[Mari]

(( @midniteofrandom ))

It was a quiet evening at Ciel's home. Her two-story apartment came with a rather generous ammount of spice for a free home for a lone girl. This was not without reason, however. The ground floor of the apartment was actually a hybrid Laboratory / Library, open to the public at that. Her presence in the life sphere was relatively new, but one day she dreamed of sharing knowledge with the rest of the life sphere that could one day improve their lives a great deal. She had already set up a sign advertising the building's function and now she just had to begin expanding her selection of reading material beyond the sciences. As much as it disappointed her to think about, she probably wouldn't get many visitors looking for sciency, educational type stuff. Who read that in their free time, other than her?

...

The layout of the room was very simple in an electronic, futuristic sense. Everything was somewhat sterile looking, white and pastel pink metal alloys making up the majority of the furniture and appliances. In spite of being advertised as a library, no books were to be seen by the eyes. There were however alien looking computers begging to be used. In the back, in the more lab orientated area, one could observe several odd looking experiments neatly organized into labeled pedestals.

"Seems like another quiet night..."

[Deleted]

A lone red-haired girl nervously walked towards the two-story apartment, clutching a lab coat clad teddy bear. She seemed to be scared, looking around her like something was out to get her.

The nervous girl grabbed the doorknob, turning it to see if it was unlocked. To her surprise it was, so she slowly opened the door, peeking her head in ever so slightly to be greeted with a fantastical plethora of futuristic technology. This convinced the girl to fully open the door and run in.

She closed the door out of courtesy, then turned around to see the amazing array of gizmos and gadgets that surrounded the apartment. Ringo looked around in awe, simply admiring the strange pink metal and computerized reading material. "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed to herself, opening one of the alien looking computers. "Risu-senpai would love this!" Although she was speaking for her friend, she wouldn't lie to herself. She loved this building as well just by viewing the ground floor. This was helped by the fact that she was traumatized beforehand from seeing creatures that seemed like they didn't have any scientific basis whatsoever. She was glad that it was over, because she was still a little jumpy after that.

[Mari]

Ciel looked up from what she was doing at the sound of her door opening. It was a rather strange sound, compared to the sliding doors she was used to. She also didn't care for the way it slid into the room instead of into the wall. It felt like an inefficient use of space. Ah well. She could renovate that problem away later when she had a bit more time to worry about smaller things. Something else was demanding her attention anyway; specifically, she was picking up on Ringo's nervousness as she entered.

So long as Ringo was able to get past the computer's appearance, it appeared to be very easy to actually use. It had no mouse, but it also appeared to have a custom operating system built specifically for retrieving, reading and storing information using a keyboard. If she began browsing the information stored on the computer she would see that it consisted mostly of various scientific resources including Ciel's own research on experimental topics such as the C.I.E.L. system, labeled as a system for solving the Life Sphere's need for renewable energy or her studies on the infected virus.

Meanwhile, Ciel stopped what she was doing to go greet her first visitor, smiling brightly for the other and casually waving to grab Ringo's attention.

"Welcome! Perhaps Risu-Senpai can come and visit too sometime. My name's Ciel and this is my research facility. ...Is everything alright, Miss..? You seemed a little distressed when you came in."

Ciel seemed rather concerned, judging by her tone. The scientist folded her arms before her, giving Ringo a chance to speak her mind.

[Deleted]

Ringo turned to Ciel with a big smile on her face, holding her strange teddy bear in her arms. "Hello, Ms. Ciel. My name is Ringo Andou" Ringo bowed, still holding her bear. "I-I've been bombarded with nothing but unscientific creatures for the past few weeks. I'm glad I found a place like this to relax and admire this advanced wonders of technology."

"As for Risu-senpai..." The schoolgirl held out her bear towards Ciel. "He looks like this, but bigger. I'm not sure if he has access to this world, although stranger things have happened."

[Mari]

Ciel performed a curtsey to Ringo in tandem with her bow, bowing her own head with respect. Wasn't it rather odd that someone of Ringo's own age had her own research center? ...Well, maybe not. I mean, you know, relatively speaking.

"

Mmmh... This world is very odd, isn't it? It's as if the grand fabric of the universe was torn apart and stitched back together without any rhyme or reason, creating a new world with bits and pieces of every world strewn about...

