You decide to head into the town to the west.

It's smaller than Mead, and lacking in night-time lighting. There aren't any people walking the dark streets.

____________________


Miimas: "Nope."

Tuhota: "Uhh. Steaks Miimas?"

Miimas: "Nope."

Horoma: "Food is Miimas."

Miimas: "Yup."

Horoma: "Lots of food sounds like Tuhota."

Tuhota: "That's me!"

Horoma: "And steaks is Kyeltziv."

You confirm the guess.

Tuhota: "Wow, you're good at this!

Kyeltziv, your turn to be reader!"

You reach to grab a card, and when you look at it you realize you took three.

Miimas: "Pick one, I guess."

-Stuff that makes your heart pound
-Stuff that deserves a second chance
-Stuff that makes no sense
-(Make one up)

The order of people in a clockwise rotation:
Tuhota (2 points)
Miimas (0 points)
Horoma (3 points)
Kyeltziv (1 points)

____________________



Blue Mage: "Do you think you can try to talk to the one that replied? Maybe it can do something about the others."

Black Mage: "Well, we should be getting some backup soon. Even if we're supposed to sit tight, well. You know."

____________________


Sarya: "Go ahead, just don't get killed."

Tabi: "I'll give you some support, just don't get too close."

In the distance, the monster lets out a gout of blinding white flame, incinerating another squad of chirop.

____________________


Lucida: What's what how?

Girl: "Sounds like Lauffeuer on her 'spring cleaning', getting rid of Ikkuma's and Takana's guardian spirits."

Aucupe moves closer to get a better view, huddled close to your side.

Aucupe: "It's Null!"

Null: "... Chrys? You look... Shorter. Why are you with these people? What happened to Maria?"

Aucupe: "No, it's OW-coo-pay, and Horoma. And we're on a mission to stop the Heartstone stuff! Horoma is on a mission too, somewhere else."

Null: "... Come inside."

Lucida: Wait, who's Null? Is this person invisible or something? Maybe the sensor in this thing is broken, hold on.

The three of you enter the cabin, the door closing behind the last person.

It's only a single room, but roomy enough if only one person is living here. To the left of the door is a bench against the wall where the three of you sit. All the way to the left is a bed, where Null sits. On the other side of the room is a kitchen of sorts, a table in the middle of the room, and a fireplace with a pot over the flame opposite of the entrance.

Null: "I'm Noel, people ended up calling me Null. I was a subject at the Heartstone facility before Ma- Horoma and the others escaped.

What are you trying to do, exactly?"

Everyone hands you their paper slips and you read them out loud.

" 'Stuff that makes no sense'

Emotions
Gauntlet Wearers
Science
Magic"

Tuhota: "Ummmmm. Magic Kyeltziv?"

You shake your head.

Miimas: "Science is Horo?"

Horoma: "Yeah."

Miimas: "Gauntlets, Kyeltziv."

Yup.

Miimas: "So Emotions is Tuhota."

Tuhota: "Yup! Now Miimas and Horoma are tied! I'm the reader again!

'Stuff that reminds you of home!' "

The order of people in a clockwise rotation:
Tuhota (2 points)
Miimas (3 points)
Horoma (3 points)
Kyeltziv (1 points)

____________________


Black Mage: "I'm not really worried about some random yahoos wandering around at night."


I don't know. No one ever told me who I am.

Can I be you? We can share. You don't have to even give me much. Just some memories, except it'll be more like borrowing.

____________________


Lucida: I can hear her, I just can't see her. Wait, I think I figured it out.

Okay, there, now I'm picking up light. I can see her now. Kinda-sorta. It's not a great picture, this is kind of a hacky solution.

Null: "Doubt it'd work. There are plenty of made-up stories about the facility's purpose, some spread by the people who work there to make the public disbelieve anything they hear. Even if you had a heartstone and escaped test subjects, you'd need some way to prove their connection to the facility."

Aucupe: "But we just need some people to believe, and they might try to learn more about it."

The blonde has her eyes closed, arms folded.

Null: "Maybe if we managed to get someone from the facility on our side - someone who didn't really know what they were getting into, and sympathizes with the girls. They'd know how to expose it properly."

