>>2430570
“Lemme guess; Nia?” Tooru hazards, to which you nod in agreement. “What, you two had a girls’ day out?”

“Oh, no.” you giggle. “I just found her after I got done with my own shopping. I bought a few things for Jago; as you can see!”

“Haha, yeah! Nice hat!” Kyo offers, while the new kid just scoffs.

“Fits me roight, don’t it!” Jago agrees.

“Oh, uh, before I forget!” Kyo says quickly, motioning to the boy on his right. “Himawari, this is Ken Ayano. He’s-”

“One of the top members of X-Force, jetsetter, and soon to be M-9 Grand Prix champion!” he offers. “Always nice to meet a new fan- I presume by your bot there you’re a battler yourself, right?”

“Oh, I-” before you can deflect any however, you’re interrupted by Tooru.

“Oh, yeah, she’s pretty good! Even took part in Round 1!” Tooru gushes- before he sighs a bit. “But, uh… she wasn’t able to stick the whole thing out. Personal reasons.” ...Well, at least he wasn’t entirely tactless.

“Ah, that mess with the rampaging bot, yeah?” Ken nods in understanding. “Shame. But hey, if ya got any skill, we’re always lookin’ for new members!”

“I’d be happy to process your membership!” the desk worker shouts out of nowhere, suddenly peppy again.

“Sooooo, ahah, yeah. Himawari!” Kyo continues, purposefully ignoring the recruitment attempt. “What brings you here, again?”

>Oh, uh, like you said, Nia said you were training here. I was just curious, is all! Never been here before.
>Well, you guys are pretty strong, right? There’s well... this rumor that I heard, and I was wondering if you knew about it.
>Other

>>2430573
>Well, you guys are pretty strong, right? There’s well... this rumor that I heard, and I was wondering if you knew about it.

>>2430573
>Oh, uh, like you said, Nia said you were training here. I was just curious, is all! Never been here before.

>>2430573
>>Oh, uh, like you said, Nia said you were training here. I was just curious, is all! Never been here before.
Ease into it, casual for now, see where this can go.

>>2430573
>>Oh, uh, like you said, Nia said you were training here. I was just curious, is all! Never been here before.

>>2430573
>>Oh, uh, like you said, Nia said you were training here. I was just curious, is all! Never been here before.

previous thread isn't archived yet

Pretty one sided. Writing!

Also, yeah. nearly forgot.

>>2430573
>>Well, you guys are pretty strong, right? There’s well... this rumor that I heard, and I was wondering if you knew about it.

Don't forget to archive thread 50, we've got to threads on epic now.

>>2430573
>>2430579
>>2430585
>>2430587
>>2430594
You just shrug and try to make yourself look as demure as possible. “Oh, uh, like you said, Nia said you were training here. I was just curious, since i've never been here before and all that…”

“Ha! Well, afraid you’re a bit late to get the grand tour,” Ken says, folding his arms. “I was just letting these two have the privilege of getting in a little bit of extra training thanks to yours truly, but you showed up when we were just about done for the day. Shame that, but maybe we can give you a little bit of a taste, eh?”

Kyo just waves him off. “Ken was showing us something that was recently developed called Deep Training- it’s kinda like putting yourself in the place of a bot right out on the field! Crazy, huh?”

“O-oh. That’s...impressive.” Small world. “How does it work?”

“It’s kind of like a virtual reality simulation. You pick a simulated bot, and then go into a mock battle with ‘em, but you’re looking out their eyes! and after the fight, there's a whole bunch of data that shows the possible moves you could have made and all sorts of angles of attack and rate of fire and a whole bunch of crazy stuff!” Geez, he sounds excited.

“It’s really cool,” Tooru adds. “Especially ‘cause they can program and play out hypothetical scenarios, too. That’s what we’ve been doing, mostly.” He flicks his eyes to his compatriots. “Y’know, for the tournament.”

Suuure. “Right, that…”

“Y’know, thinking about it, there’s still a half hour before we close,” Ken says. “It’ll be cutting it close, but I could at least show you how the sim training looks, if you want! It’s the best of the best, top of the line, I’m telling you! You might’ve ditched the tourney, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get in some good training!”

>Well...I guess a quick peek couldn’t hurt, if it’s as good as you say.
>Actually, I was hoping to train with Kyo and Tooru, but...
>You would show me? That’s so sweet! How in-depth can you go?
>Other

>>2430635
>>Well...I guess a quick peek couldn’t hurt, if it’s as good as you say.

>>2430635
>>You would show me? That’s so sweet! How in-depth can you go?

>>2430635
>You would show me? That’s so sweet! How in-depth can you go?

5 until call.

Simple enough. Writing!

>>2430635
>You would show me? That’s so sweet! How in-depth can you go?

>>2430635
>>2430643
>>2430649
>>2430687
You decide to play coy with this one; he strikes you as the type who responds well to a little buttering up and fluttered eyelashes. “You would show me? That’s so sweet!”

“Aha! Anytime!” He puffs his chest out, and you give a demure smile as you hear a brief snort come from the direction of the desk worker. Kyo just chuckles, and Tooru makes an...odd face, before shrugging.

“How in-depth can you go?” you ask. Who knows, the thing might be useful...and if not, you
could at least use the time to sweet talk him a bit and see if you can’t make him any useful. “You did say that it was near closing time…”

“Aw, you don't need to worry about that! we should be done just as closing time hits, and Nattie’s great with that.” He gestures over to the desk worker- Nattie- and you notice she’s gone from apathy to clearly giving you the stink-eye. Not that Ken notices. “Follow me!”

He takes you down the hall in into one of the side rooms, and to your surprise it's not as big as you were expecting. it's a simple, clean room with a table in the center of it that seems to be some sort of miniature representation of an actual arena. On either side is a small podium with a digital interface on it. “Just pick your bot type using those,” he points out. “Then put on the goggles that are hanging on the side.”

“So, why not spar in real life, again?” you find yourself asking.

“Well, we could, but it might take too long right now,” he answers easily. “And besides, ‘cause sometimes, bots can get damaged real bad. This way we can test out strategies and figure out our approach with new bots all we want, an’ see if they could work before we take them into a real fight!” Makes sense enough. Out of the two bots you have, though, you pick...

>Jago
>Prima

Before you put the goggles on...and just as advertised, you find yourself in a fairly familiar position- looking through the bot’s eyes.

“Just give ‘em voice commands like normal, and you’ll get your results at the end of the fight,” you hear Ken say as the simulated battle starts.

>1d100, best of 3. This is a sim battle, so most things are truncated due to the programming

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>2430700
>>Jago
it would be INCREDIBLY stupid if we choose to play as prima.

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>2430700
>Jago

Keep Prima a secret until the end.

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>2430700
>>Jago

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>2430700
>Jago
We can ask King if he's heard of it and has the equipment if we want to do it with Prima.

81! Pretty solid!

Writing.

Also, hey, y'never know. The Prima design would've been standard, and Prima is a known type.

>>2430715
Well now. Can we dance as we dodge attacks? That would be great if we could.~

The pirate ballet!

>>2430739
But OUR Prima isn't a normal type. hunf!

>>2430741
>The pirate ballet!
well, it seems like its does exist. And now i want to see a musical of that with prima and jago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVv6FTKC92U

>>2430754
This is true.

While we wait for the update. You fuckers should start voting.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Magical%20Girl%20For%20Hire%20Quest

>>2430756
what happens when two models of the same type meet? they chat with each other like they were twins, or they passive agressively duke it out like if they were the real one and the other is the impostor?

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>>2430755
That revellatiin is unexpected...but not unwanted.

>>2430756
You bet!

Also just realized we could easily make a reference to the movie Shogun having a pirate (captain?) bot and prima in her exotic kimono parts.

>>2430779
YOU'RE THE FAKE JAGO HERE

>>2430741
>>2430755
Before I opened that video I was thinking the acrobatic number in Kaleido Star

>>2430779
Most likely notjing since humans like to make their models as unique as they can by adding nellw parts to then. Most likely they will get envious if the other bots has custom parts.

>>2430785
I was thinking in princess tutu.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NMmjMGXP92E

>>2430785
got the link of that?

>>2430795
https://youtu.be/YlZ-dlW4IFo?t=19m27s

Not as good as I remembered...

>>2430807
Why there is a weird spirit guy in a half mask? Oh wait...anime

>>2430794
Jesus my dude a cosplay number? My eyes

>>2430809
Anime. It's the spirit of the stage, only the chosen one can see him!

I keep having my mind returning to the fact that this would be a great show here on earth and keep wondering the comments that would cone around Shatterligth.

>Shatterligth is so cool!
>>The fuck i though this was just a battle between bots. Why this giys figthing machines bare handed.

>Newtypes confirmed to be the new season antagonists!!
>>The fuck did that guy just shooted fireworks?
>>Must be somekind of gun there is no way

>Shut up about the newtype this new girl is super cute
>>Tooru confirmed to still being a little shit loosing to a newbie

>Man that scene of Himawari crying made me tear up
>>fagget

>>2430818
There ain't no good princess tutu videos. Lots of Amv but none good from the anime.