"

Ciel pondered this for a moment. Could that actually be what had happened? Had Master Hand taken a pair of scissors to the fabric of the universe? Was Crazy Hand running with cosmic cutters? ...Was Master Core someone's messed up pet? Questions best left for another time and day, perhaps. Ciel observed Ringo's bear for a moment, leaning over and beaming light-heartedly at it for a moment.

"

Well he must be pretty cute, then! Well Ringo, I'm trying my best here to make sense out of this world and it's inhabitants. You're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. It would be nice to have some company. Can I get you something to drink? Maybe some hot cocoa..?

"

[Deleted]

Ringo sat down in front of one of the computers, setting her teddy bear on her lap.

"Hot cocoa would be great. I'm glad that we're on the same page."


"But I have one question. What is this 'Master Hand'? It sounds like some sort of alchemical deity symbol."

[Mari]

Ciel moved to begin brewing some hot cocoa for her guest. It was a rather nice treat to be having during the apocalypse. Not everyone could afford to keep chocolate around, what with the food shortage and all. While she was working on heating water she took notice of Ringo's question, turning her gaze to the other. She hadn't mentioned Master Hand, but he wasn't an obscure figure on Li.

"

I've only heard about Master Hand myself. He takes the appearance of a giant, sentient hand and is said to have participated in a war long past. ...He doesn't sound like the type to keep his hands to himself.

"

Ciel frowned at this premise, shaking her head a tad. She moved to bring Ringo her hot cocoa, offering a mug to her on a coaster. She offered her a smile before continuing to speak.

"

There's another hand called ...eh... 'crazy hand'. I'm assuming their names are supposed to be descriptions of what they are. I wonder how they communicate ...What's your favorite subject, Ringo?

"

[Rina]

Ringo put a hand to her chin, listening in on what Master Hand is. Ringo is having a hard time trying to picture a disembodied hand being the cause of a war from an era ago, but the mention of its counterpart, Crazy Hand, sounds much more threatening.

"I see..."

Ringo took notice of the cocoa, picking it up as she answered the next question.

"If there's science, I can't turn a blind eye to it. Physics, chemistry, I'll even take mathematics. I'll put my mind to it to solve it all!"

[Mari]

The cocoa was quite warm. If one were to take notice of its scent, it seemed to be real. Was that a hint of caramel amidst the cocoa? Luxury drink aside, Ciel seemed rather pleased by Ringo's answer. A bright smile graced her face and she bobbed her head in approval before speaking.

"

That's a rather impressive boast! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't rooting for you, though. The life sphere has a habit of trying to solve a lot of it's problems with, well, brawn. But, I think a couple of gifted minds could really make a difference here.

"

Ciel broke her gaze only after her last word finished, gesturing with her eyes towards the back room, which seemed to be the laboratory half of the building judging by the variety of benches and utilities ready to be used, as well as a lone project suspended in a tractor beam. It had a very odd look to it, incomprehensible yet designed in a very deliberate way. It looked like an artificial stemless flower of some sort being orbited by a ring of geometric shapes. What in the world was it?

"

In that case, the entirety of my lab is open to you. I've been working on an efficient energy solution for the Life Sphere's Global Uplink System for the past few days. It's coming along well, but I need a bit more time before I can present it for use. Do you have any questions about the world we're in or the lab? It's all very new, so I don't have as much to show off as I'd like, but in time this will be a bastion of knowledge.

"

[Rina]

"Agreed. Even though I do know how to fight to an extent, I do see the potential in resolution through mind power. And with the need to conserve resources, I feel that your technological breakthrough will be a great boon for the Life Sphere."

Ringo took a sip of the drink...is that caramel? It's faint, but it's there. She put the cup down, following her into the lab. She couldn't help but be in bigger awe of the workings. As her eyes wandered around, her attention became fixated to the flower-looking device.

"Huh. Curious looking flower. What is this for?"

[Mari]

"

It's all about improving everyone's quality of life, at the end of the day. If we solve problems here in the life sphere, there'll be more resources to use elsewhere and morale will go up. Every little thing matters. ...And that's more than I can say. I always feel like a burden whenever I'm in the middle of a conflict...

