trying on a metaphor
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if i look back, i am lost
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@tetsuwan-atom
BASICS: Rules / Bio / Character Headcanon / Verses / MUN
INFO PAGES: Story Headcanon / Worlds / Supporting Characters / Villains / Atomites / Story Arcs
MEME TAG (To be updated)
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NSFW SIDEBLOG
Blog under the service of ‘Charlie’ - ESTABLISHED 2012
"So Bowen, about that bet that we had?"
"Wh..."
"What bet?"
"The one that you LOST????"
"How can I lose a bet that I wasn't even here f-"
"IT'S PAYDAY TIME MOTHERFUCKER!!!!"
So shouted while holding a suspicious 'mask' of sorts.
"Wait n-"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!?"
"If you don't know if you're gay or bisexual, I can help you find out this month."
Is very much pan... and will take up Astolfo's offer to prove it.
i can’t really find interest in a man if he’s not odd and unsettling. and perhaps downright disturbing
like what am i supposed to see as compelling here if he’s not an interesting little critter. what’s there to draw me in
"So Bowen, about that bet that we had?"
"Wh..."
"What bet?"
"The one that you LOST????"
"How can I lose a bet that I wasn't even here f-"
"IT'S PAYDAY TIME MOTHERFUCKER!!!!"
So shouted while holding a suspicious 'mask' of sorts.
"Wait n-"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!?"
Once again, the next district they were in was as one as they described: wind turbines abound with not much else of note. According to Bowen, there was an underground city beneath this sector. Something that caught the group's interest, if only a little.
That could not be explored to confirm or verify, so they had to focus on the locations they came here to investigate in the first place. Perhaps a more through investigation would happen another time.
Though as the bus cruised through District 22, something strange would begin to happen.
Shido frowned as he looked at his tablet, the footage from the aerial drones degrading in quality, eventually giving way to static.
"What the...?"
It was like this for all of the tablets.
This rarely ever happened with Fraxinus camera drones, not unless there was something that was causing heavy interference.
Shido tapped his own earpiece and spoke into it.
"Oi, Himeko, something's going on with the Cameras. They just... cut out all of a sudden."
Shido would hear his little sister's voice come through, but only in static fragments.
[We're..... technical..... trying to reesta........ careful.......]
Apparently it wasn't just the drones, but communications as well that was having problems.
".....Something is jamming the signal."
Kanade knew the actions of the "security" was suspicious. Someone who would just let a whole task force raid their territory without even the slightest hint of resistance would not willingly do so as a normal strategy.
Not unless the strategy involved letting them in.
There was that feeling again. The feeling that Shido always got when something was about to go completely off the rails.
And once again, that feeling proved to be right.
Because immediately after the jamming of communications was noted, a loud explosion was heard from behind them.
One of the buses had something dropped on them, with such force that the engine exploded violently.
"What was that?!"
Tohka instinctively rose from her seat, already alert from the sudden explosion that happened somewhere behind them.
It was easy enough to assume that one of the buses was just attacked, but the group wasn't able to fully assess what just happened.
Because what followed was stranger and directly more perilous than before.
The group had failed to notice that the first bus: the one that was directly in front of them had disappeared, and by the time that was even noted, the surroundings of the bus they were in had shifted.
They were no longer on the road.
They were now in the air.
And at a high altitude, they were already tumbling toward the ground a considerable distance from where they originally were.
"Oh, you have to be kidding me..!!"
They were in for a bumpy ride now, one that they may not survive depending on how fast they acted.
Bowen, naturally, imagined it would be smooth sailing into District 7, that they would likely be able to document everything they need to up until they come to the new spire building, where, he suspected, it would be a much different exercise.
"Huh… that's weird.. connection signal is dropping." The blonde remarked at the tablet he was holding. It wasn't just the static, he could see the actual bars dropping.
"Uhhh, we are all tethered, right sir?"
"Absolutely, I double checked the list before we left." 'Tethering' so called, was the protective measure of making sure everyone had an unbreakable, fully stable 'Signal' connection back to MOS Headquarters in Terra Veteris. In the event of sudden, unavoidable danger, whether picked up prior or detected by an Operator's IDND, such who are Tethered would be beamed out to safety. A required safety precaution to minimise deaths, especially with an exercise of this scale. No 'jamming' could interfere with that. Anything else on the other hand, especially comms, well, that was a different ball game. One would have thought they might have been let in because the NSRB might have pissed in the right ear after being advised to back off. Or, because they were laying a trap. Or in the worst case scenario, because whoever was running the show here, knew who was coming in… The explosion was heard behind, with the familiar sound of mass beaming heard right as it happened. One of the rear buses took some sort of crushing impact from above.
