View source for 3772/Expert Counsel

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/07/03
|Location=Uminari City - Game Center Crown
|Synopsis=Kyouko goes to Hannah for help translating some Incubator-writing.
|Cast of Characters=78,27
|pretty=yes
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{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko doesn't frequent the Crown as much as she used to- more and more responsibilities means less and less free time to play DDR, alas. I guess that's what they call growing up. But she does still make her way to the arcade sometimes. Today though, she isn't particularly looking to play. She's doing research, or perhaps, to use the legal jargon most appropriate to the situation, seeking expert counsel.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She pulls up to the Crown on her motorcycle outside, sliding smoothly into a space along the curve before hopping off and pulling off her helmet, which is white with red flame decals on the sides. Shaking out her short hair, she gives a quick glance around before tucking the helmet under her arm and heading into the building. She's wearing what is her standard outfit these days, in a black short-sleeved t-shirt and jeans with some red sneakers on her feet.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hannah might be a bit reclusive these days, but that doesn't mean she's stopped her taste for delicious milkshakes! Also, Boris is a bit of a fan of DDR as things turn out. Two reasons that have dragged the two here today. Hannah has found herself a seat in the cafe portion, jeans and a hoodie proudly sporting a Johnny Cash album on the front. Sipping away at her drink, she seems half way lost in thought with her legs crossed and leaned back comfily. <br /><br />Boris, meanwhile, is playing DDR not too far away. This has drawn a small crowd, as he's making a rather absurd high score. <br /><br />This is Tokyo, but it's not every day that you see a husky destroying at DDR.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyouko's cursory glance around the room meets with success when her eyes alight upon Hannah. Just who she had been looking for- she had heard through the grapevine that the American sometimes hung out at he Crown, and figured it was worth a shot. Asking her former enemy for advice is not something Kyouko relishes, but she is an ''adult'' now- and also your life being on the line tends to make otherwise unpalatable options suddenly seem a little more acceptable.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Crossing the room, her helmet still tucked under her arm, she comes to stand in front of Hannah, eyeing the other young woman. "Hannah," She greets, without ceremony and in a tone somewhere between reluctance and grim determination, "I was hoping to run into you. I need to ask you for.. a favor."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hannah perks up, blinks a bit as she hears Kyouko approach. The lack of ceremony is just pure /Kyouko/, and the girl is already starting a smile at the other magical girl's presence. A bit of smug and American lack of care, but she seems to /like/ Kyouko despite their past. <br /><br />Thus she knows the former Puella enough that she's a bit openly shellshocked at being asked for a favor. She half way chokes on a milkshake sip, and it takes her a minute to shove her mouth closed. <br /><br />"...Did I just hear that right? Kyouko Sakura is asking /me/ for a /favor/!?" Yeah, she's basking in this for a few seconds. One can almost /feel/ the smug radiating off of her. <br /><br />Then she audibly sucks it down, sits up, and puts a distinctive coin on the table with one single blinky light in the center. A brow rises. <br /><br />"...Okay, as much as I want to gloat, you have me too intrigued to run you off with that. Hit me! This isn't just about an exercise routine right?" <br /><br />She is sounding /way/ too excited right now.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hannah, being the inflictor rather than the inflictee, doesn't have nearly as much reason to hold a grudge. And Kyouko, for her part, is a champion at holding grudges. However, it's been years at this point, and as previously noted, there are somewhat... more pressing concerns at the moment.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yeah, watch out for flying pigs." Kyouko grunts in response to Hannah's disbelief. "Look, I'm not happy to be doing it but a situation has arisen and it turns out you might have a bit of knowledge that could help me out immensely."