>>2430828
>Holy shit! did shatterlight just tanked artesia plasma shots?!?
>Cap this, faggots. Shatterlight will be revealed as a a next gen minibot

>>2430700
>>2430709
>>2430712
>>2430715
While you haven't seen through Jago’s eyes personally, yet, it's still a familiar position for you and you're able to pretty quickly adjust to the first person view point of his style of movements. Notably, this version doesn't have the hook hand that yours has, but it's good enough to at least play his defensive and reactive style as normal. Ken is using some sort of...well, it’s a new one to you, reminds you of a knight but with two swords coming out of his forearms and with very little armor. Maybe an Exor variant? Either way, its bright red and white coloring is flashy, but its battle prowess needs work.

His style is incredibly aggressive, but very simple and straightforward. You can see something of the logic in it; an overwhelming offense meant to prevent anyone from actually mounting any defense or evasive maneuvers. Unfortunately you've seen that both in your personal life and already in combat here enough to see it coming. He sticks to parallel and perpendicular lines of attack, and hardly thinks to use any sweeping or circular techniques with his blades; and it's merely a matter of weathering the storm until he tries to maneuver to a different angle when you hit him with (Simulated) Jago’s powerful fists. There’s a number of exchanges similar to that, and find your simbot taking a few scratches, but sooner than later you find the exercise over with, managing to surprise him by predicting a turn and catching him in your right hand. It was over pretty quickly after that.

Interestingly, when you remove your goggles, Ken...looks like he's trying very hard to not be angry. “W-well, look at that!” he says, his voice clipped. “Guess you really are good. Cool. That’s cool.” His smile is frozen as all get-out, and you’re sure that he be throwing a tantrum if you didn't have an audience. “Didn’t think Kyo would have friends like that, especially considering what that rich girl was talkin’ about when she-”

“Uh, Ken?!” Kyo interrupts quickly. “We should be going, right?!”

“Yeah, man!” Tooru says quickly. “You know, we need to get home, you need to get home…”

Oh, pft. Nice try at deflection. But, that does bring a choice to mind. You can probably question one of these...fine boys about a few things, if you care to.

>Offer to walk with Ken.
>Follow Kyo and talk a bit.
>Catch up with Tooru. Been a bit.
>You don’t really need to after all.
>Other

>>2430851
>>Catch up with Tooru. Been a bit.
Lets see what fuckboi has been up to.

>Holy shit! did shatterlight just tanked artesia plasma shots?!?

>>Stormtropper armor her clothes must have something to reduce the impact of a plasma bolt

>Cap this, faggots. Shatterlight will be revealed as a a next gen minibot
>>implying Shatterligth isn't a android.
>> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Ku9HIumpM

>>2430851
>Look sad
>Did... miss Aiba trash talk me behind my back?

>>2430828
>Hey, did that scene between Himawari and Nia seem kinda creepy to any of you? With all that deep eye contact?
>I ship it.
>/u/, please go.

>>2430828
>I'm sick of the lolrandum "humor" the show tries to put on. Really, sparkwing just poking a bag? That incredibly lame.

>>2430866
Fuck you, Himawai x Tooru 4 life.

>>2430851

I like this >>2430862 supporting. Add a little tear and run off too just to make one of then to follow us

>>2430851
supporting >>2430862

>>2430862
>>2430879
>>2430881

Interesting choice of action! Gonna ask for a roll. 1d20, best of 3.

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>2430890

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>2430890

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>2430890

...Well.

Lori is Lori.

And Lori is very good at what she does. (Most of the time.)

Writing!

>>2430897
Come in it's Tooru. Don't tell me the tournament was his character arc?

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>>2430896

>>2430905
comedy characters don't get much of a character arc.

>>2430926
But it's not unheard of it happening.

Back to the comments about the series in another universe:

>Okay so Himawari is definetly weird. There is no way a unmodded bot would be able to defeat the champion in a simulation.
>>Ken is a shit it's good to see him being knocked down a peg
>>Himawari just managed to do it because she knew it wasn't a real battle. Like playing shooters and being unable to use a real gun. Stop the shadowrunning

>>2430890
>>2430891
>>2430894
>>2430896
Thinking about it , you're not quite sure which to pick- and then it hits you. I plan that could make the choice for you and make the follow-up infinitely easier. An old standby that you hadn't really broken out all that often but was always pretty reliable.

Good ol-fashioned crocodile tears.

You immediately turn on the start of the waterworks, and it already begins to have the desired effect as the boys real back and worry. “D-did Ms. Aiba speak badly a-about meeeeee?”

They barely get a ‘uh, no-not like-!’ before you burst out crying, gushes and gushes of tears falling down as you flee the scene like the most distressed damsel that ever lived- you got enough mental clarity to hear Jago running behind you, expressing his worry. And then not long behind them, hurried footsteps.

Perrrrrfect.

You barely get down the street, slowing down intentionally let them all catch up with you- and catch up with you they do, quickly trying to console you. Tooru’s the first to reach you, however. “Wait, w-waitwaitwait! Himawari, it's not like that, I promise!”

“B-but whhhhyyy, Tooruuu?” you tearfully ask. “I-i-i was just trying to be niiiice!”

“And you were! You’re one of the sweetest girls I know, I promise!” And HE’S one of the most gullible, but hey. “But there’s just...this thing we were asked to do, is all…”

“W-what thing?” you ask carefully, masking your interest. However, that’s when the other two speak up.

“Wait, do you really think we should tell her?” Kyo asks concernedly.

Ken shrugs. “Eh, the silver spoon wanted it hush hush, buuuuut…frankly, I don’t care as much. Not like it’ll do anything so long as she keeps her mouth shut.”

You pretend to lean back a bit in shock. “H-huh? What’s going on?”

Kyo sighs as Tooru puts an arm around you. “Come on,” he says carefully. “We should go somewhere private for this…”

Finally…

cont. (Man, a 20. Seriously.)

>>2430996
“You mean the because of the thefts?” you ask as Tooru, Kyo, Ken, and yourself (along with your bots) convene in the alleyway- it’s quiet at this time of day, and this one is actually pretty clean, serving more as a bit of a side street than anything else.

“Yeah,” Kyo confirms seriously. “Miyumi’s been livid ever since that first theft- she says she thinks that the rampaging bot was meant to be a distraction while the thief got away. All they got were images of a yellow suited character- but most of the cameras were down or they were good enough to avoid being spotted on them for anything else.”

You affect an air of shock at the news (although honestly, you inwardly can't help but preen a little bit). “How scary…”

“Yeah,” Tooru agrees. “Worse thing is, they’re not sure how it happened- although they’re pretty sure the thief has a bot accomplice. They’ve been trying to read the Gargant’s memory databanks for a while- they’ve gotten a few things, but it’s all super scrambled and we don’t know what they do and don’t have. And then there’s the second theft…”

“Apparently, whoever the thief was took several shots to the body- both by anti-bot and normal weapons. And they were still standing, and pulled off a jump no one should be able to do.” Ken shakes his head. “No one knows how. But the fact that they were able to do that? She’s thinking they aren’t human. So she’s getting a bunch of the best battlers she knows in private to do guard duty until the Ahru Torso is complete. They’ve still got the blueprint data and all that for the other parts, so they can remake those- but that's not the worry.”

“We’re worried that someone’s planning on using those parts for somethin’ bad.” Kyo interjects. “And she wants us to keep an eye on things for a couple days to make sure.”

“Aiba Corp stock is already tankin’,” Ken says, with just a hint of smugness. “This goes on any long, rich girl won’t be so rich before long.”

>Oh my. Is there any way I can help?
>Wow. Well, I believe in you all!
>Who would want to do that, I wonder…?
>Other

>>2431000
>>Oh my. Is there any way I can help?
There might be the possibility to get another client in here...

>>2431000
>Oh my. Is there any way I can help?
But
>Who would want to do that, I wonder…?
Also:
>"Wait wait...you are saying a human took anti-bot bullets and keep walking? Does this person in yellow had armor or something? What does she mean with not being human?"

>>2431000
>Who would want to do that, I wonder…?
>So they're going after the Ahru parts, right? All of them? And the Torso's really the last one?

Get them wondering and looking for a head for us. And I think pretending to investigate for a suspect is better than acting as extra guard, for purposes of not being suspected when we steal the torso.

>>2431000
>arms, legs and torso... or head or core?
>>Oh my. Is there any way I can help?

5 minutes until call!

>(Man, a 20. Seriously.)
You know how it is. The luck of the bastard and all of that.
>>2431000
>>Oh my. Is there any way I can help?

>>2431034
>So they're going after the Ahru parts, right? All of them? And the Torso's really the last one?
maybe we should rephrase that? it sounds weird. like if we were Shatterlight hiding as himawari.

>>2431029
Nah we will use this to infultrate in the office and grab the blueprints.Also apparently the Torso wasn't build yet. So that's interesting.

>>2431000
>>Oh my. Is there any way I can help?

>>2431000
>That's terrible, I want to help miss Aiba! We can't let a thief ruin her like that!

>Are there many parts left? What if they get away next time... how many chances do we have to stop them?

>"Wait wait...you are saying a human took anti-bot bullets and keep walking? Does this person in yellow had armor or something? What does she mean with not being human?"

>>2431047
We could just say: "Wait a torso? Not a head? Why this bot doesn't have a head?"

>>2431051
maybe it should be something like
"At least the head is also safe, right?"
Honestly, i suck at making questions that don't seem suspicious. Im just pointing out my concerns.

