>>39428062
>The roof, they keep leaving that door unlocked.
>Ask the monster that's here with me, he seems to have insider knowledge of that building
>The front door! Make my presence known!
>Other?

>>39428062
>Just hang up, there's no use in talking to him.
>Ask the monster that's here with me, he seems to have insider knowledge of

>>39428062
>Just hang up, there's no use in talking to him.

>Ask the monster that's here with me, he seems to have insider knowledge of that building
>The roof, they keep leaving that door unlocked.

>>39428062
>Threaten him to return Mom, right now!

>The roof, they keep leaving that door unlocked.
Go alone, I suppose.

>>39428062
>Threaten him to return Mom, right now!
>The front door! Make my presence known!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>The roof, they keep leaving that door unlocked.

Toss up between threaten and hang up, rolling!

1-hang up
2-threaten!

And I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so I guess I'm going to miss the thread today. Thanks for running HotC, I'm trusting the rest of you not to screw up and make someone cry.

>>39428954
I'm trusting the rest of you not to screw up and make someone cry.
except Asai?

>>39428978
Well it''s 1:30AM so I'll be following you soon anon. But for next vote at least.

>>39428954
Have a nice night!

>>39428978
Well, that could happen anyway.

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I turn the phone over and tap it twice, hanging up the call.
There are a lot of people I should be speaking to right now, he's not one of them.

"Forget about him!" I yell, "He's probably just trying to make me mad! Sis, go get sleeping, Good monster, help everyone out of here! I'm going in through the rooftop entrance!"

"You're so wreckless.." Kaori sighs before wandering away.
"I agree with her." The monster clutches his side even harder than before. "I'm sure Izumi wouldn't want to see YOU hurt, either. So keep yourself out of trouble."
I don't know how he thinks I can do that, but he expects me to all the same.

--

"She seriously wants to go back in ALONE!?" Aiko grabs tufts of her hair in surprise.
"I know, but you should know already that nothing will change her mind." I pout.

I am Kaori Itsukuma. Masami wants me to find where Mom is in the Fortune HQ building. Which means she's going in there alone.

I don't trust her with that decision.
"Surely one of us should go with her!"
"We should" I cross my arms, "But she wouldn't let us go with her anyway. She wants us to leave with this guy."

The clearly-injured monster makes his way over to us, still clutching a hole in his midsection.
"What? A monster!?" Ryouta gawks.
"He's a good guy." I sigh, "But that still means she has no support or backup."

"How about this." The principal walks back from getting things from his vehicle, "How about a couple of us follow along behind her?"
"I don't see how you're going to do that, she's going in through the roof."

I can practically see his glasses shine.
"I have my ways." His smile is beaming.
I don't have a good feeling about this.

First:
>POV Choice
>Masami
>Kaori
>A friend?
>Mom?
>Other?

Second:

>Send in a group behind her, she needs the support!
>This is something she wants to do by herself.
>Other?

>>39429812
>Mom?
Could be interesting...
>Send in a group behind her, she needs the support!
Masami a stubborn.

>>39429812
>>Other?
Principal.
>>Send in a group behind her, she needs the support!

>>39429812
>Mom?
>This is something she wants to do by herself.

>>39429812
>Masami
>Send in a group behind her, she needs the support!

>>39429812
>Other?
the principal
>go alone behind her, we will be her support!

>What's the yuri level in this quest? Thanks

>>39430160
None.

No romance was voted at one time and it's been stuck to.

>>39429812

>Mom?
>Send in a group behind her, she needs the support!

She did it to Kaori too at some point, turnabout's fair play.

>>39430160
None. No romance.

>>39430160
err...
it has cute girls doing cute things, possibly with other cute girls
but zero romance

>Mom!
>Send in a group behind her, she needs the support!

Writing!

File: Izumi_business_surprised.jpg (180 KB, 906x1000)

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My head.

It's dark, the lighting is poor, and I don't know if the girls got rid of the drones or not.

I wish I was at home, making tea.