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A pause, as if wondering how much to share. Finally, she gets straight to the point although only in general. "I need help translating Witch runes. Or Incubator runes, depending on how you look at it. You know, those weird symbols that tend to get scrawled all over Witchy things? Turns out that's a language. I figured maybe you already knew that, and maybe you had some idea how to read it, since you've been studying them for so long."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Suspicion only grows. Hannah rubs her chin as she takes in Kyouko's request. Leeeean. She kicks out a chair for the angriest member of Mamoru's court, before she finally nods. A tap on Raging Tempest, and the world goes all green-and-grey. There's an annoyed yip from Boris as reality and his high score are melted away by magic. <br /><br />"There, now we can talk in private. So, you're asking me how to read the insane mumblings of Witches, hmm? Are you sure that's a good idea? That kind of thing might just drive you mad. I mean, staring into the abyss, and all. Especially given what you are. ...Were, maybe. How /does/ that work, with you being under him?" She asks, quite knowing she won't get a good answer. <br /><br />Then she laughs. "Well, I'm not going to stop you. You've gotten yourself in trouble, right? It's not like learning it could help you kill them better. It hasn't helped me. So you need to know for a reason." <br /><br />Finally, a shrug. "Alright, so, abominations 101. Things like 'logic' and 'language' don't really matter for the most part. But yes, there's order to those runes, and I think I've sussed out a few of them. Or, rather, Boris has." Cue certain doggos marching up. Paws on the table! He pants happily, looking oh-so-proud! <br /><br />Arf! <br /><br />"We'll need to sit down at a lab together and go through it all. What are they on? You don't exactly pick up something written in Witch at a convenience store."

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"It's not the writings of a Witch I'm interested in." Kyouko says, glancing around but otherwise not reacting as the barrier is put into place to shut out the mundane world, at least temporarily. As the chair is kicked out, she sits down, leaning forward with one elbow on the table. "It's the writings of Incubators, which it turns out is the same language.. or uses the same symbols, at least."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She reaches into the pocket of her jeans and pulls out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, she places it on the table and turns it towards Hannah. It has a series of runes written on it, a full paragraph by the looks of it, copied in pencil. This ''is'' clearly a copy, but the source is unclear just to look at it. "This is what I'm trying to translate."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A pause, and then, "As for me, you can consider my contract with the Incubators.. terminated. Which, it turns out, they aren't particularly happy about. That's what this research is part of. Dealing with their unhappiness on the subject."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Frooooown. Oh yeah, Hannah is /not/ liking what she's hearing. "Why does that not surprise me? I swear, just when you think that disgusting little rat can't get any more depraved! Using Witch runes for a language on a Puella Magi!" Grumps the mage openly. Shaking her head several times. <br /><br />The girl sneaks her hand across the table, finding the copy and gently feeling her way across it. Boris, meanwhile, peeks over. With a boop of his nose to R.T., the Device springs up into his jaws. Hannah pokes her Device, and between Familiar and mage? It starts scanning the thing, before finally popping up a hologram version of Kyouko's transcription. Cue one progress bar as runes are being translated. <br /><br />"I'm having to tap into HQ's magical computers to do this on the fly, I hope you know. So be grateful, and if any of my systems get Witch-based ransomware, then I'm calling you!" Nod nod nod. Surely she's joking. <br /><br />That loading bar is going to take a minute. Meanwhile, Hannah's pulling out the braille printer. <br /><br />"I /really/ want to figure out how he helped you quit. I'd love nothing more than to see every single Puella magi freed from the thumb of Incubators. So, I will be honored to help you see that he gets nothing, and that I get to hear his voice when he's inevitably crushed for his evil. Let me guess, this is the terms of your 'employment', and he's trying to lawyer you back into the game?"

