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(Setting) Kokoro's hideout
| "I say, this is a great hideout."
> Uni trails from behind, her curiosity has been peaking the moment she followed the three girls.
"—Reminds me quite a lot of bunkers somehow."
| >>341743
"We used to live in a junkyard, this beats it by far..."
>Reiko whispers with a sigh
"I liked it, actually."
>A robotic voice is heard from within the corridor leading down to the main base
"Ah, I guess we never got introductions proper. I'm Mika 'Kokoro' Kuro. I can't normally speak due to injuries, still, please bear with me."
>The voice says
>Reina is looking around
"How long do we go down?"
"About two minutes or so, then we pass the air-lock, can't be too careful."
| "I'm bringing this up as part of the introduction: is travelling across dimensions and world lines something that runs in the family?"
> Uni says as she follow the group.
"I try not to ask, but as an outsider, the very fact that I can know all this.. is mostly fascinating."
| >>342031
"Not really. But for me, it's just another part of life."
>Mika says, shrugging
"This girl might not like to admit, but she's always getting wrapped up in trouble. And to be clear, while my grandpa had his experiences with it, I never did, nor did any of my relatives."
>Reiko laughs
>The group finally reaches the airlock, which opens as soon as Mika waves to a camera
"Come on in, it's not furnished everywhere yet, but it is what it is."
| >>342379
>The inside of the base is quite wide, for a bunker, with multiple levels seemingly overlooking the open main area
>Said main area is house to a large heap of parts, mostly armaments and the like
>Mika herself heads straight to the left, into the first tunnel
"The living quarters are here."
>Which leads to another, smaller open area, containing a house... underground, complete with a fake sun in the sky
| "It's a complete world down here, hm?"
> Uni sees the many area of the bunker, along with the house and the likes. There is a wide grin she is hiding perfectly under her composure.
"How many year does it take to complete all this?"
| >>342586
"About 12, 10 if it's just making the place."
>Mika enters the house, inside is just as normal as one would expect of a suburban house
>Reiko chuckles and Reina is still looking around restlessly
"r34, here, now."
>With Mika's words, a lilim comes downstairs
"Whassit' about boss? Sso', don't call me r34, call me Mito."
"Shut up, tin can. Did 1 and 6 come back?"
"Not yet, ssu."
>Mika sighs as the lilim climbs back up
"That's our chief of security, r34, she hates the name."
| "I can see why."
> Uni comments offhandedly as she takes a good scan of the place.
"—I haven't seen a suburban house in.. however many years I have been in Glitch City. It's such an alien sight now."
> There is a hint of happiness in her voice.
| >>342722
"I guess it is unusual in GC, but I can't relax unless I'm home."
>Mika takes a seat in the living room's couch
>Reina is still looking around, while Reiko heads for the stairs
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH TOO MANY NO I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE!"
>A young girl, dressed only with a few sheets dashes past her from upstairs and rapidly exits the building, screaming all the while
>A few moments after, a girl with horns and large claw arms also heads down the stairs sighing
"Oh hey Mika."
"Hey"
|
|
| (Please don't be another reset. I have rewritten this twice.)
> Uni sees the interaction and laughs wholeheartedly.
"Quite a lively family we have here."
| >>345421
>Mika sighs
>The Monster Girl just tilts her head
"Who's that MikaMika?"
>Reiko laughs
"This is Uni, she came along with Parallel Reiko, over there. Uni, this is Hol Solaris, she might look weird, but she's the universe's specialist on Spectrology. The naked girl was her wife."
"She couldn't take it."
>Hol laughs, Mika just cringes
"Your stamina is way too good, and having sex with an Anko does sound like hell. tentacle hell."
>Reiko gets between the two
"Topic, please?"
| > Uni coughs to distract from the obviously personal topic.
"—So, spectrology then. Reina did mention about that, didn't you, Reina?"
> She goes, turning to Reina for confirmation.
| >>345462
"Yeah, Spe-"
"Spectrology is the study of souls, and like Mika said, I'm not only the specialist on this stuff, I'm the one who started this research in the first place."