I am Itsukuma Izumi. I'm not feeling very good. Last I remember, I was helping my daughter Masami try to unlock the potential of the signet of the Chairman. His signet was granted with the special contract of every drone and construct in existence. Which essentially meant that he was their ruler.
Well, former ruler, he's probably eating through a straw now. Masami has the signet.

I don't think there's much anyone can do with it if they aren't the chairman. It's not like anyone could use the signet. I was just hoping Masami and I could make something just to quell the drone rebellion. I asked Masami to give it to Asai, he's probably strong enough to use the lesser functions of it and stop the drones himself. I hope she listened to me and just handed it over instead of being stubborn.
She reminds me a lot of myself when she's stubborn.

I don't know how, but the drones, who are supposed to be mindless servants, knew that their master was laid-out and couldn't control them. It's almost like someone goaded them into attacking.

I hear footsteps, one of the emergency lights in the poorly lit room flicker to life. Slowly, my eyes start to adjust.

Oh, I'm in the administrative lobby where my office is. Masami probably saw me pass out and put me here. I don't hear any fighting, so I guess this means mission accomplished.
So, where's Masami? Or Kaori? Or that servant that's always so kind?

More footsteps, it's hard to see who it is with the lighting. I try to sit up, but realize that my body is sore all over. I can barely even sit up.

"Wakey wakey, Empress" It's a man, tall guy in a white lab coat.

Asai?

>"Oh! Good! Did you get rid of the drones?"
>"Hey, where's Masami?"
>"Where's anyone?"
>"Help me up, I'm really sore after that fight."
>Other?

>>39430990
>"Oh! Good! Did you get rid of the drones?"
>"Hey, where's Masami?"

>>39430990
>>"Hey, where's Masami?"

>>39430990
>"Oh! Good! Did you get rid of the drones?"
>"Hey, where's Masami?"

>>39430990
>"Oh! Good! Did you get rid of the drones?"
>"Where's anyone?"

>"Oh! Good! Did you get rid of the drones?"
>"Hey, where's Masami?"

Writing!

Oh, I was too slow again.
Oh well, I gotta sleep anyway. Thanks for writing.

>>39431278
Have a nice night!

>>39430237
>>39430234
>>39430223

Good to know, thanks.

>>39430223
Wonder if OP will do romance in their next quest, it sounded like HotC was pretty excited interested in doing so if I recall correctly.

>>39431455
His other quest might have some? Never read that one.

>>39431499
Me neither since I found Dog Days very uninteresting myself. I guess it might have some.

>>39431455
Fun fact: I did originally intend to have lots of looping character relationships and romantic subplots. That's why I even introduced the student council.
But that's okay, maybe I'll find a way to put it into the next thing I make.

>>39431544
I just imagined for a moment where we would be right now if writing time would have been additionally taken up by romance subplots.

>>39431595
To be honest, I doubt we would have even gotten to Kaori's sideplot yet if I included romance sideplots for all the boys and girls

I really should have planned the whole thing better.

>>39431666
So it goes!

>>39431666
On the upside, it teaches to be lean with your story and not pad it out with not really necessary stuff. I can't think of anything that romance subplots would have added to this quest or its characters.
So getting faster to the family relationship seems like it was a good idea to cut that stuff out, even disregarding the pacing issues.

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"Oh good! There you are!" I wearily stretch my aching limbs. "Did you get rid of the drones?"
"I did." He smiles.
"That's good. I was worried they were going to-"

I'm starting to notice something kind of strange about the place.
"Hey, why are the all the lights out?"
"Power Outage, I'm using it to do something more important."

"Oh?"
"Yes, I'm making a giant bubble around the building that keeps everyone out." He sighs, "Unfortunately it has some holes in it."

"Oh."
Something about this seems REALLY STRANGE.
"So, um, why are you trying to keep everyone out?"
"Izumi, don't you see?"
"See what?"

Somehow, a single light right over him flickers on, illuminating him but not the rest of the room.

"This is it, Izumi. The Chairman's bloodline has no power over us!" He turns his back, crossing his arms. "All of his drones are defeated, his signet belongs to Masami. All our work has come to fruition, we're free. "

"Free? I don't-" I think about what he said for a minute, "I don't understand, what's changed? Why is this important?"
"Don't tell me you didn't want this too. I saw what happened between the Chairman and Masami." He smiles, "Your little bet paid off, and now he has no control over us."