Very likely automatic detection had kicked in, allowing all those occupants to escape safely.
"The fuck?"
He couldn't exactly see from the front. By the sound of it, it was a few buses down, not the one immediately behind.
Then, as he turned around, for a split second he realised… They were leading. The pilot bus had disappeared.
And then the sudden shift in G-force and velocity hit. Their bus… was in the air. And plunging toward the earth below.
Those who were sitting might be lucky. Bowen and Johann would have to try and scramble to the front most seats, to cushion what might be coming.
"BRACE! BRACE! BRACE! HEADS DOWN! STAY DOWN!" A common procedure from Aviation Safety, that, was actually very rarely used in this capacity… until now. They looked like they were hurtling towards a very hard, fatal impact. Bowen knew Automatic Evacuation would kick in before then…. but what if the end result… wasn't a violent, burning, fiery crash?
Pari reacted with the most deadpan look on her face that she could ever muster. Which was highly impressive, considering the company she was with.
"I am being serious. But don't call me Shirley."
She replied in the most deadpanned fashion ever before she broke into a smile.
"Yep, that's it. You're gonna be sick to fucking death of me after all this because we're gonna be watching The Naked Gun films after this. Assuming we arent snoring out heads off!"
One definitely had to commend Pari's demeanor, the whole deadpan act was bringing a much wider grin to Bowen's face.
And when she delivered the line, the snickering finally came out. It was too funny. He knew that very line thanks to some of his older work colleagues. "We might have to add National Lampoon and Spaceballs once we're finished with Naked Gun, lotta good stuff from that era." Bowen's still grinning, he's heard of some really insane comedy films from the 70s and 80s.
It turned out that all of the facilities of interest did indeed exist in some form like their 777 counterparts. Shido has been exposed to the concept of alternate universes with parallels long enough, that the same concept being echoed here, or in some other reality wasn't all too shocking.
However in this particular instance, it was concerning given the history of the other Academy City with its multiple residents being unaccounted for.
In such a situation, it was not hard to imagine that some of those people deciding to recreate the city to the best of their ability. The technology of both worlds were likely different but on a similar level of development, meaning that this version likely incorporated 616 technology into its systems and development.
It was also possible that hybrid tech between the two worlds was also incorporated, making it an unsettling prospect to grapple with.
And then there was....the spire.
This had not existed in the original iteration apparently, suggesting this was a deviation from what they were expecting, which was a building with no windows.
"So that giant thing.... it's a completely new thing? That's... worrying."
"It appears as thought the other facilities do indeed exist, so our mission to investigate them has not changed. Still, we should be mindful of any security systems the spire may have when we eventually reach it."
That was also something to be on the lookout for.
The security of this place may have let them in for now, but there was a good chance that if they dug too deeply, that security could be turned on them in an instant.
Sure, the EMPs could disable the droids, but there may have been other technologies and secret weapons laying deep within the city, as well as the possibility of human forces.
Right now, their bus had entered District 18; so far appearing as Bowen described, though it was still a bit hard to tell.
Their overall plan had not changed. Their first destination was the male dormitory building.
Whether or not they would find anything there or in these other places, still remained to be seen.
"...Do you think we will find the person who built this city?"
"That remains to be seen. It's highly probable that the person or persons behind this city is in a secure location, watching everything that is happening. They will have likely hidden themselves with a layer of security protecting them. Or if they are expecting us to find them, they will have likely planned some kind of trap. It is hard to discern their motives right now."
"Either way, we can't let our guard down even for a second in this place..."
Just about everything about this city rubbed Shido the wrong way.
From its history in a reality that no longer exists, to its sudden manifestation here and the similarities it has to its original counterpart, as well as the differences like the Spire and the droids; all of it was unsettling to him.
Shido also remembered that this place, at least as far as 777 was concerned, dealt with espers and was populated by them.