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Something like that." Kyouko doesn't look terribly pleased at the idea that Eclipse's computer is getting to read what is essentially the terms of her Puella contract, even if it no longer applies. But then again, it's probably better than being dead. "Keep this to yourself, alright? Whatever it says. I don't want it being used against any other Puella, if that's possible." It might not be, this might be totally useless information, but she doesn't know that. She gives a hard look. "If I find out you've used anything you learned from me to make anyone else's life difficult, I ''will'' kill you." Mamoru doesn't like it when she kills people, but it doesn't stop her threatening.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"And I'm not sure this is actually Witch writing. I mean, I think it's Incubator writing. I think Witches just use it, or a weirdo version of it, too." She shrugs. "As for how Mamoru helped me quit.. I'm not sure that's a tactic that's going to be that useful for anyone else. Near as I can tell, the Shitennou oath, his claim on me, basically.. overwrote the Puella contract. It's another sort of contract, after all. But I don't think Mamoru can make every Puella on the planet a Shitennou, as much as he might like to help them." She sees no harm in sharing this information, because as she said, it's probably of very little use since the circumstances were so unique.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She watches the progress bar filling up. "So is this thing actually translating the whole thing, or is it just pieces? Honestly I was just hoping you'd give me a few letters.. like, this symbol is this sound or whatever. Jadeite has a knack for this stuff, he was making pretty good progress even without additional clues.."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Siiiiigh! Both hands go up! "The only people that get to see this are ones I trust, and that's a /very/ short list. We're on the same side for this one, Kyouko. Anything I learned is going to be used to help Puella magi. It's part of my revenue model, after all. Capitalism is wonderful!" Griiiin. <br /><br />"So, as much as I'd love to see how much stronger you've gotten under the Prince, you don't get to murder me just yet." She says, almost apologetically. Wink. <br /><br />Hannah's tapping down notes as Kyouko explains the situation on how. She nods along several times. "Well, I'm not exactly looking to get a bunch of Puella magi bound to my soul or anything. I'm engaged, Haruna would pummel me into dust! But, the mere /fact/ that the contract can be written over means it can be made null and void. Learning Mamoru's method won't help, but it means researching alternatives isn't fruitless. In fact, I'm only more motivated now!" <br /><br />Then she sighs. "...Though I swear, he /always/ manages to one-up me. It's annoying." Poor, poor evil mage. <br /><br />A swift headshake. "Unfortunately, transcription of the runes is mostly a side project. So I can't claim I'm placing a Rosetta stone into your lap. But it's going to translate the ones I'm fairly certain on, and give enough gramatical knowledge that'll speed up the work considerably. In fact, tell our sparkly friend we can work together on it if he trusts me enough. Mamoru can blast me in the face again if I try anything funny. CEO's honor!" Nod nod nod.

:'''{{#var:78|Kyouko Sakura| (78)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I just worry that your definition of 'helping' isn't necessarily the same as mine." Kyouko grumbles, as she watches the printer go. "Also I don't approve of you binding anyone to your soul, but thankfully I don't think that's an option even if you were looking to try it. I'm pretty sure it only worked for Mamoru because he's, y'know, the Prince of the Earth and everything. Apparently that counts for more than Incubator contracts.. at least while we're actually on Earth."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"But.. be careful." She finally says, glancing around as if they might be overheard despite the barrier. "That's the whole reason the Incubators are causing trouble for me. They don't want the idea that it's possible to break the contract getting out. Even if the way I did it is a one-time-only deal, the fact that it ''can'' be broken being public knowledge is dangerous to them. They're trying to shut me up so word doesn't spread. If they find out you're working on it too, as a result, it'll both hurt my case and put you and any Puella working with you in danger. So for now, at least, keep it quiet."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She shrugs a little bit at the news on the runes. "Thats' about what I figured, and hopefully it'll be enough. We've got some time, still."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Hannah snorts derisively. "Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, but I don't see how that lets him break reality! I'd rather have him than Beryl! Yeesh, I hate monarchies. So unfair! Hard working capitalists should have their say!" Complains the girl. <br /><br />"...But yeah. I'll be careful. The last thing we need is a crisis. If they're so eager to take you out because you know, what will they do to every other Puella? It's my secret. I'm pretty good at keeping those." A hand goes to her chest. <br /><br />Luckily, the Barrier is still in place. They're safe for now! <br /><br />Finally the printer starts whirring, and it spits out two copies: one in Japanese, the other in braille. Hannah tugs one over, and offers the next one to Kyouko. A thumb drive is next. <br /><br />"There. Digital copies too. Keep me in the loop, okay? Let me know what else I can do to help. When you're free and clear of the rat? I'll even buy pizza for everyone!" Grin!
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