Aucupe: "Like Emiel!"

Null: "Yeah. He's probably the best person to pull out of there. Everyone knows who he is, he's credible, and most likely on our side."

____________________


You head back to Luttiim, staying at the north edge of the city chopping at the tall grass.

With something to cut, you can feel how aligned the edge of your weapon is, and you work on honing your precision. After a long session of swinging, you feel like you improved!

Null: "He has the title of Master Constructor, pretty well-known by magic scholars and researchers. Teleiat contracted him or something to work for them, ended up in the Heartstone facility doing research on spirit persistence and incubation and building machines that control those.

Originally, there was someone else who did the... Experimentation, on us, as well as the care-taking. Emiel volunteered to acquire their roles, saying that him being closer to us would aid in his research.

He performed the experiments on us, his job. But he also cooked for us, and took us outside to play.

When we were breaking out, he didn't try to stop us. He just, apologized."

____________________


I want to be something. Something cool. You seem cool.

Maybe I can help with the other spirits. Maybe you can do it yourself. They don't know anything. Teach them.

Before you march on, you reflect on how things went down.

First there was the Second of Caelum recruiting you, and that led to Lucida escaping. Then, you met Tabi and joined the Spiral, and disabled Magusalto's magic infrastructure. Following that, you helped get the casket to the tower, and now we're here.

You certainly get things moving.

Moving. Space Manipulator.

That's just a coincidence.

____________________


Null: "Well. I'm out of ideas. I suppose we could just wreck the place and let all the girls escape."

Lucida: Hey, there's a thing in here to extend the range of the uh. Telepathy reading? Wonder what that'll do. Beep boop.

A flood of imagery and thoughts fill your mind.



The sun room, light beaming through walls of thick glass sheets suspended by an elegantly twisting framework of aged bronze. The green tarnish of the metal blends in with the lush flora of small trees and exotic flowers, playground to the dozens of birds flitting about.

A small table with two chairs sits in the center of the room, where a small girl busies herself with a sketch of the dove grooming itself on a tree branch.

The girl has short white hair just above her shoulders and pale skin that refuses to darken under the summer sun. Brilliant blue eyes gaze out from under a furrowed brow, concentrated on the wings of the dove.

She could hear the rest of the family talking in the other room. Probably about another shower of praise for Chena, a "prime example of an Illige, possessing not only the arcane strength of our bloodline, but also the skill of an adept mage and the mannerisms of a proper lady." No one more suited to carry on the family name.

Chrys was different. She never showed any talent in magic and always had difficulty speaking. Anger and frustration manifested as tantrums when she was younger, but enough disciplinary actions taught her how to be a Good Girl. Do what you're told, don't talk back, respect your elders, maintain good posture at all times. She liked being a Good Girl. No one would yell or hit, and desserts were given after dinner.

Her silence masked her intelligence. Mother and Father would shift their vocabulary when she was around, but she understood every word. A failure in their eyes - a mentally challenged girl with no magic capabilities. She knew they were slowly packing her belongings, and that a "breeder" would be arriving soon. She "at least has some worth as a carrier".

The door connecting the sunroom to the rest of the house opens, and Mother steps through.

"Chrys, someone is here to see you."

Today is the day.

The girl stands up, taking one last look around the sun room.

With her sketchbook under an arm, she leaves with the Master Constructor.



You blink, clearing your vision as the memory ends.

Lucida: Whoops, looks like that's what happens.

____________________


You write Grass and pass your slip to Tuhota.

Tuhota: " 'Stuff that reminds you of home'

Salt
Dinner Tables
Trees
Grass"

Miimas: "I'm guessing, right. Um. Trees Kyeltziv?"

Nope.

Horoma: "Trees Tuhota."

Tuhota: "Yup!"

Horoma: "Salt for the westerner."

Miimas: "Got me."

Horoma: "So grass is Kyeltziv."

Yup.

Tuhota: "You need to catch up, Kyeltziv! You're dead last!"

Miimas draws another Stuff card.

Miimas: " 'Stuff that is tempting.' "

The order of people in a clockwise rotation:
Tuhota (2 points)
Miimas (3 points)
Horoma (6 points)
Kyeltziv (1 points)