Shido's right hand would not work against an Android or a security system, but if this place also had espers who may have been living here, tasked to protect critical areas, or for some other reasons, there was a chance that he would be able to handle them.
He's negated esper powers before, it would not be much trouble for him to protect himself and others against an esper ability, depending on what kind of power it was.
If there was a power that was anything like the missing Misaki that somehow got the jump on them, there was very little Shido could do initially.
In such a situation however, he wouldn't worry about his friends being mind-controlled. Spirits with Telesma and strong Wizards generally were either resistant or outright immune to mind control attacks. Even <Gabriel> couldn't command an unsealed Spirit or a powerful Wizard, and that was pretty powerful.
Regardless, whatever was laying in wait here, they had to steel themselves. They were in uncharted territory, they didn't know who was operating this place, what the security was like at its depths, its relationship with the NSRB, or if it was even connected to that destroyed universe.
Anything could happen.
The dorms, the high school, School Garden, Tokiwadai. They all existed. Even the ones that had much lower odds of existing, they were all here. Parallels were a big theory with the MOS. It had been widely studied, many Operators sharing their experience of sometimes identical parallels, with differences seemingly minute. The phenomenon went hand in hand with the notion that the multiverse itself was infinite, with an infinite number of parallels, people, possibilities.
Stuff that would fry normal brains.
The thing was, recreating this city, outside of it being a sheer coincidence, took memory, experience. There was still no evidence at all that this was a carry over from 777, at all, but with the red flags that were observed, it could not, at any point, be ruled out.
What Bowen and Johann knew about the Windowless Building was that it was the main building of oversight for Academy City. It was where it's then chairman, Aleister Crowley, kept watch over everything. It was also, strangely, portable. That building was to much surprise a spaceship.
This suggested that there might not be any involvement from Crowley at all. After all, in the latter years before the cataclysm, Crowley was basically turfed out, with the Board, then, being lead by the one now designated as Operator 1201. Just thinking about the downgrade from Executive to Operations would be a sad one, for both of them. The spire was always going to be tackled last, right now it was a case of going through all the exact parallels, before the big push.
"Yeah, the spire's going to be unknown territory. It's going to be a very cautious approach when we get around to it. How it functions, what's inside, we're going to have to treat it like Lion's Den territory."
Of course he was of the impression that digging deeper than intended would result in that security coming online. Possibly worse than just the robotic forces that littered the streets. Those could be dealt with easily. But human forces would be a much harder task.
And help them if the city was already bringing in Espers...
The run through District 18 wasn't a long one, for soon they had passed through to another district.
District 22.
"If we find the person who built this city they're gonna have more than 20 questions thrown at them. I suspect, though, they don't want to be found. Either that or they're just gonna straight up red carpet us into whatever trap they're planning."
Bowen shook his head.
He suspected the person lived in the Spire, but for all he knew they might not even be in Academy City at all.
The unknowns kept growing.
"So this is District 22, huh?"
"Yeah we're not gonna see much here, on the surface it's all power generation, wind turbines. All the good stuff for 22's underground. Not something any of us were able to look at during our time. Apparently it's really wild down there, it's own city, three deep-ass levels. Might be something for a future enquiry. We should have an easy run to 7 from here.
It should, here, be mostly highway. Everything that was of interest was all in District 7. In theory all that should be worried about are the droid security, maybe the possibility of some human patrols. Bowen couldn't imagine Espers being recruited and inducted at this early stage.
But with the spire, anything was possible.
And who knows if those other concerning entities, organisations, might already be trying to lay their mark on this new Academy City.
For him, it was both known and unknown ground. The places look familiar, but underneath might well be a whole knew ball game.
One that nobody on board could prepare for...
"Eh?? Bowen wha--"
Kisses and compliments, one after the other, and Souji whined between them all. That's not fair, he couldn't just attack him like that!! He melted into each kiss, face flushed bright red but unable to say anything. He was sure by this time, Bowen understood his whines and what they stood for. He loved Bowen, too... so much...
Not fair indeed, but such was a common exchange between the two. If it wasn't Bowen, it was Souji. Sometimes the blonde was just in this mood to pepper, shower his boyfriend with kisses, while exploring his body, as he always does. And of course when their lips finally met, oh how he melted in such a feeling, every single time.. and how Souji's whines drove him just that little bit more mad.
