Bend no longer “consumes the source”

Old:

Bend: Mana cost (0)
The melody is cast from a source of the esper’s element. The source is consumed by the spell relative to how powerful it is.

New:

Bend: Mana cost (0)
The melody is cast from a source of the esper’s element.

-Bounce’s placement requirements have been removed, and now has clearly defined conditions and a mana cost.

Old:

Bounce: Mana cost (0)
When placed before a cast note, this mod causes projectiles and beams to bounce. Effects will trigger on each bounce, and weaken after each activation. Mods can be used to prevent undesirable activations.

New:

Bounce: Mana cost (2)
Causes the Melody to bounce up to three times. Each bounce triggers the melody and lowers its effects by one rank, but never below E.

-Orbit and Dynamo worded better.

Old:

Orbit: Mana cost (0)
If the cast activates on a humanoid, the effects orbit them for a minute. Works well with construction effects

Dynamo: Mana cost (0)
If the cast activates on a humanoid, it turns into a projectile that orbits around them.

New:

Orbit: Mana cost (0)
The melody activates and the effects orbit the target once every second for as long as the effects persist. Build notes last 6 seconds unless extended by another note.

Dynamo: Mana cost (0)
The melody turns into a projectile with the same effects as the melody (minus the dynamo note) and orbits the target for 30 seconds.

-Homing is better clarified

Old:

Homing: Mana cost (2)
When placed after a cast note, it has homing abilities. Faster casts have less time to home in on a target, and are less accurate.

New:

Homing: Mana cost (2)
Melody homes in on a chosen target. Attempts to dodge the melody through reflexes alone will fail, but it will not avoid obstacles such as cover or barriers.

-Piercing gets a nice buff and a simpler description.

Old:

Piercing: Mana cost (2)
When placed after a cast note, the cast is able to easily pierce mundane materials. The spell has no difficulty piercing wood and flesh, but has a harder time getting through denser materials like steel and reinforced concrete.

New:

Piercing: Mana cost (2)
The melody is able to pierce up to three obstacles/targets with arcane defense lower than the melody’s rank. Can also peirce weapons with a lower sentinel score than the melody. Every time the melody pierces a target, its rank lowers by one.

-Recoil no longer has a positional requirement, because those are dumb lol. Also fixed the description and added a small mana cost.

Old:

Recoil: Mana cost (0)
If put after a cast note, the recoil of the spell is enough to launch the caster backwards!

New::

Recoil: Mana cost (2)
The melody has a recoil, which affects the caster as if they also cast [Self][Push], with Self being the same quality as the melody.

-Avoid given better parameters and a mana cost.

Old:

Avoid: Mana cost (0)
If put after a cast note, makes a projectile shy away from objects that aren't the designated target.

New:

Avoid: Mana cost (2)
The melody will make adjustments to its flight path to avoid obstacles on the way to its target. It will avoid stationary obstacles and obstacles that move as fast as a thrown stone. Melee attacks and faster projectiles can intercept a melody with an Avoid note. Avoid does not make the melody more accurate or cause it to track the target.

-Exact damage and effects of Ignite clarified/revamped, with a slightly higher mana cost.

Old:

Ignite: Mana cost (2)
Causes the target to burn. Non-flammable objects might smolder and go out, but everything else will need to do something about the flames or risk getting engulfed. Flames can be put out by the usual methods. Burns for 6 seconds.

New:

Ignite: Mana cost (4)
Causes the target to burn with an intense flame. Ignite initially causes a minor wound (no wound on espers/magi) and then inflicts a moderate wound (minor wound on espers/magi) for every 6 seconds they remain aflame. Flames can spread across the body and to other targets, but will never cause extra wounds. Fires created with Ignite can be suffocated like real fires, or stomped/patted out by espers and monsters. Only targets that can catch fire can be affected by Ignite.

- Freeze now has its effects better clarified. And now works with all non-melody based attacks.

Old:

Freeze: Mana cost (2)
Causes part of the target to freeze over. Frozen targets can move, but are brittle and can be more easily shattered by melee attacks or physical ranged attacks.. Lasts 6 seconds.

New:

Freeze: Mana cost (2)
Causes part of the target to freeze over. Frozen targets can move, but are brittle. Non-melody attacks such as instruments, mundane weapons, and hard falls create more severe wounds. Lasts 6 seconds.