"I didn't make her for that."
He chuckles, "It doesn't matter why you made her, what matters is that we're free from influence, free to make our own decisions."

This feels really uncomfortable.
"So, uh, what decision did you want to make that you couldn't make before?"

He pauses, "I'm going to make this world a place for constructs ad servants alike."

"Uhh."

>"Okay."
>"Can I go home now?"
>This sounds familiar, like someone has tried this exact same thing before.
>"That is dumb."
>"So what's different now than before?"
>Other?

>>39432163
>This sounds familiar, like someone has tried this exact same thing before.
>"So what's different now than before?"

>>39432163
>This sounds familiar, like someone has tried this exact same thing before.
>"So what's different now than before?"

>>39432163
>This sounds familiar, like someone has tried this exact same thing before.
>"So what's different now than before?"

>>39432163
>>"Okay."
>>"Can I go home now?"

>>This sounds familiar, like someone has tried this exact same thing before.
>>"So what's different now than before?"

Writing!

File: 43399281_p1.jpg (367 KB, 566x800)

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Hey, that sounds familiar, like someone has tried this before.
Wait, that's right. Someone HAS tried this before. It didn't end well, at all.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that's why we gave the Chairman the signet in the first place. It's because of someone trying something exactly like this some time ago.

"Don't you see Empress?" I wish he wouldn't call me that, "These clothes, these looks, this entire building!"
Uh.
"All of it is just a front for the human world on the outside." He crosses his arms, turning to me. "We're not businessmen, we don't do office work or produce anything for humans. We're constructs! We're made from magic, by magic."

"I don't really see what-"
"AND THAT'S HOW IT SHOULD BE, EMPRESS!" the light goes out, another in the corner of the room flickers to life as he walks into it. "We shouldn't spend our lives hiding from the potential scorn of humanity. We're something amazing! We should wear our true names with pride, and joy! These false faces we put on to entertain the human world, when really it's the human world that should be entertaining us."

"That sounds really evil." I'm not sure where he's going with this still. "Didn't father try this?"
"You mean Emperor?"
"Yes, him! He hurt a lot of people trying to do just what you're saying! He turned everyone against each other, and he murdered his own master! What are you going to do differently than him!?"

"Well for one, I don't plan on failing." He stretches his arms, "But don't you agree the world would be better if we didn't have to hide our true selves? I owe this victory to you and Priestess as much as anyone else."

>"I really don't understand what you're talking about or why this is important to you."
>"I don't really care."
>"Is this why you made Fortune?"
>"I just joined Fortune because I wanted Masami."
>"This is stupid."
>"I'm going home."
>Other?

>>39432664
>"I just joined Fortune because I wanted Masami."
>"I don't really care."

>>39432664
>Other?
i just want to live normally
>"This is stupid."
>"I'm going home."

>>39432664
>"I don't really care much myself but I can see why someone would."
>"I just don't think this is a particularly good way to go about it."

>>39432664
>"I just joined Fortune because I wanted Masami."
>"I don't really care."

>>39432664
>>"I just joined Fortune because I wanted Masami."
>>"I'm going home."

>A bunch of things!

>Writing!

Let me know if the exposition gets too heavy

File: izumi_business_3.jpg (248 KB, 900x958)

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"I-" I try to think of the words to convey how I feel about it. I find myself oddly speechless. "I LIKE my normal life."

"Only because you've had nothing else."
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" I immediately retort. "I felt what it was like before, and it sucked!"
"And that!" He smiles, "Is because we were forced to serve, Empress. You haven't ever lived free until now."

"I-"
I'm trying to think about how life would be like.
"I really don't care!" I huff, "I really don't care myself, but I can see why someone would!"

Why did I join Fortune? I could have pretended to be an ordinary young woman almost anywhere else. Well, except for that one thing.
"I really only joined Fortune because I wanted Masami, Asai!" I sigh, "Nothing more! I don't care about serving anyone or making a place for myself, I just wanted to have a daughter!"