"

Ciel was understandably pleased with Ringo's response, but the fact that she wasn't exactly very strong relative to other fighters on Li did seem to weigh on her a bit. The fact that she had to use someone she swore to protect like a bodyguard didn't always sit well with her, but what else was she supposed to do? Her contributions to the sphere were too valuable for her to simply sit back and allow the world to handle itself. That thought aside though, Ciel moved to stand before the flower and gestured to it proudly.

"This is actually the project I'm working on. It's made of crystallized data, which is a method of data storage that eliminates the need for hardware based storage solutions and a continuous power supply entirely. It's called the CIEL System, which is an acronym for Convergent Ignition by Energen Linkage." Ciel began before pausing to consider her choice of name. She snickered slightly. "...It's also my name. Unfortunately, it's not finished yet. I still need some help obtaining a specific test subject so that I can work on the front end of the system. Unfortunately, it's a dangerous task and my assistant who usually helps me with these sorts of things is taking some time off after the last mission..." Ciel lamented. She couldn't really blame Milan. They'd seen some messed up stuff.

[Rina]

"Aha. None of this exists back home, and seeing it before my eyes is a wonder to witness. It's such a fascinating advancement!"

Ringo couldn't help but gush at the data right in front of her. It's nothing like anything she's seen at all, and it'd be incredible if her school's technology network were to evolve into something like this. Ah, but she digress. It's not a complete product yet, and she's getting ahead of herself.

"Ahem. Pardon my behavor. Although, if your assistant is unavailable, then perhaps I can aid you in your research? It'd be a shame if this was left incomplete. If there was a third head in this, it would help speed up your research."

[Mari]

Ciel didn't seem to mind Ringo's gushing or amazement. Being who she was and what she did, it was pretty normal for others to have their comments. Her offer of aid, however, came as a surprise to Ciel. The fact was, super genius or not she was only well known by a very small amount of people, relatively speaking, many of which weren't even on Li as far as she could tell. She still needed to prove herself with results before her abilities would be recognized. A friend and a real partner would be nice.

...But could Ringo possibly keep up? A troubling thought, but one easily resolved. She merely had to tell Ringo exactly what she should expect and let her be the judge of her own abilities. She resolved to give Ringo the benefit of the doubt if she accepted.

"

...It's fine, and... Milan, my assistant, is more of a bodyguard you see. I won't lie to you. The mission to find a test subject is a dangerous one and the work involved in finalizing the CIEL system is going to involve a lot of work that isn't by-the-book. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, but I thought you should know...

"

Ciel closed her eyes for a moment, allowing Ringo to process everything she'd just said. After a moment however, she addressed Ringo with a bright smile.

"

...If you're still willing to be my assistant knowing this it would mean a lot to me, Ringo.

"

[Rina]

Ringo expected that would be the case. Taking her hand off her chin, she replied to her, giving off more than she appears to be. She began recounting the events back in Suzuran, albeit in brief.

"I somewhat suspected that you would say that. See, while I am knowledgeable in science, chaos once tried to take over my home town. I didn't know what was going on or why, but my friend by the name of Arle told me that I had the power to fight back somehow. It was a lot to take in, but I adapted fairly quickly and did away with it with the help of some friends. I don't know how I could help, but I am willing to give it a try."

[Mari]

Ciel considered Ringo ' words carefully, taking them into consideration as she plotted their next move. "Chaos..?" she began, musing over whether Ringo was using the word in a metaphorical, literal or name sense. Oddly enough, it seemed like one of the other two. "...It sounds like you might be a lot more heroine than you give yourself credit for." Ciel mused aloud, openly voicing her suspicioms.

"I'd believe it. Why don't we test that hypothesis, then? To properly interface with the front end of the system we will need to visit Pokemon Cove and track down a specific species of creature that dwells there named Porygon. ...According to my research, this particular species of monster, so called by the locals anyway, is unique in its behavior, being a sort of living computer program. This should, in theory, allow it to interface with the CIEL system and give us a live output of all its interactions with the system. It might be hostile though, so I've arranged for another technology from the species home world to ethically restrain it if need be." Ciel explained, pacing for a moment before moving to address Ringo face to face. She cupped her hands before her politely and offered her a smile. "The biggest variable is the possibility of an ambush, as we will be outside the life sphere. However, every precaution will be taken to make sure we make it back safely. Will you accompany me on this mission, Ringo..?"