-Flight’s Push/Pull resistance has been removed, and movement speed is now based on the rank of the melody.

Old:

Flight: Mana cost (6)
Allows the target to fly for 6 seconds. Higher ranks can make the target more resistant to push/pull effects. If the grade of the push/pull effect is below that of the flight note, they will only be moved the normal distance.

New:

Flight: Mana cost (6)
Allows the target to fly for 6 seconds. Movement speed, and only movement speed, is based on the rank of the note.

-Mass now provides some physical defense, and makes the target heavier.

Old:

Mass: Mana cost (2)
Increases chaos defense by one rank for 6 seconds, provided the rank of this note is equal to or greater than the target’s chaos defense, During this time, they are also impervious to movement effects like push, pull, and quake so long as the spells rank isn’t greater than the rank of this melody.

New:

Mass: Mana cost (2)
Increases physical and chaos defense by one rank for 6 seconds, provided the rank of this note is equal to or greater than the target’s chaos defense. During this time, they are also impervious to movement effects like push, pull, and quake so long as the spell's rank isn’t greater than the rank of this melody. The target’s weight also doubles.

-Obfuscate’s area of effect clarified, cost and duration reduced.

Old:

Obfuscate: Mana cost (4)
Shrouds the target in a shadow that makes them invisible and silent. The shadow fades after 12 seconds, and doesn’t move with the target.

New:

Obfuscate: Mana cost (2)
Shrouds the target in a stationary shadow that makes them invisible and silent. The shadow is almost impossible to notice if used inside another shadow or another sensible location. The shadow is only slightly larger than the target, and will not hide them if they move outside of it. Aoe and zone notes will make the shadow bigger, but everyone inside the shadow will be able to see each other clearly. Lasts 6 seconds.

How would you go about making a merchant/trade focused RP?

The best thing you can do is draw comparisons to something you're more familiar with, and decide how you would start tackling problems for that. What you'll find is that rules have the universal goal of creating a type of experience. It's your job to decide what that experience is and ensure the rules help that experience come about.

I don't typiccally put much thought into magic systems for my RPs, but I wanted to do something that felt a bit more like a game without actually being a game. I was tired of mages who never ran out of mana, juxtaposed by spell swords who were both weaker and didn't have the mana to cast more than a few meaningful spells. But I was more interested in tempering how people used their magic than deciding the outcome of the encounter. So the system I created allows for quite a bit of freedom. You take "notes" and string them together to make a spell. The more notes you use, the more expensive the spell is. The parameters for one's mana and the spell's cost is very rigid, but the effects and other parameters are fluid enough that the game aspects never overshadow story telling ones. It just just what I want by allowing magic a great deal of freedom while keeping everyone's mana in check.

If you're looking for a gamey kind of experience, I would consider looking at some board games that might give you the feel you're looking for. Monopoly and Catan are probably worth looking into, but there are less common ones that might be of more interest to you. Sheriff of Nottingham is literally a game where you try to get goods (and sometimes contraband) past the Sheriff of Nottingham. Look at how turns work and see how that corrilates to posting order and such. While monopoly is easy enough to work out, Sheriff of Nottingham requires some back and forth and would be better suited for speed post RPs or collaborative posters. From there, you can scale back or add rules as you see fit.

Symphony of Espers

_{@Ponn@FamishedPants}

Su had been caught off guard when Samuel thanked her for saving him earlier. In Su’s own mind, people had gotten hurt under her leadership, and things would have gone smoother had she been a bit more capable in that role. She should have remained to protect Silmeria and relied on Samuel to push the front line. But Samuel’s comments reminded her that in the end, there was success and failure, and they had succeeded in surviving if nothing else.

She was going to talk with the others, but it seemed like they had already started to depart for home. Su would be leaving too, but Samuel offered to go to the ice cream truck with everyone, and that seemed like a nice way to wrap up the operation.

And that was why she was holding an ice cream cone right now.

Not just any cone, this was a waffle cone, likely cooked on a griddle before being dipped in a chocolate glaze and coated in rainbow sprinkles. It was overflowing with “fourth of july” ice cream, which was vanilla ice cream mixed with strawberries and blueberries. It was topped with whipped cream, a chery, and drizzled with caramel.