>>2431047
>So they're going after the Ahru parts, right? All of them? And the Torso's really the last one?
If we can work it in without being overt, sure, but I dunno who to ask about it without 'casting doubt' on their ability to protect the part. Maybe something about other places they could strike?

>>2431051
Notice a reference to only two thefts. Alluding to more shows we are aware of the thefts, which contradicts what we're saying here.

>Alluding to more shows we are aware of the thefts, which contradicts what we're saying here

But we are aware of the thefts...they just said that to us.

We would like to help!

Writing!

>>2431061
Right, but notice the tournament theft is referred to as the first, and the smash and grab as the second. References to a complete bot would imply we know other limbs have been stolen. There's also no mention of /what/ was taken in the two thefts they are telling us about.

All Himawari knows about the thefts is that there were two of them, during which some bot parts were stolen, and there's a fear the torso is the next target.

>>2431074
Yeah you are right. Could we just ask if there are other parts that meed protecting? Or maybe we can just do spy stuff and dig into the Aiba database.

Qe also need to rescue big boy!! He's being scanned!(my bet is that is all ecrypted because he's trying to protect his concious)

>>2431088
We could try to awaken the bot torso itself and offer it the freedom to live it's life how it wants to.

>>2431116
are you talking of the gragant or the torso? Because there is no core in there, its just an empty torso(as far as we know)

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>>2431116
No

>>2431116
That's a terrible plan.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BLKCtJiSXqM

But i do agree in freeing the gargants core. It deserves to be free!!

>>2431137
>>2431148
Sorry, I got the core and the torso confused. My bad.

>>2431148
Holy shit. if we manage to get the gragant core, we might be able to complete our roster. the gragant would be the perfect meatshield and tank, since its only job was to defend and protect. (we would also have to give it a body, but this is a good start)

>>2431167
I believe the intersection would be able to give the core a much better body then the ones in this dimension. Could even upgrade then from robots to androids (yes there is a diferrence)

>>2431165
Not a problem my dude.

>>2431175
of course! and our resident mad scientists will have a field day with them, considering that they didn't have any kind of AI in their world.
We should get them an engineering bay down the line. That way we could begin to sell our own products instead of buying them.

>>2431184
Need the motes first anon. So firstly let's get this job done (while also taking the gargant core with us as well as Prima and Jago too!!)

We could even make the Gargant core our resident A.I. since it was always programmed for protect and defense what better role then becoming a entire base defense system?!

>>2431201
yeah, that's why i said we should do it down the line. we still have a lot of things to do to the base, like the barracks, training grounds and whatnot.

>We could even make the Gargant core our resident A.I.
maybe? we shouldn't really expect any kind of intrusion, since the dealmakers would get pissed, but maybe we could copy Prima's AI and use that to manage all the little things and stuff.

>>2431220
Yes,yes of course pardon me i got a little bit excited!At least if we make the base presentable the bot could stay in it? Or if they wish to have their on housing that's for then to decide.

>>2431000
>>2431029
>>2431032
>>2431034
>>2431040
>>2431047
>>2431049
>>2431050
“Oh my. That all sounds...really scary. Is there any way I can help?” You ask, putting a bit of urgency into your voice. “I...perhaps she was a bit mean, but we can’t let a thief ruin Ms. Aiba like that!”

“Yeah, we agree,” Ken says. “And you’re pretty good- so we might be able to put in a word in for you, if you want.”

“Thank you so much!” you offer. “Just...I wonder who would want to do something like that?”

“There’s a bunch of rival minibot developers out there,” Tooru points out. “Maybe one of them, or maybe someone working solo that just has a really big ego or something. Who knows? But no matter who it is or why, we can't let it keep happening!”

“And we won’t!” Kyo says confidently. “We’ll talk to Miyumi about letting you help out. In the meantime, don't let anyone know about this or us. The torso’s undergoing some final testing to make sure that it's ready before the next tournament- we’re going to be protecting it all the way up until then. We figured that since the thief has struck at two tournaments so far, they'll wait for the third, too, to have the highest chance of escape. Trick is- well, we’ll tell you more later.” He sounds confident.

He’s not entirely wrong about that tactic…although wait- didn’t Mr. King say that they decided to cancel the third showing? Hm. Curious. “Right!” you say, affecting a determined air. “I’ll try to see maybe if I can’t do some searching! Ahaha!” You let out an embarrassed laugh. “I’m sorry, but as serious as the situation is, I can't help but feel excited!”

“Heh, I kinda get what you mean,” Ken admits. “So don’t worry. You just stick around, and we’ll get you onboard.”

“Right! We’ll protect every part left!” you proclaim. Of course, that was an intentional smith. now you just need to see if they take the bait…

And they do. “Every part left?” Tooru asks. “Aha, she just said the torso, Hima…”

“Oh!” You tilt your head. “Is it just the one? That’s strange, but if you say so! We’ll protect it!”

“Right!” They all agree, but- at least in Tooru and Ken, a bit- you can see a curiosity blooming in their expressions.

The meeting is adjourned after that, and you all head your separate ways after giving Ken (and the others, after you realize you never did) your contact info. It wasn’t anything obviously linked to King, so it should be safe…

Later that night, you get a message from Kyo. ‘Miyumi says she isn’t sure. :( Doesn’t mind you doing research, though. Will try to work on her more.’

Well, nuts. So much for your easy in. But today...yeah.

Today was still a good day.

>>2431237
>Day 3: Goals

As you hop up out of bed, you’re quick to greet Prima, who waves back, and Jago, who nods. They DO rest mode in the same room, after all. After breakfast, however, you’re called to Mr. King’s office, and after you’re fully (and opulently) dressed, you make your way up there, and snap off a salute as you sit.

“Well?” he says roughly. “As I told you several days ago, I am not entirely a patient man. Are you well enough now?”

Well...you ARE feeling better, but you’d hoped for today to be more of a scouting day than anything...but he IS the one paying...ugggh.

>Might I have one more day of preparations? My ability is vast and impressive, but as you have seen, not insurmountable!
>Your concernedness is noted- and perhaps founded, from what I’m aware of. I shall proceed posthaste!
>Other

>>2431242
>>Your concernedness is noted- and perhaps founded, from what I’m aware of. I shall proceed posthaste!

>>2431242
>>Your concernedness is noted- and perhaps founded, from what I’m aware of. I shall proceed posthaste!

>Tell him that they want to show the torso in the third tournament as a bait.

>>2431242
Correct me if I'm wrong, but he is paying a flat rate is he not?

Can shove up his fucking patience...

>Other
>Your little display of patience has already borne fruit, sir! Yesterday I was able to get insider info on the torso, and with a little more effort I will have a good chance of joining its security force.

>>2431242
>Your concernedness is noted- and perhaps founded, from what I’m aware of. I shall proceed posthaste!
>Other: However i have stumbled upong some informatiin that might make things more difficult: (tell him about the torso not being complete and let him know we can do it but if he is sure he wants us to grab a incomplete piece)

This will be interesting i guess he want to use this theft not to just steal the bot parts but to cripple the Aiba girl company

>>2431242
>>Your concernedness is noted- and perhaps founded, from what I’m aware of. I shall proceed posthaste!
We ought to mention we've heard rumors the torso will be shown at the next tournament.

Couple more minutes til call.

Forging ahead!

Writing!

>>2431295

My guess is that Mr.King had some kind of influence in the tournament. Since he was once a competitor in it. So this is a way that the Aiba girl found to figure out if anyone in the council was working with the thief.

Wait a minute.

>So she’s getting a bunch of the best battlers she knows in private to do guard duty until the Ahru Torso is complete.

Does this mean that the Torso isn’t fully built yet? Shouldn’t we wait until the thing is put together before trying to steal it?

>>2431390
i think that's what we are trying to imply to Mr. King

>>2431390
>Does this mean that the Torso isn’t fully built yet?

Yes it does. Unless our boss thinks his engineers are better then Aiba corps and will be able to fix the kinks in the machine without having to copy the complete desing.

>Shouldn’t we wait until the thing is put together before trying to steal it?

Yes we should. But as our client is a megalomaniac he migth see it as the perfect chance to turn the torso into HIS own

>>2431390
They said it's undergoing final testing. Sounds like it's built and they're just checking for last minute kinks to fix.

>>2431413
I mean i believe we should wait. But i kinda want to go there and 'rescue' the gargant core. Because if we wait u til the tournament they might manage to decript the information in it.

File: Ahruha Offices.png (72 KB, 880x400)

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>>2431242
>>2431252
>>2431264
>>2431284
>>2431295
Ruuuuuuuuuude. Good thing you have a mask on so he can't see the face that you're making. It’s a really really sour one. But...contraaaaact. Blegh.

“Your concernedness is noted- and perhaps founded, from what I’m aware of,” you admit. “However, the other day I managed to come across some interesting information about the torso. Namely, that it seems to still be in the last phases of testing, and that they seem to be attempting some sort of trickery for the next tournament. However, should you still desire, I shall proceed posthaste!”

“Hmmm…” He takes that news with a bit of a grimace and leans back in his chair as he considers the news. “Perhaps...no. Actually, this may be a boon; if they are trying to attempt some sort of stunts for the next tournament, then going in even earlier than they expect will be all the better. Besides, should it not be complete, I have every confidence that my engineers will be more than capable finishing whatever they've started.

