Hannah sits upon a rolly chair in the depths of Infinity Labs! Raging Tempest is loosely held in one hand, feeding her data as she 'gazes' at the thing before her. The lab itself has that classic 'evil office' look to it. Clean metal floors, white walls shrouded in darkness, and a mass of equipment set up. Tubes run to various electronics from a box with a glass front. Inside is the Grief Seed from last night. Data is fed to computers as Hannah lounges, smiling just a bit.
"I wonder what kind of magic is inside of you. So tiny, and creating such an obsurd being of such power! Strongest youma I have ever seen, at that. Just /think/ of what you can do for us, little Seed. And why did those girls want you? Oh, I have so many questions! You are going to be a good boy and give us delicious data, right?" Comes Hannah with a smile to the dark thing.
Meanwhile, Boris lounges on a couch in husky form. The big familiar puts his paws over his face at his silly, silly Mistress.
"...If it wasn't for the others around here, I would be worried for your sanity, Mistress."
Takashi Agera, his device Axion settled as a bracelet underneath the standard 'Eclipse R&D' labcoat, walks into the laboratory slowly, smiling a bit.
"It's good to see someone else who enjoys their work as much as I do." he adds, stepping in to lean over one of the devices trying to get a reading on the Seed, and adds with more than a small bit of pride. "My mother designed most of the machines we're using in this lab, you know." he says as he walks over. Then he stops, and realizes he's being somewhat impolite. "Ah. Takashi Agera. R+D. My apologies for not introducing myself properly, first. I asked for permission to be added onto this project." he says, in a calm, polite tone. "You're one of Tomoe's as well, aren't you?"
"Good evening! Did she? Amazing! Converting magical readings into useful data that can be exploited! Oh, it makes my heart pound! A little round bundle of mystery, this thing!" She offers enthusiastically. Boris, for his part, gives a lazy woof in greetings and a tail wag.
Then Hannah offers a bow.
"Hannah Sharpe, intern and budding accountant-slash-'special services'. It is a pleasure to meet you, Agera-san. R&D? Can you spill the beans on what we are going to do with /this/? Or am I going to have to keep being in suspense?" She's like a little puppy, complete with cute eyes in her excitement. Raging Tempest returns to stand-by form, feed of data ending, and then she crosses her legs.
Takashi smiles. "Ahh, Sharpe-san. Pleased to meet you as well. To be honest... we're not sure what to make of it. That's why I'm here, so we can have someone a little bit more... hands on. It's a brand new thing. Very exciting!" he adds, leaning over it, watching the way it seems to defy gravity, standing on its needle point.
"To be honest I hear we've got the attention of the big guy in the lab coat upstairs." he says, referring to Doctor Tomoe. "And it's good attention, too." he says with a smile at her. "Whatever this is, it seems to bode well for us."
Hannah nods several times, just a little giddy herself! "Well, whatever it is, it is valuable. The ones I fought alongside to attain it seem to hold quite a bit of importance on it. But /why/ is the question? Magical power is one thing, but they did not strike me as the ambitious types. Oh well, maybe I can invite Homura-chan to ice cream and we can chat it out. A treasure trove of knowledge, that one."
Hannah outright gasps at Takashi. "T...Tomoe-sensei? He...I see! Great! Maybe I will become more than an intern after all!" She laughs joyously, a little overwhelmed. She stumbles a bit, woozy from the excitement, catching herself on TAkashi's shoulders.
She pumps a fist. "Victory, and our glorious rise! I have a /great/ feeling, Agera-san! I hope you will take good care of me with your skill." Meaning, of course, his R&D experience!
Then her head tilts. "Though we should probably figure out a way to better track those...Witches, they called it. Magical senses is one thing, but a proper device to detect it would be grand. Or maybe some way to upgrade a Device's sensors."
Takashi leans in, getting down to business, tapping at the glass the Seed sits behind. "The little thing holds an immense amount of power, and it's incredibly complex. Doesn't look much like it. I can't begin to imagine what would be able to create and then condense the power that we're getting from the readings into such a relatively stable, portable, tiny form." he begins, getting more and more into the scientific aspect now trhat pleasantries are over.
"I almost want to see if we can get readings off of it if I intentionally destablize it, but given the... reality warping powers it presented earlier, I do not know that it would exactly be a wise decision."
<NEIN.> responds his device, as he shifts it into the gauntlet mode.
"I agree, I think tracking those... witches... so we can acquire more of these should be a project we take on. I do not think, however, that those girls are going to continue handing them over." he adds. "And those girls... they have unqiue powers of their own that I don't recognize. They make me very curious..."
"Doesn't match anything we have in the database; I looked pretty hard."
"Such a curiousity! Mmm, so dense. I wonder what could create such a thing. Maybe the Witch's magic stabalizes after death? Though I cannot think of why it would do that. Well, I suppose all we can do is take readings."