The area was isolated by government agents, some of which were also enjoying ice cream. The threat of monster attacks had evaporated and there was no reason for the espers to remain in the esper state as they enjoyed their treats.

Su spun the cone under her tongue, savoring each flavor it came in contact with.

”This good idea!” She looked at her comrades and smiled.

Su received a nod from Samuel in response. Sam ate from a small disposable bowl and spoon instead of a cone. He had a few scoops of strawberry ice cream and no toppings to speak of but appeared to be taking just as much enjoyment out of it. "Yes. Especially after how...heated things became in there. Some of us nearly became Crispers instead of Espers, so I have to admit that ice cream was perfect for a post-operation treat," he agreed.

Although Ashley had initially been reluctant to accept Silhouette’s offer to join him for ice cream, she had ultimately relented and now stood beside a government vehicle, holding a small bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge. Staring down at it, she couldn’t help but frown at how relaxed Breacher and Silhouette both sounded. Perhaps it was just a byproduct of their considerable experience, compared to her own, but after all the horror and suffering she had witnessed, she didn’t have much reason to be happy, and she certainly didn’t have much of an appetite… Still, perhaps the comfort food would do her some good, she reflected, and after having a spoonful of her “post-operation treat”, the young agent had to admit that she did feel a bit better. Not much, mind you, but at least it was something.

“I’m… um, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to fix your hands back there,” she told Silhouette, while nervously adjusting her glasses. “If I had known you were so badly injured, I would have helped you right away.”

”You no need be sorry, he past it now! Can you see?” Su Pointed at his hands, or maybe his ice cream, with her free hand. ”He can hold spoon and bowl, in time, sword and knife.” With a huff, her hand moved onto her hip. ”Anyone be sorry, I be sorry. I got him burned, but Silhouette thank me anyway. Getting hurt part of job.” Su licked her cone a few more times. ”I just glad you not hurt. Right Silhouette?”

Samuel appeared to find Breacher’s chiding entertaining, and laughed a bit. He looked Ashley in the eyes. “Agent Breacher is quite correct. And it is not as though you ran away from me when I was asking for assistance. I knowingly made the choice to separate us when that fighting began when you were available. If anything, it would make more sense for me to apologize for disturbing you while you were trying to concentrate on a melody.” Sam dug his plastic spoon into his ice cream and took a small bite before continuing. “I was quite genuine in my praise for you, Orion. I truly believe you handled this mission as well or even better than anyone could expect of you. You certainly have nothing to apologize to me for. I’d rather thank you for getting back to us in one piece.” Sam’s tone became a bit less lively at the end as the people they failed to rescue came to his thoughts.

Ashley listened in silence as Breacher reassured her that she had nothing to apologize for, somewhat taken aback by the intensity of the draconic esper’s insistence. Silhouette followed that up with reassurances of his own, along with reiterating his earlier compliments on her performance, causing the young agent’s cheeks to redden slightly. “Thank you, Silhouette,” she replied softly. “You’re very kind. And you’re probably right,” she conceded with a small sigh. “Still, if I’m being honest, I can’t help but feel I failed those hostages, and those poor people Justin had trapped in that chamber I was portaled to. I only hope those still alive can be healed somehow…”

”Not going to let it go, mmmm?” Su lowered her face down to Ashley’s level. Even off duty, Su was exceptionally tall. ”This mission bad, no doubt there. More like it await us. More worse too.” She leaned against the side of the truck and looked back at the mansion. ”They weaker than us, they use hostages to make us wait. Initiative everything in fight. You wait, you lose. We save hostages, we die. Then they die later. It sick, but it true. Can’t save everyone.” She looked back to Ashley, no longer concerned with what her cone was doing. ”I inexperienced once too. Farm house, dead of night, disturbance. Expected monsters, just gangsters with guns. They take hostages before we arrive.” She sighed. ”They shoot, we don’t. They use hostages as shields. We no fire back. We get wounded, some die. They flee.” Su sighed. ”Too angry, gave chase, was quiet. They think they alone, they no longer need hostages. They shoot, kill most, then escape. I make sure none escape.” Her unblinking stare rested on Ashley. ”I bury a family that day.” She looked back at the mansion. ”We no get to decide who live. We no decide who die either. We follow orders and help who survive.” Su took a bite out of her ice cream cone.

