holyspirits | W5 CYOA - Zhongli, Akihiko, Laurence, Ali Zoph

[ laurence, having never seen a convenience store in his life before heaven, looks between all of them like no? bullets aren't normally sold there? he definitely thought it was 100% normal. why would it not be.

looking at the text... ]

Arcade shootout? [ that is also definitely a normal thing that always happens. ] Do we have to deal with whatever this is?

[ he is so tired of things involving guns. no offense akihiko.

(but why would he be, this is his gun, the gun that was made for him, laurence's gun) ]

[Laurence probably already had enough of guns, and fire, and paint, and electricity, for his entire life, but hey, with some luck the tower and its happenings will have only one of those things]

If we don't, someone else will have to. We should at least find out more, anyway.

[In theory, they should be able to bail from anything even after going to the tower, because it seems this is only to get something assigned to them. Worth going to figure out why he remembers such a trigger-happy life that somehow feels so natural and at the same time so unusual. ]

[ he's a little bemused by the arcade shootout, but clearly it's been taken care of! so it's fine.

except he shakes his head after thinking that, sighing and pocketing his phone again in... his apron... ]

Let us at least head in that direction, assuming that we will know where to go, and see what's going on here. If we decide to leave or not take up the assignment, or simply not make it to the meeting place, then we'll make that decision if need be.

It couldn't hurt to look. We can also decide to just leave if we don't like what we see.

[Like. He doesn't want to progress through this too much, he's not racing to say goodbye to Laurence again. But they do need to at least pretend to do something. He's seen how people come out of these adventures, and he doesn't want to tempt anyone to smack them down.]

It beats going to class at least, right?

[ well. he is hesitant, but not enough to argue against everyone else. besides, they're right. they can always leave. that's always an option that surely won't lead to further trouble. why would it?

so he gives a reluctant nod. ]

Okay. We can go to the Tower.

[ millennium tower. not his tower. he has to think hard about that part. ]

[ The four of you make your way to the center of campus, where Millennium Tower looms high. It's a beautiful day outside. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and you can hear the distant sound of various girls enjoying their afternoon. This is a science school, so it's common for girls to shut themselves in dark rooms to work on their projects, but the engineering club are tinkering with a machine on the lawn, and the Game Development Club are running around looking for inspiration for their latest project. A few girls jog past you, towards the track and field.

Like the rest of the buildings on campus, Millennium Tower has a very high-tech aesthetic. Everything is metallic, or smooth blues and whites. Floor to ceiling windows cover every wall, and you make your way to the meeting room. It's a few floors up by elevator. You know exactly where to go!

In an auditorium, a girl is waiting for you with a veneer of patience. You recognize her as Noa, the secretary of Seminar. And Seminar, of course, is is what functions as the student council of Millennium. It is therefor the highest authority you can think of in the whole world. ]

"Ah! C&C. Good, you're all here. And right on time! But of course I expected no less. You may be known for needless property damage and consistently exceeding budget, but at least you're always punctual.

On that note, I'm afraid I do have that commission for you."

Edited 2025-03-17 04:53 (UTC)

[Good grief, needless property damage and exceding the budget...Akihiko hopes that if anything happens, paying the financial costs of everything won't be part of the tasks to do before returning to where they came from is possible]

...we strive to excel.

[He glances at the rest of the team. Akihiko doesn't really have any questions before hearing about the commission, but hey, maybe someone else here does]

[ this is all so strange to zhongli, yet also - so right? is this what people have had to deal with on these trips? foreign, toppling structures of sleek designs, all of these haloed girls... at least the latter doesn't seem out of place in either set of memories.

he stays close to the other three, but his hand finds its place between laurence's shoulders once they're in front of noa. familiarity is one thing, but the knowledge of who she is - and what seminar is - is another thing entirely. ]

Apologies. I hope that the arcade incident was resolved with little issue, in that case. Are there certain parameters that you would have us maintain during this commission, to better... alleviate the property damage?

[ he'll leave asking about the commission to one of the others. ]

[Quietly to Laurence as they all head that way:]

It's okay. We're all here with you.

[He knows about that tower trauma so.

But when they get to the Millennium Tower and find Noa, he feels personally offended at the description of their unit. "Consistently exceeding budget"? Excuse me? Somehow Ali is an accountant on top of being a student, he knows all about being in budget!!!

...but she IS the highest authority he can think of in the world...maybe he's been slipping in recent years?]

We'll try better to avoid the damage and costs. What is the commission you have for us?

[ who says it's trauma,

the millennium tower is not unlike home - a tall, sleek building, all brightly lit and pristine, with tall windows to look out over the world. but of course, why wouldn't it be? this is where they're supposed to be.

and, of course, laurence is familiar with the concept of absolute authority, too. he doesn't even question it. he only glances briefly at zhongli with the touch and lets the others do the talking. what is happening here. ]

"... It was handled. But yes - so. Approximately thirty seven hours ago, a student by the codename 'The Idol' escaped the self-reflection room. They slipped out of range of Seminar's surveillance network before we realized the situation. They've only been free a brief time, but their crimes are already beyond the usual.