Asai stops, "Was that the only reason? Was that why you WANTED a replacement?"
"It is!" I've been hiding things from him, too.
"I'm sorry I never told you, but I really only started drafting cards so I could have Masami."

I stand up and bow, "I'm going home."
Well, I say that, but I can't even see where I'm going.

"Hmm." He strokes his chin, "But don't you want a world where she can live free as she wants? She, like us, is something special too."

"I just want her to live the normal life I couldn't have."
"Please understand Empress, We weren't build to live human lives!"

Huh.
"Built?"

>"By who?"
>"How? I thought.. Well."
>"But it's MY human life and I want it!"
>"Don't you DARE bring Masami into this stupid thing you're planning!"
>"I'm going home."

>>39433481
>"But it's MY human life and I want it!"

>>39433481
>"But it's MY human life and I want it!"

>>39433481
woops, >>39433537 here, add
>"Don't you DARE bring Masami into this stupid thing you're planning!"
to my vote, please

>>39433481
>>"But it's MY human life and I want it!"
Like you said, we are free to choose.

>>39433481
>"We may be similar in the way of wishing to escape our put-upon limitations, Asai. But, the chains that chafe for me are not the same that chafe for you, I don't think. At the very least not for the same reasons."

>>39433481
>>"But it's MY human life and I want it!"

>>"But it's MY human life and I want it!"

Writing!

Isn't he just trying to get us to agree with him? Sets him up nicely for an 'exactly, and with my plan you can have that - no, even more' or some shit.

>>39434135
Well, yes. He wants to marry Empress afterall, he's clearly looking for her approval.

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"You don't understand, Asai! This is MY human life, and I want it!"
"That might be fine and well." The light flickers off, and I can't see anything. "But are you sure Masami wants to live the same kind of life?"

That touches on a nerve.
"Don't you DARE bring Masami into this stupid thing you're planning!"
"She might want this life that I'm offering, Empress. Have you ever asked her?"

"Somehow, I really doubt that." I sigh. "I'm going home, you can do what you want."

"Empress, there's a bubble around the building. You can't leave, nor should you try."

Hmph, he thinks he can keep me here? Okay, I might be sore all over, but I'm not going to entertain him any longer than I have to.
I walk over to the door to the stairwell and reach for it.

Suddenly, the ENTIRE DOOR jumps upward five feet! Leaving me staring at a wall with no door!
"Tower!" I don't like using his real name, but I think this is appropriate. "You can't just keep me here!"
"Empress, the building is under lockdown until I can review the damage." The lights come on, but only to a light dim. "Stay here and think about if you want to return to your normal life, you'll get to leave shortly."

The door blinks out of existence from the unusually high spot on the wall it's been placed. It reappears beneath Asai.
"TOWER!" I yell at him, he smiles and simply falls through the door. It closes and disappears once more.

I'm stuck.
I take out my phone.
No signal.

How would a movie hero get out of this?
"TOWER! I HAVE TO USE THE BATHROOM!"
Silence, no response.

Phooey.

I walk over to the couch and lay down on it. I'm still stiff, and my joints are sore.
Masami and Kaori must be so worried about me right now.

"Hey." There's another voice in the room! I nearly jump out of my skin!
"AAH?!"
"Shh, he doesn't know I'm in here." It's a young girl's voice. I can't really see her in the low-lighting, but she stands even shorter than Masami. "Just trust me!"

Trust her? With what?

>Thread End

>>39434737
Thanks for running, looks like we might get to beat up that jerk Asai sooner or later.

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Thanks everyone for the thread, I like the occasional Mom thread! I just wish I wasn't feeling so tired. I could barely finish this one.

But it got some things out of the way that I won't have to have explained to Masami!

She'll have some other things explained to her that are also important.

Thanks again for the thread, I plan on having another one on Wednesday. Stay tuned for that, because I want to go back to two CPMs per week.

Until next time.

>>39434813
thanks for running, that was quite nice

And again, I realize this was only seven updates.
I hope to have a longer one on Wednesday. Today was kind of hectic.

>>39434813
Thanks for running.