"...O-of course, that's not to say you're expected to abandon those feelings!" Samuel hurriedly added while nearly dropping his bowl, the atmosphere taking quite the nosedive. Su suddenly telling quite the depressing tale had successfully managed to put a small dent in Samuel's composure. He cleared his throat and continued. "We are all only too human after all and a monster, either figuratively or literally, would use that humanity against us. It is why Billy Black is so dangerous. Because a tragic situation like today or as in Breacher’s past can and will happen. The difference between the worst-case scenario and the best-case can come down to whether or not we let those emotions motivate us or control us."

“I understand…” Ashley said quietly once Breacher had finished telling her disheartening story and Silhouette had offered something of a rebuttal/clarification. “And I’ll do my best to become stronger,” she added in a far firmer voice. “That said, I’ll never just write someone off as beyond saving, not as long as I can do something about it. I know that sometimes not everyone can be saved, but if there’s even a slim chance I can help someone in need, I’m going to take it!” she vowed, her countenance filled with determination, which created quite the comical juxtaposition with the bowl of ice cream she was holding.

”Eh.” Su waved her hand at Ashley. ”Silhouette knows what I say. Maybe you understand later. Just stay alive, okay? ” With a shake of her head, she looked back at her ice cream cone. It was nearly all gone. ”I met my daughter that day too, so, who know what good or bad?” Her chin trembled, but just for a moment. ”What everyone do later? Going to shop after I clean up.”

The change in subject seemed to be just what Silhouette wanted, judging by the strain in his features disappearing. "In a normal case I would be scrambling to write my report before I could potentially forget any details... but I don't think I'll have that problem this time," Sam told them, though his tone suggested it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. He gave himself a second or two to think and also took the last bite out of his bowl, looking at Su as he answered. "I have a small obligation to play at a bar later tonight, but apart from that I may just grab some eggs and milk on the way home and relax until then." His eyes then moved to Ashley, waiting to see what the rest of the day had in store for her.

Her daughter…? Ashley thought to herself, before recalling that there had been at least one survivor of the massacre Su had described. Oh… I see… She must have adopted her, the young agent realized, somewhat relieved to know that despite Breacher’s outward detachment, she still clearly cared enough to provide a home to a suffering child, and as far as Ashley was concerned, that counted for a lot. “Yes,” she acknowledged with a determined nod when the draconic esper asked her to stay alive. “I’ll do my best to.”

Conversation then moved to what they would be doing once they returned home. Breacher noted that she would just be taking care of some chores, but when Silhouette mentioned filling out an after-action report, Ashley felt her throat tighten up. The horrors of the recent operation were still fresh in her mind, but she had no doubt that putting what she had experienced into words would accentuate them even further. “I suppose I’ll be filling out my own report,” she told them in a sullen voice. “I had initially planned to have a video chat with my younger brother, but after everything I encountered today, I just don’t think I’m in the right mindset for it…” she added, doing her best not to think about the young boy she had seen, the boy who easily could have been her brother. The boy who was probably dead now. Because of her…

”I also write report later, but bar job!” Su snapped over to Samuel. ”You real musician? I know piano, but been long time since I play. Not sure I could please crowd.” She chuckled. ”What bar? Maybe I watch you play later?” She shoved the rest of her cone into her mouth.

Samuel momentarily looked shocked before his features settled into a wide smile and his eyes lit up with a pure delight. Su clearly struck a positive chord in him by asking about it. "It's more of a hobby I am mediocre at than anything, so it feels weird for me to call myself a musician..." he rubbed the back of his neck, the smallest hint of crimson invading his features. "But I have been playing the electric bass for some years now. Recently, I started to learn the double bass, but well I am not quite there yet. I don’t think anyone would want to hear that. More importantly, the place I frequent, Red Vivace, has a few solid local jazz bands I've acquainted myself with and one of them asked me to act as a substitute tonight. I doubt it will be the cleanest performance since I’m not actually part of their band, but I would welcome your company.”