He truly loved him.
So very, very much.
@tetsuwan-atom
"What if you're the dough?" BOWEN PLZ
"Bowen, I'm not food!!" he giggled. "But if you wanna treat me like that you certainly an knead me all you want~~"
"Are you sure about that?" Bowen asked, choosing to wrap his arms around Souji from behind. He squeezed him softly as he whispered in his ear.
"Because I could just eat you right up~"
♫ And the piano. It sounds like a carnival And the microphone smells like a beer And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar And say, "Man, what are you doing here?" ♫ She's not going to stop singing anytime soon. Too much fun driving her boyfriend crazy.
"SING US A SONG, YOU'RE THE PIANO MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! SING US A SONG TONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT"
"WELL WE'RE ALL IN THE MOOD FOR A MELODYYYYYYY! AND YOU GOT US FEELIN ALRIIIIIIIIIGHT!!"
♫ Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feeling alright ♫
Nope, she sang the punchline, she isn't tripping that level of insanity....
.....yet.
The fact that the security droids weren't attacking them was a red flag. It should have been a relief, but it only raised alarms.
Why were they not engaging?
Did someone decide to let them in out of courtesy, or was this part of some deeper ploy, perhaps to lure them into a trap, or to simply surveil their activities.
Either way, it did not comfort them.
"<Angel> to Fraxinus. Please send aerial scouts to the designated coordinates and map out the best possible routes.. With videography if applicable."
[Acknowledged. Relaying orders to aerial units and deploying surveillance drones.]
Kanade spoke into her earpiece and the Fraxinus Communications Officer spoke through. One of the best things about the Fraxinus was that it provided the ultimate air support.
Even though it was currently cloaked, it was very much present above the area, coordinating with the forces on the ground and in the air. And as per Kanade's request, they would be deploying a good portion of their fleet of aerial surveillance probes.
These were spherical floating devices that was maybe no more the size of a basketball, but with at least around 305 of them, they would provide live footage of the city, and from different kinds of angles.
The drones could also be cloaked with a Realizer, much like the Fraxinus and were highly maneuverable, so they could get around undetected, and move quickly if needed. It was very much safe to say that the Foundation had the skies completely covered.
If there were any screens or devices with such present, the images would soon be shared.
In the area where the dorm was supposed to be, was a building exactly as Bowen described: eight story building, rows of what looked to be living spaces. It was very much like a dormitory space.
The other building the drones would capture was a building that was in the same area that the "High School of Interest" was purportedly located. Judging from the style of the building, it very much looked like a school.
The same was for the area where Tokiwadai was supposed to be located: a building that looked like the kind of place a wealthy young lady would attend was present.
An area that matched the School Garden's description was very much there, along with the location of one of the selected dormitories. The team would watch as the facilities appeared to be real.
It was dark due to it being night, but the outlines should be unmistakable, even if the dark wasn't an issue.
But there was something almost more shocking then that, located in the area of where this "Windowless Building" was supposed to be.
What was present was not a windowless building, but a massive, spiraling structure of metal and glass that took up ten times the amount of space the original building did.
Aerial view of the structure would confirm it to be possibly the tallest thing in the city, though the tower, like other places, did not appear to be finished. It was almost finished, but not quite.
".....Holy crap, that's huge."
"Is.... Is that supposed to be the windowless building?"
"That doesn't look like a windowless building. That looks like a really tall glass spire."
If they all had to give their thoughts on what this looked like, it reminded them of the Aetheria Basilicom. That building, was the tallest in the nation of Aetheria, and had a bunch of living, administrative, and support facilities all inside of it.
This looked like a sleeker, less stylized version of that. The scale was imposing to put it lightly.
How had they missed this?
It was very much a red flag. Were they linked with the NSRB? If not... then this was going to get a whole lot hairier.
Because it was like they were invited in.... and that's usually never a good thing.
It could be a trap, it could be something very much related to the events of 777...
Both Bowen and Johann, were both slightly unnerved.
Tablets had been provided to a few of the Operators on board who handed such to Shido, Tohka, Sayuki and so on. Bowen didn't have one, but Bettner did.
Gotta love basketball sized drones, they were really helpful here. Johann looked through the images, explaining in detail what could be confirmed to Bowen.
"We have confirmation... the dorm exists."