“Then perhaps you should know that I may well be on my way to gaining access to their security forces with a bit more time, as well?” you offer.

This seems to catch his attention as he sits upright. “Come again? However did you manage that?”

“Carefully, and with DRAMATIC crying!” Oh, you missed being able to pose. “I swept into their discussion, wheedling out their secrets with rivers of tears and a harrowed throat! They were helpless against my MAGNIFICENT ACTING TALENT!” Oh, you’re on the chair. When did that happen? Eh, doesn’t matter, you look cool anyway.

“...ah.” Ah? What ‘ah’? “...Still, despite that impressive accomplishment, the fact that you would be on their security forces honestly concerns me just a touch. It means that although you might be able to access certain areas, I have no doubt that you will also be watched closely for compliance with the rules…” He thinks about it, but shakes his head. “No. Go as soon as you can, tonight or today. I care not, but it shall be done before tomorrow morning!”

Hmph. Yet again. Buzzkill. Well, fine, time to figure out your approach...although your connections might yet not go to waste.

Step one: getting in. How are you going to do that?

>(Will continue in an hour. Need food and a breather. Use the time to begin to plan!)

>>2431451
I got an idea. What if we go to talk with that aiba girl and interrogate her? We could tell kyo that we want to talk with her because we might be able to convince her if we talk face to face. We get close to her, we force the information out of her mind and some other stuff, like getting her ID, the location of the torso, what are the security codes, where the gragant core is, you know, stuff like that. AND THEN we erase her mind and go with the heist in the middle of the night (like 3 AM, where the guards are the most sleepy.)

>>2431451
Well I'm stumped... Assuming the torso is in the center area of that map? I really have no idea other than brute forcing it, but 1) Lorelei isn't good at that, and 2) That'll make it VERY difficult since they dont mind murdering us, but we cant murder back...

Btw, are there more steps to our contract than stealing the pieces? I forget. If stealing this torso is the last step, then it's not important whether we keep reveal ourselves partway through the heist, should it somehow be helpful.

>2431471
Night heist sounds like a good idea, people will be slower to repsond, taskforce of teenagers might not be nearby to respond at the time.

>>2431451
Ways of getting inside:

-Jump high enough so we can get to the rooftop. Or just grappling hook from one building to the officer top floor.

or

- Enter with the people taking out the trash. Use our ability to disguise as one of then then knock out a guard and grab his ID CARD.

>>2431477
Maybe knock out some security lady and steal her look, see if we can sneak up to one of the entrances, force through door and make everything quick from there? Idk...

>>2431451
Could Prima work out where the cameras have blind spots?

We could potentially jump the wall then jump to the roof, then use a magibeam to cut our way into the building through the roof.

>>2431477
We can enter with the people taking the garbage out. Nobody ever notice the cleaning crew. Grab either a security Id or someone of the cleaning id and get in using it.

>>2431491
That's Miranda Lori has fireworks not magic beams. Unless you want to try do something out of the blue.

>>2431486
Need to get in first. Unless you want us to attack some random security person.

ok, lets lay down the available options.

Without any kind of thinking and preparation, we can do this.
>1) Go trough the front door.
>2) Go trough the back door
>3) Jump trough the roof and do a Kool Aid man impression

With the information we gathered yesterday we could to this
>1) join Miyumi's security forces
>2) enter as some kind of worker
>3) get close to Miyumi and squeeze the information out of her.
>4) Outright lie to the guards and tell them Miyumi wanted us to help guard the torso

Am i missing something?

>Could Prima work out where the cameras have blind spots?

That's kinda her stick she is a support bot and our walking hacking tool. So she could possibly invade the system and try to shut it down. However she only did it with a house security alarm once tell how advance the office alarm system will be.

>>2431514
if we just tap the feed and don't do anything but just see, we should be able to go undetected.

>>2431451
This is going to be hard. Lori is a social infiltrator, not a general one. After our last heist security is going to be through the roof.

I assume there will be cameras around the entire exterior. Prima will again be invaluable in disabling or finding gaps, though it should be easy to jump over the fence once we get an opening. Considering our show of strength and resilience, I suspect any physical security will be heavily armed and armored. Ideally, we should try to snag a card, but that'll be reliant on who's where. We don't really have enough info to plan from there.

We've still got almost the entire day; I figure we spend a few hours on recon, watching for important people (id cards), guard routines, cameras, etc. That'll give us much more to work with.

>>2431510
>5)Said we found something about the thief so we came to the office tot alk to Mayumi since we don't know were she lives.

>>2431526
Lets try to convince Aiba to let us into her security detail. That alone would make things INCREDIBLY easier because we would be in the inside of the complex.

>>2431535
We could also do something like that! The more things we can bypass, the more time it gives us to steal everything we want.

">"Thanks for letting me in the middle of the night Miyumi. I know who the Thief is!"
>"Yes?! Who is it?"
>"Its me!"

>>2431548
We can give it a try, but we can't push too hard.
I dunno if she'd put on today's detail either, which doesn't work. And being on the security team only gets our foot in the door, only part way in; they could stick us on perimeter patrol, a reasonable, low-risk option for volunteer security.


Also, don't forget we've got to get /back out/ with the part, break contact with any pursuers, and make it back to king's place. Making too much noise on the way in will make getting back out considerably more difficult.

>>2431579
>Making too much noise on the way in will make getting back out considerably more difficult.
That's why i want to try all the options regarding Miyumi before we go for a good old fashioned break in. Even if they get us in perimeter guard, its one security layer that we managed to pass.

>Also, don't forget we've got to get /back out/ with the part, break contact with any pursuers, and make it back to king's place

You raise a good point. What is our exit plan?

So it sounds like the two biggest options are:

>Try to talk with Miyumi and get into the security forces regardless.
>Try to stake out the area for further info for several hours.

Unless I'm missing one.

>>2430992
Playing as a bot vs yelling orders, that the other team can hear, at a bot are rather different.

>>2431633
seems like yes, but it appears that everyone else is eating too.

>>2431633
Forging some research about Shatterligth would be good idea

>>2431633
Do you want a run off vote?

>>2431633
>>2431471
>>2431510
>>2431526
>>2431535
>>2431548
>>2431706
You take a few minutes to think about it, smacking on a bag of fruit snacks as you do. You're pretty certain that despite his misgivings, getting into the complex with Miyumi’s permission is probably the best way to go about it; a layer of security that you don't have to deal with either coming in or going out could mean the difference between success and failure in a heist. You'll have to be careful as to how you word it so she doesn’t get ornery, but at the same time you'll have to be convincing if you want her to include you so quickly. If nothing else, you DO still have Kyo and Ken going to bat for you. In fact... Might be a good idea to fire off a quick text to see if they can't help on that front.

‘Good morning! Have you been able to convince Ms. Aiba?’

The answer comes after a few minutes. ‘Hey not yet. Was gonna meet her in an hour. Trying again then.’

Huh. In person? Interesting. ‘Where?’

‘Wanna come with huh? Gonna have to ask her if its okay.’

>'Please, thank you!' Hopefully she'll at least hear you out.
>'It’s fine, then.' You'll just find another way in. No problem!
>Other

>>2431722
>>'Please, thank you!' Hopefully she'll at least hear you out.

>>2431722
>'Please, thank you!' Hopefully she'll at least hear you out.
I thought this security detail was for the tournament? And that Mr King wants us to get it earlier than that?

>>2431722
>>'It’s fine, then.' You'll just find another way in. No problem!

>>2431762
No, if that was how it was taken, sorry. It's supposed to be 'she was asking them to guard it around the labs for several days'.

>>2431722
>>'It’s fine, then.' You'll just find another way in. No problem!

>>2431722
>'It’s fine, then.' You'll just find another way in. No problem!

Unanimous. Writing!

I wonder what Sal did before he started SES.

>>2431904
Probably laized around in his parents basement.

>>2431722
>>2431737
>>2431762
>>2431767
>>2431790
>>2431808
‘Please, thank you!’ you respond. He just sends back a :), and you're set to wait again.

A few more minutes and another bag, and you get another response: ‘Says okay, will be at ice cream shop here:’ and there's an address for you. Thank goodness.

“C’mon, Jago!” you say getting up (and nearly knocking Prima away with your suddenness). “We have a meeting to prep for!”

“Oy! Stop bein’ so sudden, lass! Swears it, I…” his complaints devolve into grumbling as he follows you. A quick change of clothes, and you’re off!

There's nothing really notable about the ice cream place, which you suppose is kind of the point. It's a perfectly nondescript, simple store with an ice cream sign above it. You end up occupying yourself with a double scoop Vanilla/Strawberry combination before you see the three boys show up, waving once they spot you. “Hey, glad you made it!”

“Me too!” you joke. “I’m guessing she should be here soon, right?”

Before any of you can answer that, you all notice a smallish figure in a very long overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat and glasses walk up to you. It's...actually a bit conspicuous, but none of you say anything as she nods to you all and sits down. “Well. If it isn’t the squeamish girl.” She says by way of greeting. “I suppose I should be thankful you’ve seen it in you to help me, but I can’t help but be a bit cautious.”

“Some greeting…” Ken mutters as the trio sits down.