>Hol cuts Reina off, who sighs
"Mika told me an alternate version of Reiko was around, and just as I predicted, she lacks a body."
>Hol stretches and pulls out her phone
"It was Uni, right? You ever heard the rumors about ghosts in GC? People's will living through the nanomachines in the air."
| "Indeed. I have been collecting stories about them."
> Uni nods, affirming her answer to the two question.
"—It is.. interesting, to say the least. I wholly expect a school of study dedicated to it, too."
| >>346649
"Yeah, our, or my job, is to study those things. You could call it a study into Human Will and it's effect on machines, but the term soul is stronger PR wise."
>Mika, seemingly content with Hol's handling of the situation, leaves with Reiko
"Problem is that not everyone has a soul, hell, a minority of people even do. It was about 2.34% where I cam from, and I expect GC to be about the same... but that doesn't matter much in our case here, since Reina has a soul."
| "Right; the root of our problem."
> Uni says before she cut herself, remembering what Hol said.
"—In a sense, Reina here is projecting her will on the nanomachines around her, akin to those 'ghost' stories I have heard?"
| >>349263
"Yeah, you catch on quick. But it's somewhat different. Unlike 'Ghosts' proper, she should still have a body... Reina, were you born with or without a 'soul'?"
>Reina tilts her head at Hol's question
"With one, but if you're worried about my body being dead, I'm a Void User."
>Hol nods
"That's what I thought. Let me tell you something good, Uni. When someone is born with a soul and loses it for too long, they die. The only exception are what we call 'Void Users'."
| "Are they unable to die despite losing their soul?"
> Uni gives out a long 'hmm' at the thought before shaking her head at it.
"The idea is novel, but I don't think it meant what I think it is."
| >>349786
"It's the other way around, they can't die despite losing their bodies. See, there's this Great One Class AI who goes by the name Miko Vacuos. They possess somewhat of a control over the dead, but only those with souls. Such an ability includes the power to resurrect bodies using the Soul's 'Energy'. It's way more complex on paper, but I think you get the gist of it."
>Reina nods
"Since I'm already 'dead', my body won't expire, even without the soul inside."
| "A reverse zombie then?"
> Uni shakes her head again, wiping the idea off her mind before taking in a more serious mood.
"—The details won't be lost to me. What do we need to do to 'fix' Reina's problem then?"
> She eyes Reina, not at all comfortable wtih taking the issue lightly.
"I have assured myself it won't be as simple as toggling a switch."
| >>350131
"Well yeah. Either A: We find the body and reinject the soul, B: We send the soul back to the bod, or C: We find her a new body."
>Hol lifts three fingers
"Option C is a last recourse, we should only do something like that if her soul becomes unstable. Frankly, B is the most plausible."
>She takes out a small device from her pocket
"Ever heard about The Boundary? It's the thing that protects universes from interfering with one another."
| "I have heard of it under a different name, but of course — I do. I have meddled with these quintessential topic after all."
> Uni answers, eyeing Hol's device.
"Although, do fill me in. The more I know, the less of a burden I am to this quest."
| >>350145
"Well, I've observed that the Boundary on this Realm, that is to say our universe, has come undone... so here's my theory."
>She places the device down, where it begins displaying an hologram, Hol uses her fingers to draw what she's saying
"Basically, I'm thinking that while Reina's soul made the jump to this dimension, the body is still in her own dimension. Else there's no way she'd be in a spiritual form."
| >>350149
>The drawing shows a line, on one side is written 'body' and on the other 'soul'
"The Easiest solution would be to just send her home to her body, but things are never that easy. The Boundary might be open, but it's only for the way here. The Boundary on her dimension is probably still shut. So basically, we need to send Reina's soul to her body from this dimension... and there's only one way to do that."
| > Uni tilts her head, missing the context of Hol's last few words from her sentence.