"....Minor parallel but critical to look into."
"...The high school exists."
"...More minor but also concerning."
".....The Tokiwadai Exterior Dorm exists."
"O..kay... might not be a dorm but... right."
"...School Garden exists."
"Oh for fuck's sake."
Now the composure was dropping. The dorms and the High School weren't too big of parallels, even if the first one did hold significance. But School Garden being here, that was more of a worry.
"...Tokiwadai Middle School exists.."
"GIMME THAT!"
Bowen snatches the tablet to see for himself.
"YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!"
Now there was a real parallel. The same gate, structure and design. The only thing they could not ascertain was whether or not it was even Tokiwadai... or under another name.
Yet.
But when it came to the last image, however.
"Wh... whoa what the fuck????"
"Wh... what is it, sir?"
Johann takes a peek at the tablet screen. What could have been the Windowless Building, the famed 'spaceship' of one Aleister Crowley...
...Was instead a much, much taller, round structure.
"That... that wasn't there in our..."
"No, no this is very much new."
By this point they should have crossed into District 18. Not much they knew about this zone other than it was billed as some posh school district for talented kids... when in reality it was like some sort of maximum security prison.
Or so it was in 777.
"Send the images off to MOS, highlight attention Commodore Peter Merlin to all images. By the looks of it it's not quite finished, so we've got a chance of finding out what the hell it is.... if we can even get inside. For now the plan stays. We tackled the dorm first, vehicles branch off to respective places before we rejoin to tackle... this fucking thing..."
"Y'think School Garden would still be under construction?"
"For your team and the Operation's sake I goddamn hope so."
As she found herself midair, the bluenette closed her eyes as she feared she'll have a rough landing for teleporting at the wrong place. Is she going to die in such a petty mistake or—
"Eh?!" She suddenly felt being carried by someone with their arms before her body could even reached the ground. At that moment, she glanced at the person who attempted to save her from the fall.
Speaking of fall, they'll both land safely, right?
Calculate the trajectory, the end path, the spot he'll land on, he actually managed a bit of a jump so he could catch her sooner.
Now he could have landed on his feat but to cushion her impact... Bowen chose instead to land on his bottom. It's at least safe grass where he lands.
It'll hurt just a bit, he'll be fine. A pause, he keeps her from the ground entirely. Before he ascertains appearance, any wounds, etc, the knee-jerk question comes out first.
"You alright?"
"YOU ARE?! GREAT!" The mage had searched long and hard but she finally found someone who would entertain her silly but brilliant idea. "Could you tell me how it all works?! Also is it possible bring multiple versions of one person into the same dimension?! This is a purely scientific interest, no ulterior motives whatsoever!"
"Uh..."
Fuck that would involve selling out confidential secrets, he can't exactly give her that... he should be able to just roundabout it.
"There's.. many forms of inter-dimensional travel. Some have innate powers, magic for example, others like myself rely on technology, there's many forms to that too, it's like... a complicated process, lots of moving parts and a centralised location where all the real hard stuff happens." That should be enough.
As for her second... also concerning question. "Uhhhhh... I've never actually tried that but I've never come across any theory that states you can't. Parallels are meant to exist, sometimes timelines with like.. really minor changes. Might be a real mental freakout for everyone involved but from physics and laws perspective I don't see there being like.. any paradoxes or anything from just that... not if it's all in one dimension that's separate from.. timelines and shit.."
Bowen might as well have proposed to her with those words. Had it truly not crossed his mind? She half expected a ring to pop out from somewhere, but obviously, it would never come. At least, not in this moment. It didn’t matter. She didn’t need jewelry for it. Marriage was mostly on paper, a title. One could act married without it being official.
“Yes…?”
She embrace was extremely comforting. Miko returned it happily, and held him close. She nosed him affectionately. “You.. will marry me?”
He would have... but he had been beaten to the punch. Granted a ring would come at some point, though sadly he wasn't one to overprepare.
Jewelry didn't mean much compared to the immense moment of commitment, of a new life, a new future, the joy that was marriage itself. He was nuzzling her, his hold was so warm. "I will marry you... lemme make you my wife, Mikoto... we'll... we'll live together, we can be happy, we can have a real future."
AGGRESSIVE PIANO FINGERS
PIANO FINGERS FOR DAYYYYSSSSS