Unfortunately, retrieving them is a more complicated task than usual... Our intel suggests they've fled to the Odyssey Maritime School district. While we do have decent relations with Odyssey, in practice that means that we can't be caught violating the rules and sending a drone over their territory.

So what we need... is a stealth capture."

[Something about listening to this kind of directive is just so natural to Akihiko. He should stop getting into these extracurricular activities. How does he have time for his life between this group and S.E.E.S]

Shouldn't be too hard.

[Stealth isn't really his forte, but hey, that doesn't mean it'll be a tough task]

Why was this Idol in the self-reflection room in the first place? What did they do to deserve being there?

Edited 2025-03-17 16:33 (UTC)

[ "shouldn't be too hard," akihiko says, and zhongli takes a moment to look at the group gathered for this task. he's... not sure about that. this is a simultaneous memory thought, between excessive property damage and simply knowing some parties involved in the group.

he'll just sigh softly. ]

And there is no means of communicating with Odyssey, to come to an agreement regarding this student, if our relations are so decent? Are they dangerous to the population of the schools?

[ once they understand their situation, they can decide what they want to do about it. they could just leave! they could just hit da bricks! but better to know everything they can, first. ]

[Well. Two of them can turn into dragons (can they actually turn into dragons here) so stealth might be possible.]

If nothing else, I don't think any of us have met the Idol before. We would have an easier time of being stealthy than anyone else.

[Boys? In an all-girl game? Clearly they must be side characters! Nobody will suspect them.]

[ wow laurence's powers are totally made for stealth how dare you

(laurence himself is not made for stealth) ]

I don't know any "Idol"... [ hmm. ] What does a stealth capture mean, exactly? How are we supposed to blend in or whatever?

[ Listen, judging by your reputation as C&C, stealth may not really be what you're known for. but times are desperate, as you can probably presume by the way Noa's smile stays tight. ]

"The Idol was initially in the self-reflection room for hacking our school database and changing their own attendance records... as well as those of many others... so that they could go to karaoke during class hours. Which might not have been quite so bad had they not also billed it to the school itself, then changed all of their school grades to reflect their karaoke grades.

I think you would remember if you had ever met them before. They are a constant headache. As for their capture, we'll leave your methods up to you. You are the fixers, after all. But I'll answer anything I can to help you formulate a plan."

[Things really escalated, from just hacking and changing attendance records, to going all the way up to doing outrageous crimes. What a person this Idol must be.

So of course, Akihiko asks:]

Their appearance would be a good start. We can't catch someone if we don't know how they look like.

Edited 2025-03-17 17:45 (UTC)

[ well. alright. zhongli considers this before he circles back to the other school. ]

Is there not a point of contact at Odyssey? If this student has caused this level of trouble, here, then surely they will do the same at their school if left to their own devices.

[ he'd ask if they're cleared for force to retrieve The Idol, but. well. guns don't kill people! ]

[He is nodding along with all of this before he suggests something else.]

Does Idol have a phone? We might be able to track her from her phone's signal.

[ part of laurence is like "what's karaoke" while the rest of him is like yea okay that tracks, what a pain for seminar!!

does he actually have anything to contribute here uhhhhh ]

Do you know anything about where in Odyssey they'd be?

"We can't guarantee they won't be in some sort of disguise, but your target is a little on the short side, thin, and has pale skin. Their hair is grey and their eyes are teal. Their halo is neon green and resembles graffiti, or so I'm told.

Unfortunately things with Odyssey are... Well, they're good for the time being, but mostly because we don't interfere with one another's business.

We managed to follow The Idol's phone's signal out to The Golden Fleece - one of the Odyssey's ships. But The Idol is a bit too savvy to not have blocked us out eventually. And with some help, we've learned that this ship is officially 'retired' but... Has been being used as a sailing casino.

Which contributes to why Odyssey wouldn't want us to retrieve them. They've been forging bonds in Seminar's name again and spending them with reckless abandon. From Odyssey's perspective, we would be sniping a valuable "Whale" from them, out on the open seas. Their own territory.

But if they aren't retrieved soon, Seminar is likely to be bankrupt within a week!"

Don't worry. We'll take less than a week.

[Well, as far as information goes...there's only one last thing left. Akihiko's hand goes to wherever he stashed the pistol he has]

Fighting capabilities. Tell all you know about it. What kind of fight should we expect to happen if it goes awry and this Idol catches us?

[Because that's a very plausible possibility. You never know how rolls might go!]

[ great. a sigh, but at least akihiko is getting the next question to come to mind out of the way. they should definitely do this commission, for the sake of seminar!

except they could just leave. that's still on the table, he reminds himself - if not for all of them, then at least laurence's sake, considering he's not a combatant and certainly still very much on the living side of heaven. ]

And if Odyssey catches us there, on the Golden Fleece? Will extraction be possible, or are we on our own, there, and meant to make our way out with no outside assistance?

Well there's ways to go in besides straightforward. We could sneak into the employee area and put work uniforms on. Then we could move around the casino freely.

[Well. Maybe not the teens. But they can just claim to be 18, it's fine.]

[ laurence is actually 18 so yea he totally could do that. rip akihiko. ]

Aren't they going to know this "whale" is gone, anyway? They're still going to be pissed about it.

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