“Ah, apologies, Ken. Kyo. Tooru,” she greets them all in turn. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah, nice to see you, too.” Kyo nods. “But I think Himawari really means it when she says she wants to help.”

“As soon as I can, too!” you confirm, nodding your head rapidly. “I...I know things might get dangerous, but that doesn't mean I can just sit by and let this kind of thing happen!”

She fixes you with a stare that emanates concern. “Hmph. You weren’t there during the last robbery. I haven’t told any of you, but...you’re aware, presumably, that this person- if it IS such- is very well armored. We can’t take chances.”

“No kiddin’,” Ken agrees. “But frankly, that just makes me think she should come along even more. Can't afford to not have as many eyes out as possible.” Tooru and Kyo both nod their agreement.

“She’s pretty quick on the uptake,” Tooru adds. “I’m pretty sure she’d be great.

“She knows how to overcome courage, too!” Kyo chimes in. “Don’t you think you’d need people like that in order to stop someone like this?”

“Mmmm…” Miyumi simply mulls it over, to your nerves’ misfortune. At last, however, she takes off her glasses and fixes you a look. “I can’t get you permission for any of the more guarded areas so soon... But perhaps you would be a reasonable enough perimeter watch.”

cont.

>>2431925
“Perimeter watch?” You echo. Sounds like you’d- be kept outside…

“Yes,” she confirms. “Basically, you be working alongside the gate guards to make sure that no one gets in or out without permission. You wouldn't have any real authority, but we could get you a temporary badge to allow limited access, and if you spot anything suspicious, you would need to radio it in immediately, understood? You'll also need to check in with the gate watch multiple times a night. Fair?”

"Of course!" Score!

She leans back. “I have to emphasize that Aiba Corporation are partners with Ahruha, so anything YOU do reflects back on ME. Understand?” she asks acidly, and you quickly nod. “Good. Now, IF you’re interested, I’d at least be willing to allow you choice of where you’ll be stationed. North, South, East, or West ends of the complex. The North End is the rear exit, so you know.”

Hmm…

>North End.
>South End.
>East End.
>West End.
>Maybe I can be stationed somewhere else, even if I have less permissions?
>Other Questions.

>>2431928
>North End.

>>2431925
God i hope we can make a kidnapping during the robbery so we can make Shatterligth even more of a asshole!?

>>2431944
This is a thing that is entirely up to you, sure.

>>2431928
>North End.

>>2431947
Make shatterlight kidnap Himawari! We will kidnap ourselfs!

>>2431944
i was thinking on that in order to cover our tracks and distract them.

before we disappear, we make some tracks that show that himawari was dragged outside the complex, This would alert the people, giving them the idea that the attacker was about to strike and maybe would close down the complex, but by that point we should already be inside. And with the building closed down, we could have an easier time beating down everyone and having no fear of reinforcements.

5 minutes until lock! They all have their own pros and cons, really...

North end it is! The back entrance, the ID-only gate and door, and the Dumpsters are what you have to deal with.

>>2431953
>>2431944
About time we try me's an army

>>2431953
>>2431973
That would absolutely light a fire under team protag. It won't really matter for us, as we're leaving shortly after, but it might make the escape harder, and could cause problems for King if they eventually trace the thefts back to him.

Personally, I'd prefer Himawari "get on a bus" due to a family emergency or something, but we don't tend to stick around long after we finish jobs, so I doubt it'll happen.
If we wanted to troll team protag, we could meet with them one last time after this job, and return to the Intersection at the end of the conversation.

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>>2432055
>could cause problems for King if they eventually trace the thefts back to him.
That's not really our problem, since he is going to manufacture them. Sooner or later Aiba corp would knew that he had something to do on the thefts.


>we could meet with them one last time after this job, and return to the Intersection at the end of the conversation.
If we could do also pic related, it would be glorious.

>>2432072
>Sooner or later Aiba corp would knew that he had something to do on the thefts.
That was my point. If the thefts are connected to a kidnapping, it would generate a lot more trouble for King than just a string of thefts. Granted, this isn't the sort of thing Lori would worry about, but King seems like a potential repeat customer, and it's not really a great idea to cause unneeded trouble for clients, potential repeats or not.

>>2431928
>>2431941
>>2431950
Well, from what you were called, the north and had a number of things that could work with or against you, besides the cameras. The dumpsters were all on the north end, and there was a gate as well as a back entrance that were both ID-only. There were a number of cameras back there as well, and those would be hard to deal with, but considering that you could most likely easily leap the gate if you'd managed to get out of the back quickly enough, the idea of an easy egress from the complex is pretty tempting. “I’ll take the North end, then.” you decide.

Miyumi purses her lips, but doesn’t object. “Fine. I'll send word ahead and tell them to prepare a temporary badge for you. Be there at 5 PM SHARP, understood?” You nod. “Good. Now, as for other business…you should know that we’ve, of course, been looking into this mysterious case of the rogue Gargant.” She looks as you questioningly, and you- and they- nod. “Good, then you should know that we’ve gotten a bit of information out of it, although nothing concrete.”

...ffuuuuuuck.

She slides over a tablet with an image on it. It's a fuzzy, somewhat corrupted image, a blur of pink in a grey background- Prima, you can tell, but it’s just messed up enough so that you're not sure if the others can recognize the make and model of bot. “We believe that this was the perpetrator’s associate Minibot- this combined with the eyewitness accounts and the timeline of events would match up with when this image was taken. As far as we can presume, the Gargant was hacked and infected with a virus; we’re unsure how, but smart money says that it’s due to this with a modified AI and technique system. An ILLEGAL one,” she notes.

“Illegal? So whoever’s doing this is probably a bigshot criminal,” Ken mutters.

“Perhaps,” Miyumi agrees. “Being able to access such deep subroutines and programs within another minibot is, after all, illegal.”

Tooru leans closer, as though getting a better look would clear up the image. “So, what happened exactly? Do you know?”

“It was accessed remotely, and an unidentifiable program seemed to force its way in and take control for some time,” she explains. “We’re doing what we can to restore the image, but this is the best we have for now. Unfortunately, as you can see, the image is...nondescript. Still, it DOES mean we can narrow down the class, make and model a bit. Shorter model, and there’s no distinct weaponry, meaning likely a support-class bot.” She doesn't elaborate on that, simply taking the image back.

“Hmm. I’ll put out a call to the guys and have them keep an eye out,” Ken offers. “Not gonna say nothin' specific, but we all want that thief caught.”

“Glad you brought this up,” Kyo says, suddenly all serious. “‘Cause I gota admit something. I told my granddad about this.”

What.

“What?!” Miyumi roars- and her feet tap out a couple of beats. “Why would-”

“Because he got robbed, too!” Kyo says heatedly. “And he saw the thief!”

cont.

>>2432104
The entire table goes still. “Come again?” Miyumi asks.

He nods. “Yeah. And it was the same person. He wasn't sure at first, but I showed him an image, and he was absolutely positive then. Whoever it is...they want rare parts, and bad.”

“Oh, dear…” Miyumi facepalms. “Wonderful.”

“Well, there IS some good news,” he offers. “If that’s the case, Zero kinda knows what the thief’s bot might look like!”

“Oh!?” And here her head perks up.

Not good, not good…

>Let them keep talking, see what they know specifically.
>You don’t want them to build a head of steam- try to convince them to keep their options open.
>Suggest that you may have seen something yourself that day in the stadium to throw them off.
>Other

>>2432108
>>Let them keep talking, see what they know specifically.

our prima is already different, and it shouldn't blow our cover, unless i'm missing something.

>>2432108
>>Let them keep talking, see what they know specifically.
This isn't good, but it doesn't actually matter that much. This heist is different from the others, as it's a straight theft from a hardened point rather than a softer target in a crowded area. It won't matter if they know what she looks like if they don't know where she is until the theft begins.
Idea for future job: a Payday-esque group needs an extra hand for heist(s). Would be right up Miranda's alley.

5 minutes until call.

Gonna let them talk for now, it seems. Writing.

Dammit shouldn't have gone eat pizza!!

>>2432108
>>2432124
>>2432146
As much as you want to say something if only out of reaction, you decide to let them keep talking. You need to know exactly how much they know in order to make sure whether you need to do something about it or not, considering your change of Prima’s shell.

“So, basically, he said that it was feminine, short, and yeah, it looked like it had a bow and a skirt and stuff. Pinkish, like you said. Didn't have any long-range capabilities, he said it kept trying to slash at him with claws” Kyo explains. “It was kinda fast, but it was kinda weak, too. He eventually caught off guard and was able to take an arm off of it and throw it against the wall.”

“Hmm...yes, sound like a Support-class, or perhaps a Speedster.” Miyumi says. “The state of slashing claws drops it further. I’ll have to do a bit of research, but that‘ll narrow the possibilities down exponentially. We’ll look up some possible matches when I get back. In the meantime, if no one else has any further business?”

“Just making sure that we’ll all be set for later today,” Ken shrugs.

“Remember- whomever, or whatever this is, they have superhuman endurance and abilities. don't underestimate them, nor let your bots underestimate them.” She levels a pointed look- not at you, but at Kyo, and Zero, who’s right behind him.

“Feh,” Zero scoffs. “Don’t worry- we got this! With all of us handling it? That thief’s got NO chance!”

You make certain to not meet his eyes directly, but those peepers of his are far too large to not get a good look at regardless.