Samuel went to take a bite of ice cream when he suddenly realized the unfortunate fact that it was all gone. He momentarily excused himself to throw his bowl and spoon away. Even if it was only by a little bit, this short trip had the added effect of calming him down, so he cast a glance at his fellow agents when he returned, finding a downtrodden Ashley to be an unpleasant sight. "So," he began. "How about you, Orion? What music you listen to? Play instruments?"

Having forced herself to return to eating her ice cream, while Breacher shifted the conversation to Silhouette’s part-time job, Ashley was slightly caught off guard when the totally-not-a-real-musician asked about her tastes in music. Gulping down the spoonful of ice cream (and shuddering a bit in the process), the young agent did her best to address the question that had been posed to her. “What do I like to listen to?” she repeated. “Well, mostly stuff that I can play when I study, like ambient and classical, with a little EDM, on occasion. As for instruments, I took violin lessons in high school, and I can play a few songs on my parents’ piano, but I wouldn’t say I’m particularly talented,” she added with a fragile smile, while nervously adjusting her glasses.

Su gave a nod of approval. ”Good instruments. Mika also like study music, but I not see her study unless I there with her. She like… Chill beats?” Su shrugged her shoulders. ”She spoiled. You seem like hard studier!” She tapped Ashley’s shoulder with her knuckles. ”Still thinking about going to college?”

​​“Oh, um, t-thank you,” Ashley replied when Breacher complimented her study habits. “A-And yes, I would very much like to attend college. I’ve been looking into some schools in the area, but I’m not sure if I can balance my work with G.E.M.I.N.I. and a full course load,” she added with a frown. “I mean, I suppose I could just go part-time, but most of the programs I would be interested in frown on that…”

Samuel nodded in intimate understanding of the dilemma. “Similarly, I had to concede my position in a company I had been with for some years when I joined G.E.M.I.N.I. It wasn’t feasible to work both. I’m sure whatever your decision is, it will work out in the end. You’re quite the bright kid.” Sam gave his opinion. “Though I suppose I should ease up on the praise at least for today. Wouldn’t want it to go to your head.” he gave a small chuckle, clearly teasing.

After a lingering silence in the group, Samuel decided to speak up. “Well, I’ve enjoyed speaking to you both and thank you for coming with me. Fate willing, we could do this again in a less… hostile environment. I’m sure it’d be much more pleasant. The situation is looking like we’ll be doing quite a bit of work together in the future, so I’d like to give you both my contact info, but I won’t take offense if you’d rather not.”

”I good with contact info!” Su eagerly pulled out her phone to exchange numbers. ”You too Orion! I take your number!”

Once they had given their answers and got that squared away, Samuel would offer them both the best and excuse himself.

”Handsome man’s number…” She smiled at Ashley after putting away her phone. ”We get Justin next time. No worry about it.” She patted the new recruit on the shoulder before departing.

Ashley was stunned speechless for several seconds after Silhouette complimented her intelligence, the young esper’s cheeks turning a bright red. “I-I won’t,” she whispered with an adorably embarrassed smile when the veteran agent jokingly advised her not to let his praise go to her head.

After a brief period of silence, a suggestion to exchange contact information was made, to which Ashley eagerly agreed. “Oh, of course!” she told her fellow agents while retrieving her phone from her pocket. “And I’d love to hang out with the two of you again under more peaceful circumstances, that is, if you’ll have me,” she added, not exactly wanting to be a proverbial third wheel to the two older and more romantically compatible experienced agents.

Once phone numbers had been exchanged, the trio got ready to depart, with Breacher offering their youngest member some words of encouragement. “Thank’s Breacher,” Ashley told the draconic esper. “And you’re right,” she added, her voice filled with renewed confidence. “We will!”

I’ll count on it…

---

Marrie Knight

_{@The World}

Marrie was quite the multitasker. She was hitting up a mysterious user about a job, asking Tetrad about a head for Stacy, digging up information on Von Carnage’s property, all while babysitting a headless zombie. Not exactly a normal morning for Marrie, but such was the life of an esper.

Her phone rang. It seemed Tetrad was interested in talking with her directly instead of sending text messages. Marrie hadn’t spoken with her a lot on the phone, so it was hard to tell if this was normal behavior for her or not. Regardless, she answered her phone.

”Hey, um… Hi.” Tetrad sounded exhausted. Though she was likely involved with the assault on Justin’s mansion, and if there was one thing Marrie could confirm about the operation, it was that it was unsuccessful. ”I’m sorry, your last text, was that a joke? You want a human head?”

