618/Delegation Is Magic

Delegation Is Magic
Date of Scene:	23 November 2015
Location:	Plot Room #1
Synopsis:	Ayana sends Fate off to collect energy for Takashi's recovery.
Cast of Characters:	Fate T. Waldia, Ayana

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Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate sits in the lounge of the UMBRA building. Arf is right next to her, in wolf form, resting her head on Fate's lap. Fate is gently petting Arf with one hand while feeding her some kind of doggie treat with the other.

Fate herself isn't in henshin, wearing a black long-sleeve hoodie, but that wouldn't stop anyone around here from recognizing her. She has no secret ID to protect, after all.

The two of them are apparently either taking a break from searching for Lost Logia or they've run out of things to do. They don't look particularly busy.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's nose has become her true guide, over the past several days. The foxgirl has gone from a relatively absent figure in the Umbra offices to here all the time, and worse: she's starting to get scruffy. Her hair is long and unkempt, her ears and tails look a little matted. She's clearly not taking terribly good care of her higeine. "So hungry," she mumbles as she stalks through Umbra's headquarters in search of more food.

Unconsciously, the smell of doggie treats draws her to the lounge. She wanders right up to Fate and Arf, then stares down at the wolf and girl for a long moment before pointing at the treat, "Do you have more of thooooose?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate smiles as she pets Arf, scratching behind her ears and so on. When Ayana follows her nose to the lounge, Fate looks up at the new arrival. Huh? She wants doggie treats?

Well it makes sense. Ayana's a familiar, too.

"um... I think so..."

Fate reaches into her pocket and produces more treats. They are little dried out bacon-things akin to Beggin' Strips or the like. She holds her hand up and offers them to Ayana.

It's then that Fate starts to notice that Ayana looks a bit... unkempt. Not sure what that means, Fate asks, "So... how have you been? Are you okay?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana dives on the offered treats like they were the tastiest foods in the world. The small handful of treats are shoved straight into her mouth. She spends the time to chew, at least, before swallowing! Then, the little fox-girl sighs and puts her hand on her belly. "Ahhhh so much better," she mumbles, then smiles at Fate.

"I ... have been awful," Ayana replies frustratedly. "Taka-kun ..." she trails off, then stares at Fate. "Actually, there is something I need your help with. It's for him, but I'm really bad at it. Are you busy?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate watches as Ayana devours the snacks with childish innocence. Watching a familiar eat doggie treats in human form isn't that unusual for her, though someone else might think it looks a bit odd.

Huh? Awful? Fate looks up at Ayana with large, confused eyes. Why would she be doing awful?

"Something that he wants you to do? What is it?"

Fate rests her hands on Arf, who seems to be sleeping happily with her head in Fate's lap.

"If there's something I can do to help... I'd be happy to."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana considers the small girl for a moment. Some part of her is certain this is a very awful idea. She shouldn't be asking a nine-year-old to do such evil things. But there are so many reasons why this is necessary, and she can't do it herself, right now. So, Ayana sits down next to Fate, pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them, then takes a deep breath.

"You see," she says quietly, "Taka-kun needs energy. Lots of energy. That Deadmaster girl is supposed to get some, but I think she doesn't like me and won't get it. I can't do it myself, right now; normally I could, but my bond with Taka-kun is all weird so I have to be careful what I do. But you don't have this problem. So what we need is energy. Taken from normal people or magical people it doesn't matter, but we need it drained out of them, collected into a storage crystal. I'm pretty sure no one will want to give it to you so you're just going to have to take it without asking, but if you don't take too much no one should notice. They'll just be a little sleepy, right? Think you can do that for me?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate watches as Ayana considers her, and when Ayana sits down Fate moves one of her long pigtails out of the way. Looking up at Ayana, she hears her out before responding, softly petting Arf the whole time.

Deadmaster doesn't like her? Why would that be? She is a little strange, sure. It's hard to really know what she's thinking.

"I don't have a storage crystal. Does UMBRA have a few I could borrow? I mean I suppose I could always use a Retriever, too."

Fate turns her attention to Arf, scratching her behind the ears while she thinks about it.

"No one wants to give up their energy... Well, we can just take it then. That's how it's done, right? I'm still not sure how I'm going to take it without people noticing, unless I take just a small amount. ... but if he really does need a lot of energy, then taking little bits at a time will take forever. Is that why you can't do it yourself? It takes too long?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana tilts her head, and one of her foxy ears flickers irritatedly. She turns to peer at Fate, then leans in a little to explain, "I can't do it myself because something is wrong with my bond to Taka-kun, and I can barely hold shape right now. I've eaten everything in every refridgerator and he's not here to restock them and I am going crazy trying to find food right now just so I don't have to become a fox permanently again. I can't help him as a fox, right now. So that's why I need your help." Pause. "What ... is a retriever?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Oh, that makes sense to Fate. If the bond is damaged then of course there'd be problems that result from that. Ayana's description of thing makes sense... though it does leave Fate with the question of 'how did that happen?'

It also leaves Fate with the question 'wait, so all the food's gone?!'

She's distracted from her own questions with one of Ayana's. Mostly because she's surprised that Ayana doesn't know what a Retriever is.

"Um... well you know... those things Takashi uses to gather energy? They're like animals made out of darkness. I remember fighting one before I joined up with Eclipse. They're actually really strong."

Fate digs through her pockets again with her free hand, this time producing several small gems. "I have a few... in case I needed them for a fight or something. I'd probably use them to gather energy. ... Do you want one?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana stares at the gems for a long moment, uncertainty flickering across her features. She gently reaches out to take one out of Fate's hand, then licks her lips quietly. "Still Night, analyze," she mumbles softly.