"From the information I have been receiving, the passage to Reina's dimension is mostly closed. So—.. I'm interested in what solution there is, apart from forcing her to go through the metaphorical door."
| >>350157
"It's to send the soul through Thalamus, but since some fucking idiot broke the Anchor Terminal in the city, we'll need a new one to send the data through."
>Hol sighs
"Those things aren't hard to build, what's hard is setting them up. You need to get the good OS, and after that comes calibrating it, which means scanning the Boundary, and let me tell you, Boundaries aren't places you wanna stay in and take measures."
| "Sounds precisely like a job for an engineer."
> Uni replies, knowing very little of what had happened to the city's Terminal.
"—If you need help, I'm ready to assist in about anything that isn't overtly complex."
| >>350170
"I like to hear that. Well, first things first would be getting the OS, but I already have one. The real deal is to go get the measures for the calibrations. I'd go myself, but my wife just ran out on me, and c_i11 will kill me if I don't bring her back home before she shoots herself again."
>Hol sighs deeply
"Guess it's up to us then..."
>Reina looks midly displeased
"Yeah, sorry."
| "A scribe and a lost dimension traveller is not a bad pair at all!"
> Uni enthusiastically exclaims.
"This shall form a story like no other; hence, let's save the day!"
> It looks clear that Uni was holding back some of the excitement during the serious talk.
| >>350178
>Reina merely sighs
"That sounds like an interesting story, how about letting me in on it?"
>Hol turns around to the newcomer, a man with a short beard and wearing some casual clothes... topped with light body armour
"Oh, Satou. This is Satou Kuro, he's one of Mika's numerous descendants. When did you even arrive?"
"Just now, Mika told me someone could use some help, so I've been listening."
>He turns to Uni, his gaze is somewhat inquisitive, but has no ill will
| "Indeed. Perhaps you have heard Hol's breakdown of the situation, should you be listening closely."
> Uni replies along what she had heard.
"—Then, I see you will be joining us here?"
| >>350195
"I guess, can't really say 'no' to Mika."
>He sighs deeply
>Hol laughs
"She can be quite the handful at times, can she not? Still, as to where the Boundary is accessed... It's a small alleyway in Neon from what I've gathered. You guys just head there and I'll send you the instructions as I write them down while I chase my wife."
>Hol gets up and looks to Uni
"I'll need your number to send that, though."
| "Number.. let's see—"
> Uni pulls out a piece of paper along with a pen from her pocket. She jots down digits of her number quickly and precisely.
"That should do."
> She hands the paper out to Hol.
| >>350541
>Hol takes it and starts imputing it into her phone
"Well, see you guys later."
>She gets into a running start
"Ah, I suggest you step away, my running causes some insane wind pressure."
>She bursts out of the house through the open door, causing a wave of air to shoot around
>Satou holds down a nearby plant, preventing it from falling
"Geez, that monster... Should we get going, too?"
| > Uni held through her position, her legs sturdy enough to prevent her from being knocked over.
"—I say, I support the idea."
| >>351642
"Great, she said it was in that 'Neon' place?"
>Reina looks at Satou and gets up from her seat
>Satou himself puts on the coat he was holding
"Yeah, I already know where it is, thanks to my daughter."
>He chuckles a bit
"Just follow along and we'll get there in no time."
(I'll make the setting a bit later -Parra)
| (Sure thing.)
"Neon District. I haven't been there in a while now."
> Uni scans the house once more before leaving, smiling at its interior.
"—Although I doubt it's any different from the rest of Glitch City."
> She chuckles at the thought, especially due to the prescence of Reina in the room.
| (I might not make the Thread until tonight, but if you wanna, me and Hige got a discord for this stuff https://discord.gg/hrM8TT -Parra)
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| >In any city, there are people who desire to hide, and places to hide them, it only makes sense that GC would follow this simple rule
>Buried in bureaucratic hell and too many buildings to count, as old as it was, it was only a matter of time before this junkyard got buried by time itself
>Kokoro approaches the hidden door, itself buried under mechanical parts, before opening it
"In here."