”Uh… yeah. I found a zombie who lost hers helping me out, and apparently she takes replacements?” Marrie looked over at Stacy, wondering again how that works. ”I’m hoping there’s a simple way to get one that’s not like… grave robbing or anything.”

”Oh.” Tetrad sighed. ”The last operation left quite a few corpses, but I don’t think you’re going to get very close to them with the GEMs present. But that’s the thing about Pax Septimus, corpses aren’t too hard to find. I’m glad you’re okay.”

”Thanks. Are you okay? You don’t really sound like you are, to be honest. I don’t like the sound of an operation that left a lot of corpses though…” Marrie looked again at Stacy. ”I… I don’t know what to say.”

”Justin had some kids that knew just enough fire magic to get by and threw them at us. It was not pleasant.” Tetrad cleared her throat. ”We tried not to kill them, but it’s hard to do that and survive yourself, and one of the hires ended up taking their spear to a few of them. I don’t really want to get into details, but it was more than a little messy. Then at the end of it all, most of the freelancers ended up switching sides. It kind of reminded me of the operation we did together, only it was worse because we had four of them and only one stayed.” Her voice cracked. ”One, one of my friends ended up getting captured. I don’t know what they’re going to do to her but, well, I’ll be fine. I’m fine.”

Marrie’s eyes widened as she listened to Tetrad’s story. ”Oh. Oh my god. That’s… that’s horrible! I… Is there any way I can help? Who captured her, Justin or GEMINI? I’m looking to find Justin now, but maybe a freelancer would have a better chance of getting your friend back? I don’t know, I just… I want to help if I can. I’ve fucked up badly enough already, so I’m afraid I’d make things worse, but, I’m willing to give it my all to help out if there’s something I can do.”

”Marrie…” Tetrad sighed again, but when she spoke, she sounded a bit more upbeat. ”I don’t want you to get in trouble. Jez is pretty high up in our group, and the GEMs are going to get suspicious if you ask them to free what they consider a terrorist. That’s assuming- Wait, You’re looking for Justin too?” Marrie couldn’t see it, but she was sure Tetrad tried to hold back a laugh. ”You didn’t take the job to hunt Justin, did you? Why are you searching for him now?”

Marrie paused. Should she really even tell Tetrad what happened? It wasn’t like it was gonna stay a secret for long. ”Uh… moralistic stuff on what a terrorist is and isn’t aside, I told you that I really fucked something up, and now I’m trying to make things better. The best way to do that is to find him, even if I can’t do anything myself, if I can locate him then others can fix things. Someone’s in danger because of my mistake, and I can’t just let that go.”

”I guess we’re in the same boat then huh? Just two espers that made regrettable decisions.” She hummed to herself. ”Well, just remember what Pax Septimus is currently like. As badly as we screw up, it’s not like things are getting worse. It’s just that they’re staying the same.” With a snort, Tetrad continued. ”You know what? We’re going to have pizza later. We’ll discuss how we’re going to tackle this stuff then. When are you available?”

”That depends on where it is, I guess? I don’t really want to leave my new zombie friend alone for too long, so if it’s somewhere more discreet, that would be nice. But I’m free whenever, I’ve made no progress on the Justin thing, so I could use a break.” Marie paused for a moment. ”I gave her a biker’s helmet but it would be weird to have someone in a helmet who doesn’t talk or eat go into a restaurant. This isn’t Durarara or anything, so that could attract attention.”

”Should I just bring pizza to your place?”

Marrie’s mouth hung open for a moment. She hadn’t thought of that possibility. ”Yeah, that would be great.” She rattled off her address before the thought that doing so might not be the best idea ever crossed her mind. Well, she trusted Tetrad anyway, and Stacy would know it once she got a new head, so it wasn’t a big deal.

”Cool beans! I’ll be there in thirty!” Before Tetrad hung up, she had just one more thing to say. ”Oh, um, and Marrie?” She sounded a little sheepish. ”When I come, I’m not going to be in my esper form. I think that’s best for everyone. You uh, you can call me Luna in such instances, alright? I’ll see you later. Thanks for the talk.”