There is a humming, beeping noise beneath Ayana's dress at chest level, and then a definitively feminine voice replies, "Creates a dark energy construct capable of manipulating and storing energy for later retrieval. Commonly referred to as a 'retriever'. These specimins are believed to have been generated by Riventon in his constant quest for power."

Ayana takes a deep breath, then offers the gem back to Fate. "Use one," Ayana says. "I will see to it that it gets replaced when I can. Fill it up, and then bring me all the energy you get. And if someone tries to stop you ..." Ayana trails off, then says, "If they ask you nicely to stop, stop and walk away with the crystal. If they try to get in your way, do what you can to prevent them. But this energy is important, so don't fail, Fate-chan. Okay? We need it. Even if you only get it half full, that's better than nothing."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate watches as Ayana takes the gem and analyzes it. She hears a voice that might be a Device... when would Ayana get a Device? Well, the feminine voice seems to have the right idea of what they are. Fate can't really add anything to the description.

When Ayana hands it back to Fate, Fate takes it and puts the gems back in her pockets. She listens to Ayana's instructions carefully, absorbing the information... though a bit of it confuses her.

"If they ask nicely?"

Fate has never, as far as she could remember, been told to stop if someone asks nicely. Or wait... maybe she has? She seems to remember being taught basic manners at some point. Her memories have been so confusing lately.

"Well, alright... if you're sure. You're sure you don't want to just take it, and fight anyone who tries to stop you?"

That's kindof an unusual thing for Fate to hear... but... it's what she was asked to do.

Ayana has posed:
"Fight them if they don't ask nicely," Ayana tells Fate with a grin. "That's just rude, and rude people don't deserve to get their way! But if they ask nicely, yes, stop! Then tell me how much you got before they asked you to stop. Even if they do ask nicely, don't let them take what you got before they asked. That's yours, and what's done is done."

Ayana nods succinctly. The more she explains the plan to fate, the more the foxgirl likes her own plan. She's even proud of it! Can't be evil if you properly stop when someone asks, right? "If we don't have enough we'll just go do it somewhere else that they didn't ask us to stop. But I don't think it will be a problem; magical girls are all very determined to boss us around. Think you can do it?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Oh, alright. Fate only has to stop if they ask nicely, but they aren't expected to actually ask nicely.

"Alright. I think I can do that. If it comes down to a fight, I'm pretty sure I can win."

She's a confident little girl, but that confidence isn't without reason. She's lost a few fights before, but she's still a Testarossa, and she's still powerful.

"I think that's fair. I should be able to steal some small amounts of energy quickly. Maybe if I spread out the draining across multiple people I can still get enough without anyone really noticing. I wont let any of them boss me around, either."

Fate smiles up at Ayana. "I'll bring some to you soon. I don't know how much I'll get, but I'll try to get as much as I can!"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana lets out a huge sigh of relief, then leans down very suddenly and squeezes Fate in a forward, unasked for, and slightly smelly hug. At least she smells like a fox and not a sweaty girl! "You are the best, Fate-chan," Ayana says honestly. "Taka-kun will be really happy with you for this. I'll make sure he knows you were so helpful."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate is surprised by the sudden hug, though the fox smell is a little surprising. Though, not really, since she said she was having trouble maintaining her form.

"Alright. I'm happy to help."

Precia did, after all, tell Fate to work with these people. So doing this would make her happy too, right? Fate assumes so, at least.

"Are you going to be alright? If your bond to your master gets too weak, it could be dangerous for you. I don't really know what would happen if your bond to him was ever severed, but I can't imagine that it'd be good for you."

Ayana has posed:
"I don't know," Ayana replies honestly, grimacing at the question. "I'm pretty sure I'll either cease to exist, or go back to being a fox. I can get mana by eating a lot of food, but it's really really inefficient. So I'm just using as little as I can and hoping Taka-kun can fix everything soon."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate frowns. She knows enough about Familiars to at least make her own, but she isn't sure she knows how to fix that exact problem. She isn't sure that Bardiche knows, either. Reforming the bond or remaking the familiar... might end up just replacing or overwriting Ayana, if it wasn't done with care.

"I don't really know a lot about that," admits Fate. "... I mean, not enough to fix a problem like this. If there were more mages around, I could ask one of them, but with Earth being so isolated..."

She trails off, but the tone does indicate a bit of helplessness. Fate isn't really used to being in the dark about magic, though.

"Good luck, though. I hope you find a solution soon!"

Ayana has posed:
"Taka-kun's really smart," Ayana says with a little bit of manic hopefulness in her tone. "I'm sure he'll make everything better.' She grins at Fate, then asks, "D...o you have any more of those jerky treats? They were really good."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
"Huh? You want more treats?" Fate reaches into her pockets again, pulling out a bag of doggie treats. It's... mostly gone, but there's about fifteen percent left.

She hands it to Ayana, saying, "If you're hungry, you can have these. Um... I'm not sure where else to get food, though. I guess you could always go to a store or something?"

It's a stopgap measure, but anything that buys time can be good, right?

Ayana has posed:
Ayana clutches the bag close. "You are the best girl in Umbra," Ayana informs Fate straightforwardly. "Yeah, I'll go buy burgers or something. It's just a lot of effort to hide my ears and tails. This should give me enough energy to do that. And then I can buy burgers and I'll be better. You go get that energy," she reminds, as she pushes up out of the chair. "Come find me here when you're done, okay?"

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate nods, once. It's kindof a small nod, really. "Sure. I'll come find you. Take care of yourself until then."

Fate brings her gems out and starts looking them over, considering which one she should use.

"I'll be back soon, so don't worry about that."