His pupils are light, but there, as well. A quick glance over at Moxer, who’s just sitting silently.

No pupils.

Iiiinteresting.

But with that, the meeting’s adjourned, and the lot of you part ways, Kyo insisting he and Tooru needed to find Nia, and Ken heading off on a walk of his own.

You needed to get back, too.

“Five o’clock, huh, lass?” Jago says idly.

“Yup! On the dot.” You confirm.

That’s when everything starts.

Okay, so I'm gonna cut it off here, and resume bright and early tomorrow morning, ideally somewhere around 9-10AM Central! Hope to have everyone there.

>>2432367
Hmm, we're going to have to work out how to swap Jago on guard duty for Prima for the heist. Maybe we could just have him pretend to continue to patrol while we heist?


This is going to be interesting

>>2432390
Thanks for running! See you tomorrow.

>>2432391
bag of holding!
If miranda's mana condenser can fit there, so can prima.
we also need to plan the way to get away. Will we get away from the sewers, or jumping away?

>A thief that can dent a custom Minibot chassis in one blow...leap like a grasshopper in a single bound...and can appear seemingly any time...

>Er, miss?

>Ugh...what is it now? More bad news?

>Well...depends on how you view it, miss. See, we were having a difficult time getting the Gargant's files out due to the...corruption, I suppose. So we decided to remove its AI Core and plug it into one of our isolated stations.

>And?

>And...it asked us why were we doing this?

>...Beg pardon?

>Yeah. And when we stated our reasoning, it said...it said it didn't like that and wanted to be put back in its own body. We, uh...we said no. Then the station shut off. By itself.

>...I-you...uh...what?

>We're completely confused, too, ma'am. But...we think it might have something to do with that data corruption.

>Then...keep me posted. PLEASE.

>Of course, ma'am.

>What on earth...?

>>2432426
Heh. Beautiful.

>>2432411
I think the limiting factor of the bag is the size of the entry, not the internal size. Though we fit major bot part in it just fine, so maybe...

>>2432426
Heh.

By the way, we're awakening Jago before we leave as well, right? Unless we're taking him with us, then we'll need to take a closer look at Intersection property and intelligent beings' rights laws.

On the upcoming heist, we need some excuse on why Himawari is gone missing or something that doesn't quickly be concluded that she's the theif.
How about "Shatterlight murdered/assulted Himawari"?
>Put red paint/someone else's blood on a small part of the outfit and tear a piece of it
>when we go for the heist we leave that near our post and spread red paint around to look like Himawari struggled to stop Shatterlight( while Prima screws with the cameras)
>if we're caught and they ask us about Himawari we can subtly say we hurt her and dumped her body somewhere and if this causes our MC group to be really pissed off we can just use our magic to fuck off. Spam fireworks, me's a crowd and magic limbs.
It's risky( and stupid) but I think it gives a way to put Himawari in a permanent bus and won't make the MC think we're the thief. Unless you guys want to do the reveal thing (both options are good for me)

>>2432411
This, put him in our BoH while Prima messes with the cameras.

>>2432426
DON'TCHA YOU WORRY BIG BUDDY! We are comming for ya! And for the parts too.

>>2432390
Good night Handler see ya tomorrow!

>>2432390
Thanks for running!
>>2432426
Grrrr!

>>2432442
we should awaken him on the intersection. remember how prima was after we awoken her? even if we won't need him for the mission, we need him at top capacity.

>the size of the entry, not the internal size.
Prima seems kind of petitte. She should be able to fit.

>>2432446
I was thinking on that, make is seem like shatterlight kidnapped/murdered himawari. That should put the team on disarray when they find out, and by the time the alarms go off, we should be inside, about to steal the parts (and the gragant core).

>>2432426
also, guys. THE GRAGANT SHOT DOWN ALL THE SYSTEMS. Imagine what prima can do! We need to check her abilities post awakening asap!

>>2432446
Well this is a time to use all of our power. I say we use illusions and make a army of me using various illusional Shatterlight to scatter and spread the security toward a direction we want then to.

>>2432446
Something 'happening' to Himawari technically leaves her reputation intact, but risks the client's. The reveal is a little silly, but it solves their mystery but simultaneously deprives them of the ability to do anything about it. Only downside is if we came back here for another job at some point, we'll already have enemies, though if Himawari reappeared after disappearing there would be many questions anyway.

>>2432472
>THE GRAGANT SHOT DOWN ALL THE SYSTEMS
That's what happening when you plug an AI into a system; physical access == full access.

>>2432492
>Well this is a time to use all of our power.
I figure we don't go below ~500 mana in case of emergencies and so we don't pass out, and it gives a little wiggle room if we discover the head does exist during the heist. There's no reason not to use the mana crystals to top up, but we should try to float enough internal mana in case we don't have time to use a crystal.
Otherwise though, sure, let's go hog wild.

>>2432540
>That's what happening when you plug an AI into a system; physical access == full access.
But the context implies that the cores shouldn't be capable of doing so. Specially a core that is designed for defense.

>>2432552
Yeah, ai doesn't mean magically instantly able to be able to do anything. Maybe they werent surprised that it could, just that it did so without being instructed to.

>>2432552
Ah, but the fact that it was an isolated system hints this wasn't an impossibility. Why go to the trouble of using an isolated system otherwise?
Their reactions do show how abnormal it is though. This is clearly unexpected behavior, though I suspect they're reacting more to the /choice/ of action, rather than the action itself.
>physical access == full access.
This is considered truth IRL in information security. If someone have physical access to a device, it should be considered compromised.

>>2432619
AIs are far from magic, but the digital is their native domain. Expect them to be able to do things with ease in the digital domain humans couldn't.


As a side note, regardless of what we do with Prima or Jago, when we get back to the Intersection, we should have a chat with the mechanical community. This is the sort of thing they may have some interesting insights into.

I mean if shatterlight's identity gets revealed when we got the torso I don't think it would matter by then.

>>2432669
Claiming
>considered compromised
is the same as full access is disingenuous and entirely unhelpful as a response to the original suggestion.

>>2432669
i'm assuming the isolated system was in order to deal with the corruption the gragant had. It seems like they were trying to see the files from the gragant itself, and since it seemed way too hard, they moved the core to the closed system, because if you have a new virus appear from nowhere, you don't want to deal with it in something that has a connection to everything else.

>>2432707
But it basically is. It means that whatever the infiltrator wanted to do was done. For example you can gain root access on a linux machine in a minute if you know the commands and are there physically.
>>2432552
I think it's more like the AI pressed the off switch and they weren't expecting that because no other AI has done that, not because it couldn't. Think program vs the AI.

So, himawari will be 'removed' after this act? Also, things might go weird if they figure out it was paint instead of real blood, assuming if we ARE going to use paint.

Reminder that paint smells like paint and not like blood. If we want to fake our own death we would have to use actual people blood. That is assuming of course our clones don't bleed because if they do then we can do it like that (Disregarding for a second how ethical killing your own close is or not).
That said if we want to be "nice" we'd do the kidnapping thing with our clone which lowers the shit Miyumi would be in because she hired the thief and then if we want to be extra nice to prevent -some- mental trauma we'd do >>2432072
Including the laughing bit.
Personally I think it'd be hilarious for the reactions we'd get.

I am for faking being assaulted, more audio cue though.
We can use this to make them run to our post, while we enter the building.
From there we have every oppertunity.
The reveal, the "I don't remember what happened", or the classic "... and was never heard of again".

To speak in a show's terms...
Either make a shoking reveal so everyone can meme about it...
Make the people who weaponize their autism find out about it and propose those theories online...
Or have the unknown factor in, with the same as above, but more questions.

>>2432540
>That's what happening when you plug an AI into a system; physical access == full access.
So is this a hint that we should jam prima into a console at the facility?

How do you want to hurt himawari? Clones disappear in 5 minutes, and if we are her then we have to get away and change outfit.
If we patrol with someone else I suppose just beat up their bot and make them witness a kidnapping or see hima run off after the thief. We'd have a reliable witness that they won't question the motives off until after the heist.
Do it in front of a camera for bonus points

About faking being assaulted we could just ghost our way inside the place after blaring a alarm about seing someone. Make our body stay fainted and create illusion clones of Shatterligth moving inaide the building.

>>2433563
We have to get in and out in 5 minutes. After that we'd have to hide the torso somewhere we can pick it up later, we can't exactly just stuff it into himawaris bag.

Letting our body lie unconscious is gonna make the getaway very difficult.

On the other hand, we can spawn the clones inside the compound. Do that, and attack hima during the escape and kidnap us. Once out of sight we can bloody ourselves, make an explosion for effect and stuff the part in the magic bag. With mana to spare we can then ghost outside to make it look like we are unconscious and we keep it up for as long as possible.
We just need to send Jago flying to give him plausible deniability.

Hello, everyone! I'm here, I'm writing. Hope you're all set.

>>2433873
yep

>>2432367
You decide - after getting lunch and making sure that you had both of your bots clued in on what was going down - to get a last bit of practice in. Although that does bring to mind something - the fact that you're not entirely full up on mana. You'd have to be a bit more careful, in that case...then again, that is what you have those crystals for…

>Current Mana: 7000/7500

>You have 5 charged Crystals.