”Oh, okay. Thank you for trusting me that much, I really do appreciate it. See you soon."

It wasn’t until Marrie hung up that she realized she had received a text from “High-Priest.” The mysterious Shimr user that wanted the burning coin destroyed.

Glad you're as interested in dealing with Justin as I am.



Firstly, your messages contain just a bit of misinformation. While I do not know Justin's exact powers, He did not create the portal that allowed him to escape. The burning coin was most likely a mark placed by Baleful Sofron. Though your ignorance can be forgiven, as the world of magic is a confusing one, and you are still new to a lot of it. Your observation aside, if you want to stop Justin, you will need to separate him from Sofron.

This can't blow up on Shimr like the last operation did. Justin has a lot of money to throw at problems, but he can't do that if he doesn't know they're coming. Which is why I've elected to locate Sofron myself and have you apprehend him. But you are too weak to take him on yourself. You will need help.

I believe that Orion, the Knight of Tomorrow, would make a fantastic ally. Have her contact me or get me her contact details so that I can convince her to join our cause. Once you have done that for me, I will explain the rest of the operation.

If finances are a concern, you will be well compensated for getting me in touch with Orion.

Well, how was she supposed to know that!? Justin could probably make portals too if he wanted, heck, she could make portals even! She took a moment to calm down and texted back a reply.

-Alright. That makes sense. Besides, my messages hopefully will have started off a fire on Shimr naturally, so that might distract him a bit. I’ll do what I can to find Orion quickly. Thank you for your help with dealing with Justin. Apparently he’s not just considered a villain because of his race like I hoped, but actually a bad guy. So I’ll be glad to help take him down.-

Annnnd send.

I’m glad you understand. He is beyond any form of redemption.

I can help you locate Orion as well. She is a GEMINI agent, and likely patrols the recently reclaimed precinct eleven. I see many GEMINI espers going on patrols around that area. I can probably figure out her exact route and schedule with a bit of time. I just wanted to make sure you were interested in the job before going through with it.

Weird, no emojis this time.

-I’m sure it would be useful to know her route, but if I’m right about something, I might be able to get to her otherwise. Do we need to not alert other G.E.M.I.N.I. members that I’m looking for her, or is it alright to go through a liaison?- Marrie sent back.

I would like to keep the number of people who know of our mission as low as possible. However, I see no reason why you couldn’t ask a member of GEMINI or someone else that you are looking for her. Just make sure you don’t ask any nosy people. Dr Fritzi in particular is quite shrewd when it comes to giving or receiving information, so I would advise not going through her in particular.

-I was planning to try a few fun things, but I don’t know if it would tip off this “Dr. Fritzi” person… I don’t want to waste my shot though. Do you know what she looks like or anything?-

Fritzi Muller is the head of GEMINI’s Pax Septimus branch, and also does research for the government. Using the Shimr app to contact GEMINI directly will likely put you in contact with her. So your options are to hunt down other GEMINI operatives who use Shimr, or bump into them in person.They are not easy to find by design.

As for her appearance, I’m assuming you are referring to the Knight of Tomorrow. She looks like a generic harem trophy in a sci-fi anime. Purple hair, green visor, white form-fitting leotard with gloves that reach her shoulders, impractical footwear, as well as a force field and a wand. Fritzi is a bit more modest. She also has purple hair, but does so out of the esper state.

Marrie blinked. Not quite how she expected this person to talk, but better to be blunt, she figured. -Got it. I’ll see what I can do. If I just show up near the station, either I’ll find her or they’ll become alerted to me and I can go from there. It might not be the smartest idea, but it should at least… Actually, I have a better idea. I think I’ll send a few misleading messages on Shimr to get attention elsewhere, and then approach in person? I’ll have to look into what I can do for that.-

Do keep in mind the reason why I’m choosing to be discreet about this is to prevent Shimr from exploding on itself like last time. Regardless, you don’t strike me as a total fool, so I’ll trust your judgment for now. Do get in touch with me if you need help..

Though for now it seems time is waning. I will leave you to your devices for now. When we next speak, hopefully it will be with good news.

There was a sigh of relief when Marrie got that message. She didn’t realize that she was so tense while talking with this person. But she’d put her brain to work thinking of how to find this Orion person. Starting by finding this police station that was mentioned.