Hannah leans back in her chair, chuckling.
"Quite. We should show some caution. Doing /that/ might create something worse than what it spawned from. Still. I /do/ want to find another Witch, and study its barrier magic. Perhaps we could improve on existing spells with it. Ahh, if we could just capture one of the creatures while alive! Just think of the data we could collect!"
A deep breath. "But I am getting ahead of myself. Completely new, this thing, hmm? Yes. Hmm. I wonder, if these are so valuable..." A wave at them.
"We could perhaps even get one or two of those girls 'on the payroll', as it were. They really seem to want these things. A fair trade, I would say. Either way, I doubt we are going to remain friends for too long, poor dears. Yes, particularly the one with the shield. I caught a 'glimpse' of her talent. It probably looks like teleportation. But my Device's reading says otherwise. Somehow she can make herself move at a frankly unbelievable rate, though I am not sure how. Really, I am shamed. Beaten utterly in the speed department." She laments teasingly.
Then she ponders. "So what do you think is our next step? I admit, I want to gather some more information if I can track down Homura-chan, or the woman with the matchlocks."
Takashi leans in, looking at the Grief Seed before he goes to make some minor adjustments to the equipment. "I think..." he begins... "we should be ready to approach this from multiple angles. Since you seem to have a small rapport with... Homura-chan, was it? You might want to start there. They'll probably be more receptive to you than me. They seemed perplexed by my presence. And I was the more hostile actor." he adds, astutely. "I'm going to see if we can get any readings from the school's sensor set; really we were very lucky that such a thing appeared here, at Infinity! Such luck."
"I'm going to speak with some of the management, and see if I can get this project assigned exclusively to us. We don't want any of those bottom-feeders taking credit for it, and I'm honestly more concerned they will touch our little toy here and break something. Sadly, not all of the organization is as talented as you and I."
Takashi grins. "Does that sound good to you as well, Sharpe-san? The two of us, marching boldly into the upper ranks of Eclipse by our combined might and intelligence?"
Hannah grabs a can of soda from a desk, sipping on it after a bit of fumbling to find the thing. She ponders the matter, and then gives a firm nod. "Curious, that, too. Well, it is simply something I shall have to drag out of our new friend. She seemed curious and a little scared, I think. So I doubt I will have problems." There's a thumbs up to the idea.
"Send me anything you get, hmm? I need practice reading those things anyway. Oh-hoh!"
Slowly, she stands, and walks over. If Takashi doesn't stop her, there's a hug from behind, all excitement and general squeezing of mirth!
"That is right! Between us, we are unstoppable! Tomoe-sensei /WILL/ recognize our greatness and glory! Witch, youma, magical girl? Bring them all! With our magic and science and conviction, we shall make this world turn at our own pace! Upper ranks? Fah! Do not think so small."
She whispers.
"Maybe we can even run it ourselves. Best way to shape the world how we want, huh?" There's a hand being offered after she lets go.
Takashi smiles, and then tenses up as he is hugged - but that tenseness leaves quickly as Hannah whispers.
"It is almost as if you read my mind. But first, small steps. Let's not become one of those stories where the talented become buried by pressing their own hubris too far."
He takes her hand and smiles. "I admit the distinct appeal however... we must do our best to keep in touch and get everything we can out of this project. I will await the results of your talk with this... Homura. Unless you think you will need help?" he adds, momentarily. "Actually, if you find yourself in need of any help do not hesitate to contact me. I can't have anything bad happening to my lab partner." he adds.
A firm shake, and then she's away, hands behind her back. Hannah smiles brilliantly. "I would say something like 'caution is my middle name' but I am not given to lies. Yes, let us keep our egos in check. We have so many ambitious people below and above us, we cannot afford to be our own death. Maximize our profits from this venture. And even if it becomes a failure, well, even /that/ can be turned to profit if we are clever."
She waves a hand dismissively. "I can handle her. It might come to blows, but you can learn a lot about someone from their fists. Or rocket launchers in this case. Wonder where she gets all those...mm, no matter. Best to keep things civil at first. Mmm, wonder if she likes chocolate or vanilla..." The most difficult of choices.
Cue an offered number! "Same. If anything happens, we call each other, and get over quick. I will get some of the higher ups to make some papers we can use to get out of class if we have to." Then she pauses at the door, and gives a little wave.
"Our time starts now, Agera-san." Then off she goes!
Takashi casts a long look at the little Grief Seed after Hannah leaves. "Still, I wonder what secrets you hold." He walks over to the equipment again, making further adjustments - and making sure it feeds false data to everywhere but his own device. "No reason to let everyone else see all of our cards, eh Axion?"
<JAWOHL.>
Once he's satisfied with that, he too leaves the lab.