>Use Crystals? (250 per crystal)
>Y (How many?)
>N

>>2433888
>N

Still a few hours left, might regen more in that time, shouldn't let that go to waste by topping off already.

>>2433888
>Y (How many?)


2 now to top up. The best place for health and mana is in your body.

>>2433888
>Y
2

>>2433888
>>Y (How many?)
2. Regen is so bad here I doubt we'll get any more ambient mana before showtime.

>>2433888
>N
Let's save them. We should be using our tools that Handler listed before:
-Elemental Stone Pistol
-Shotgun
-Machine Pistol
-Tripwire
-Fiber Wire
-Dagger
-Surgical Needles (20)
-Cat Claws
-Tazer
-Dart Gun

Also the needles can be used to get some blood for that fake assault plan

>>2433915
Wait the last sentence is wrong. Ignore it.

>>2433915
We can refill AND use those things.

Right, using it is. Writing!

>>2433915
The crystals are reusable, if that's what you're worried about. It's good to remember what we have on hand, but we can't kill anyone, remember? Out of that list, we can only really use the Tripwire, Taer, and maybe Dart Gun.

>>2433915
>>2433519
guys, if you want fake blood, you can go to a butcher. The blood doesn't have to be from a person, it just has to be blood.

Thinking over it again, do you think we could ghost our buddy cop or his bot and use that to clobber ourselves sometime during the heist? That should make everyone think that guy is an accomplice and direct attention away from us.

>>2433888
>>2433894
>>2433903
>>2433907
...Yeah, no, better to use them now and make sure you are at your best rather than go in under strength. It takes only a few minutes to absorb all the latent mana - if only because they're honestly kind of the most potent source that you have right now.

>Current Mana: 7500/7500

>3 Mana Crystals Remaining.

But now comes something slightly more concerning. Jago will be expected, and that's fine. But how to get Prima inside?

…

...Ah. Well. There might be one way…

---------------

Those pauldrons are big, after all. Prima simply stares down into the oddly inky blackness of nothing that make up the inside. Leaning down as though to take a closer look, she looks back up with an expression of concern (and possibly judging your sanity). “Er, Miss Himawari, I don’t think that...well, I'm not so certain that I would fit inside…”

You have to admit, it seems like it would be a tight fit, at the very least. “I...think you should be able to climb in? Just put one foot in at a time, or something, and you should be able to squeeze inside.” Like, no, they were pretty darn big, and the hatches at the very least we're big enough to get a foot in, you think. If she was careful… “There’s more space in there then it looks like, trust me.”

Either way, she still looks skeptical. “If...how am I to get out?”

“I’ll yank you out.” You really wish the bag of holding was just an oversized purse or something... That would be a whole lot easier to deal with than this. Ugh, you hope you can get your duffle bag inside without getting it checked...

“If you...er, say so.” She concedes. “I trust you, Miss Himawari.” And with that decided, she tenderly dips a foot in the inky void- and suddenly tilt over with a yelp, clearly expecting to hit ground a lot sooner than she did- “O-oh dear oh gracious h-help me-EEEEEEEEEEEeeeee…” - and briefly getting her shell stuck before slipping through, after some inadvertent wiggling.

...She’ll be fine. You’re PRETTY sure there’s no ground in there. “JUST GRAB MY HAND WHEN IT SHOWS UP, OR SOMETHING!” you yell down.

“...okaaaayyyy…” comes a far off sound- but at least it doesn't sound like it's getting much further away. “...may I ask what the firearms are for?”

You grunt. “Nothing here, honestly. Just sit back and relax for a while, Pri. I’ll get you later.”

“Yes, miss himawari!” A click, and the latch is shut. Breathing a brief sigh of relief, you pack everything in your bag, hoist it up. Look at Jago.

“Be interestin’ ta not hear her talking about everythin’ for a time!” Yup, Jago’s good to go. Time to do this thing.

cont.

>>2433984

Fortunately, you arrived without incident, meeting up with everybody on time. With no fanfare by the heiress, you're ushered in, given your badge, and taken through a very quick, perfunctory tour of the facilities by one of the permanent security staff members. You don't get to know where absolutely everything is, but at the very least you’ve gotten a much better idea of the floor plan now; in particular the emergency exits, the elevators...and while they didn’t tell you exactly where the torso was located, they didn't tell you what floor it was on- the third.

“Since you’re going to be rear guard, what you need to know about is that nobody should be getting through that gate right there,” the guide says as he points to the back entrance. “Everyone that should’ve left by now already has. Anyone else shows up, tell them no. If they insist, then you got that radio we gave you, so just call one of us and we'll look into it. If the thief comes...well, we’d prefer if you radio that's before you did anything stupid, good battler or not. Any last questions?”

Fortunately, you arrived without incident, meeting up with everybody on time. With no fanfare by the heiress, you're ushered in, given your badge, and taken through a very quick, perfunctory tour of the facilities by one of the permanent security staff members. You don't get to know where absolutely everything is, but at the very least you’ve gotten a much better idea of the floor plan now; in particular the emergency exits, the elevators...and while they didn’t tell you exactly where the torso was located, they didn't tell you what floor it was on- the third.

“Since you’re going to be rear guard, what you need to know about is that nobody should be getting through that gate right there,” the guide says as he points to the back entrance. “Everyone that should’ve left by now already has. Anyone else shows up, tell them no. If they insist, then you got that radio we gave you, so just call one of us and we'll look into it. If the thief comes...well, we’d prefer if you radio that's before you did anything stupid, good battler or not. Any last questions?”

“Er...am I expected to be out here all night?” you ask.

He shakes his head. “Nah, just until eleven.” What? “You’re still kids, after all! You won't be the only ones out here, either. You'll have some folks check up on you every hour or so, and you'll be allowed some breaks, don’t worry!” Oh, fantastic! “For you, the guy’s name will be Jun. Got that?” You nod. “Great. There’s a place by the dumpsters most folks with bots in ‘ere use for target practice or punchin’ bags and the sort, if you want.”

“Thank you so much!” you offer, and he just waves you off. Although...only until eleven?! She couldn’t have said anything about that?! Ugh, great. Short on time, fantastic...but it’s not like you can move immediately...so the question is, when to begin? Best to leave at least an hour for one check in, so…

>7 PM.
>8 PM.
>9 PM.
>10 PM.
>Other

>>2434000
Handler, can the clones from Me is a crowd have different a outfit from the one we are wearing?

>>2434000
Can we get an updated map?

>>2434000
>>8 PM.
Enough time for the 'excitement' to wear off, while still leaving plenty of wiggle room.

i think i have a somewhat half assed plan right now. In one of our breaks we go to the bathroom, check if there are some air ducts or something similar. Then we leave prima there so she can begin passively infiltrating the systems, like checking the cameras, looking around to see where everything is and stuff. she shouldn't do anything that would compromise her until close to 11, when they'll kick us out.
Just when they tell us to go home, we tell them that we nee to use the bathroom to refresh ourselves, and then in the bathroom we Use Me's a Crowd. The clone and Jago leave (we should tell jago where to wait for us, or to go with King) and we are left inside to steal the pieces.

Do you like the plan?

>>2433915
>>2434000
The dart gun has tranquilizers correct?

>>2434000
>7pm

>>2434023
Yes.

>>2434000
>>10 PM.

Okay so I have the beginnings of a plan.
Handler, as Himawari is our bag the bag of holding or it's the pauldrons we've stuffed inside of it? Does Lorelei know if Me's A Crowd clones will appear where her body or her spirit is, if we use it while ghostriding?

1. Make an opening that Prima can look out of and analyze as much as she can. Do our job until we have a break. Scope out anything that could be of use- windows, ventilation, fire escape ladders, cameras, circuit boxes etc.

2. Scope out the break room. If she can hack anything in here, that would be great. Turn off the power, set off an intruder alarm somewhere else, we'll see what can be done.

3. When Jun enters the break room or if he joins us there from the start, doesn't matter, Prima turns off the security cameras if there are any and we tranquilize him. When he's dozed off we use Lights, Camera, Action to take over him that way we should not have to roll to make his body take actions.

4. Enact plan "poor himawari was assaulted", then enter the facility as Jun. Once we reach floor 3 or when someone becomes suspicious of him we summon our clones and find the torso.

Thoughts?

>>2434000
7 and 9 PM should be when we have our breaks. So, either of those.

>>2434008
The mana clones are in the clothes you are currently in.

>>2434039
Your Bag of Holding is the pauldrons. Me's a Crowd always emanates from her. As long as she's conscious, she can control them. She's not sure what'll happen if she tries to pop Me's and goes into LCA.

Also, working on the updated map.

>>2434039
i'm not so sure about the last two points. The people would be immediately alarmed. At least with the other plan we can jump inside the air ducts or try to infiltrate the old fashioned way and nobody would notice us until we reveal ourselves.

>>2434051
You mean >>2434020?

I think it all depends on whether we want Himawari to be compromised or not. It seemed a lot of people wanted it to look like we were a victim hence point 4.

File: Ahruha Offices Detailed 1.png (232 KB, 896x570)

232 KB PNG

Here's what you gathered from the quick tour and the maps you saw.

>>2434063
well, as far as i understand it, neither of the plans compromises the himawari cover. Its just a matter of when and how we want the guards to be alerted.

Also, seems like 7 PM is when you want to go for it- earlyish.

Writing!

>>2434085
They're suspicious already. Going to the bathroom when the criminal appears, after being found leaving a bathroom when the criminal disappeared? They even put a tail on us. If there really is no head and King considers the contract fulfilled then it doesn't matter...
I suppose it doesn't either way, we can just get a different disguise.

Whichever gets us closer before making clones is better, will shave off a lot of seconds on the time limit. Will we disappear with Shatterlight or stay as Himawari, what do you think?

>>2434000
>>7 PM.

Fuck up their dinner.

>>2434097
The idea i had was to go into the bathroom as himawari. Have a clone leave as himawari, transform into shatterlight once the clone dissolves and then like 15 minutes later infiltrate trough the air ducts (they are always people sized), or shut down all the systems with prima and make a go for the pieces).

Everything should be done as shatterlight.

>>2434000
>>2434016
>>2434028
>>2434033
>>2434039
>>2434101
7 PM. You don't want them to get time to get settled in, and so a quick approach might be the best call here. Kyo and Ken are...somewhere, you’re not sure. You’re pretty sure they got the cushy jobs with staying inside as more entrenched lines of defense. But, you suppose that works out just as well for you.

Jun shows up at 6 PM, just as the guard indicated, and he seems to be a fairly friendly sort- a bowl-cut young man with an innocent face, and quick with a joke. Interestingly enough, he doesn't seem to take the threat of a thief too seriously - according to him, it would be ‘way too crazy’ to try and steal something right out from under their noses. “Chances are he’s going to wait until we try and move out the decoy and and nab it then.” He starts to take out a cigarette, but then looks at you and puts it back. “Don’t smoke these- bad for your health. Anyway, you're doing fine out here. Just great. Top marks.”

Simple enough, really; and he definitely seems like a trusting sort, which is good for you. But the fact that he’s RIGHT THERE means that you can’t do much about letting Prima get a look at things.

As 7 PM approaches, you ready yourself. You're to the right of the back entrance, across from the dumpsters.

When the time hits…

“Okay, break time, kiddo! You got 15 minutes, then you need to be back out here.” He’s all smiles. “I can keep watch for you until you get back.”

>Actually, do you want to come with me to the break room?
>Sure, no problem! Be right back out.
>Hey, uh...can you cover for me for a bit longer than that? I want to see where Kyo and Ken got off to.
>Other

>>2434164

>Actually, do you want to come with me to the break room?

>>2434164
>>Sure, no problem! Be right back out.
first lets let prima out to see what she can do.

>>2434079
>Part Sotrage
>Data Storage


Do want!! Should send Prima in the storage and then bust the part one...after we grab the torso of course.

>>2434172
>>2434198
do you really want to knock out the dude so soon? we are going to have another chance on the next break.

>>2434177
Why not knock him out and then use his appearance and cardr to walk around the place?

>>2434205
No, we would get spotted too easily.

However, would lights camera action work on someone unconscious?

>>2434205
because he is supposed to guard the outside. It will raise a few questions at the very least. I also doubt we will find some good place to hide him, specially of you consider that there will be cameras everywhere.

>>2434203
Yeah you got a point.
>>2434164
changing my vote
>Sure, no problem! Be right back out.

>>2434164
>>Sure, no problem! Be right back out.

5 until lock!

>>2434164
>>Sure, no problem! Be right back out.

We'll leave him be for now.

Writing!

File: blech on spaghetti.png (298 KB, 638x826)

298 KB PNG

just a friendly remainder of thinking about the consequences of our actions.

>>243427
>Anonymous
>Thinking

Choose one.

>>2434271
Lorelei didn't learn that lesson so it's okay.

>>2434164
>>2434172
>>2434177
>>2434218
>>2434252
You just give him a cheerful wave and a smile. “Sure, no problem! Be right back out.” Not that you would need a whole lot of time to set things up initially. At least, you hope. You have questioned you bringing your tote bag inside - in fact he doesn't even seem to notice. neither does anyone else as you casually head to the break room on the second floor. The one good thing is that there seem to be very few people here- you pass all of two people on the way, but most everywhere else seems to be dead, although you know that that's not quite the case.

Break room’s a pretty simple setup. Refrigerator, a couple of coffee machines, snack machine, microwaves. Nothing too useful. And the bathroom, of course.

No one’s in here at the moment. No cameras, either. Which is just fantastic. Nice window view outside, too...augh, focus! You have about 10 minutes or so to do anything you wanted to try here.

>Get into the bathroom, and Prima out, see if she can’t reach anything from here.
>Take a quick walk around and maybe swing around to the security office…
>See if you can get into the Testing Rooms...just for a quick peek, of course!
>Other

File: chuckle.gif (1.14 MB, 250x250)

1.14 MB GIF

>>2434290
you nifty motherfucker.

>>2434277
i know some anons think with their dicks. Its just a matter of moving that to their brains. it shouldn't be so hard.

>>2434300
>Get into the bathroom, and Prima out, see if she can’t reach anything from here.

>>2434300
>Get into the bathroom, and Prima out, see if she can’t reach anything from here.

>>2434300
>Get into the bathroom, and Prima out, see if she can’t reach anything from here.

Nice that the place has a windows we can make it look like Prima came from there

>>2434300
>>Get into the bathroom, and Prima out, see if she can’t reach anything from here.

I just realized now that we can ask Prima how it's inside the bag of holding. Also poor Prima all alone in the void of the bag hopefully she won't get traumatized.

Only been 15, but I think that's gonna be fine, considering.

Bathrooms are nice. Writing!

>>2434333
she is still a robot. She can enter stand by mode or something like that. Maybe she organized our bag's contents by size.

>>2434370
That would be funny. I wonder if Prima can use the guns in our bag too.

>>2434398
i suppose she can, she has fingers after all. But since she is the size of...(what is her size again) a small child? i don't think the should handle the bigger stuff.

>>2434300
>>2434307
>>2434308
>>2434310
>>2434316
A dip into the bathroom (two person, only one of them is a stall, but that’s all you need at least), and you're quick to release Prima from her... Well, it's not exactly imprisonment. But you stick a hand in it, and it takes a couple of seconds before you feel a metallic hand grasp yours. “You didn’t forget about me!”

“Duh, of course not!” you say lightly. “So, before anything else...I’d really like to know- just what is it like in there?”

“...Dark, and yet it seemed as though anything that actually inhabited the space was clearly visible.” Is her response. “Although by my readings the temperature was actually respectable.”

Huh. Vaguely surprising. “Really? Not cold?”

“Not at all. Quite temperate.” Well, ain’t that something. Although you suppose it makes sense.

Ah, but, distractions. “Well, anyway, I was wondering if there is anything that you could reach from here, electronics-wise. Trying to see if we can’t knock anything out sooner than later.”

“Hm...I believe I can attempt to identify access points or available systems.” Her eyes begin flashing as you're used to. “Just a moment...there are a total of four access points I can reach from this location. Points one and two are the closest in distance- I am fairly certain that points three and four are more distant. I can't tell you exactly what they are, however. The access point names are...unspecific."

“And they are?” Worth hearing, at least.

“Point one is titled ‘XLR81441’. Point two is ‘ARHUSS550’. Point three is ‘ASEC000’, Point four is ‘AHSS1080’. However...” she trails off briefly. “I’m almost certain that my intrusion would be noticed were I not exceedingly careful…”

Hm...

>Try your hand at Point One.
>Then, go for Point Two.
>Take a crack at Point Three.
>Might as well try Point Four.

>>2434453
>Try your hand at Point One.

>>2434453
>>Take a crack at Point Three.
Let's hope that SEC is security

>>2434453
>Then, go for Point Two.

It has Arhu the company doing the parts it must be the best bet

>>2434453
>>Then, go for Point Two.
can we see if we can put prima inside the bathroom's air duct? (or if there is one in the first place)

>“You didn’t forget about me!”
This is way too cute for me.

>>2434473
hmmm... so doing an estimated guess XLR8 is some type of mobility thing
ARHU should be either the torso or the decoy
ASEC could be the security system
but what could be AHSS

>>2434481
XLR
Secret Lab Resource (lol)

If A is Automatic, ASEC is Automated Security, ARHU could be Automated Remote... something?
AHSS could be something something Server or Service.

They all do correspond to words, I'll say that.

>>2434494
Not 1 to 1, just that they all do mean something, I mean to say.

>>2434453
>>Take a crack at Point Three.

>XLR81441
no idea / maybe the decoy?
>ARHUSS550
the torso or the room it's in
>ASEC000
Security?
>AHSS1080
no idea

3 more minutes, for anyone to decide.

>>2434490
Or maybe it's so simple that A is Aiba. ARHU Remote Host something?

ah whatever just push a button it'll be fine!

>>2434505
well, giving it a little more time to think, XL can be used as eXtra Large, The R could mean Robot.... maybe is the room where the gragant body is.
i'm still betting that the ARHU is where the decoy or the real piece is. (because the company that is making the parts is Arhu corp.
ASEC should be security
but AHSS.... maybe it is High speed servers or highly secured systems?

Tie between Point Two and Point Three. So...fine, 5 more, then I flip a coin.

>>2434453
>>Take a crack at Point Three.
in hopes SEC is security

>>2434525
I'll switch to point 2

>>2434453
>Then, go for Point Two
When in doubt, strait ahead!