Fate had been told, a while ago, to go set up a place for Precia where she could supervise Fate's activities and perform her work on Earth. Since completing this meant that she would probably not face immediate punishment, Fate went about her work quickly. Eclipse was very accommodating, once they heard it was for Precia Testarossa, and it wasn't long at all before Fate found a place that she thought Precia would like.
The fact that the highrise isn't anywhere near Fate's own dorm is a mere coincidence. Precia's top-floor penthouse has a doorway that leads to Eclipse's portal network anyways, so Fate can never be that far away.
The penthouse actually consists of multiple floors, the top floor being designated as a study. 'Study' in this case is a euphemism for Laboratory, since plenty of Eclipse scientists enjoy working from home but putting the word 'Laboratory' on blueprints tends to draw questioning looks. The penthouse came with a few very subtle magical forcefields hidden inside the walls, both to protect the place from intruders and to quickly contain any 'accidental house fires' that might originate from the 'study'. Eclipse looks after their own, as long as they stay in favor.
Fate made sure to have the other rooms filled with things that she thinks her mother likes. Most of these are based upon implanted memories that actually came from Alicia, but she doesn't know that yet.
Today Fate is coming to visit her mother. She has a Jewel Seed, and she's pretty sure that Precia will want it as soon as possible. Even if it is just one. There is a slight tint of darkness to her, one that has grown steadily worse as Fate practices and trains with it. Fate's a little worried about what Precia will say about that, since Runealy saw it and started to object heavily.
Fate rings the doorbell and waits. She's wearing a simple black dress. Arf is next to her, pouting and looking away.
The problem with drawing on Alicia's memories is that memories of Alicia mostly sadden Precia Testarossa. Certainly, she has spent a great deal of time dwelling on those same memories, herself, without Fate's 'reminders'.
Thus, when Fate rings teh doorbell, Precia is already in a poor mood. "Ertiga," Precia's voice is little more than a harsh-voiced whisper, but it carries through these halls. A rat crawls out of Precia's sleeve, grey fur and a long naked tail curled around her wrist. The creature chitters at precia thoughtfuilly, beady red eyes focusing on her. "Yes, I imagine it is," Precia agrees quietly. "Go and see to it," she says, flicking her wrist.
The rat goes flying across the room, turns a summer-sault, and transforms into a young woman in her early twenties. She wears white shorts over black tights, and a grey vestcoat over a white blouse. The rat-girl's tail is wrapped around one of her legs as she approaches the door. Reaching up, she smoothes her silver hair back, concealing her ratlike ears in that little haughty gesture.
Then she opens the door. The ratlike woman smirks amusedly, eyes taking in Fate and Arf both in an instant. She almost laughs. Almost. Then she bows, and motions. "Fate Testarossa-dono," she greets quietly. "Welcome to your mother's abode. Please, enter. Your mother is in her study. May I take your ... well, I suppose you haven't got coats. Tsk."
Fate used to be a gentle, sweet girl. The kind of girl who just wants her mother to be happy and is sorry when she hurts people.
Today she is a darkness-infused employee of Eclipse who is pretty sure that she just got snarked at by a glorified lab rat.
"Well, then that makes you pretty useless then doesn't it?" She can't help but wonder who'd be wearing coats in spring weather, but then she remembers that Precia and Takashi are both fond of lab coats.
Fate pushes past Etirga before Arf can even recover from the shock of hearing Fate even try be mean to someone. The wolf familiar sticks her tongue out at Etirga before following Fate inside.
The little blonde-haired girl tries to forget her annoyance at the rat familiar, reminding herself that it's her mother's familiar. She tries to forget, but by the time she gets to the laboratory she's still so distracted by her annoyance that she neglects to knock. Or say hello.
"Bardiche. Confirm."
<Serial Number 15 Confirmed>
Fate raises her right hand, and the yellow triangle on top begins to glow. A Jewel Seed lifts up out of it, surrounded by a sparkling protective shield.
Ertiga snickers at Fate's response, clearly not at all bothered by the girl's response. Arf's rude gesture earns a once-over from the rat-girl, of the kind that might make Arf a little uncomfortable. Lewd~. Ertiga closes the door behind Fate, then bounds up the stairs beside her, that long tail uncoiling so it can be used for balance as she precariously bounds towards Precia's side.
Precia is, it should be noted, not actually paying attention to the stairwell to her laboratory. She's busy seated at her desk, reading some datapad or another. Ertiga's bounding leap takes her to the desk, but she's already back to being a little rat before she gets there. Ertiga vanishes up the sleeves of Precia's robe once again, then reappears on the woman's shoulder, nestling in against her neck for warmth.
Precia ignores the familiar. Her gaze is drawn upwards towards Fate; sorrowful and tired. She watches as Fate offers absolutely no introduction or pretense; the jewel seed simply appears. Precia studies it thoughtfully for a long moment, but doesn't reach out for the little seed.
"Number fifteen," she murmurs, voice still hoarse and quiet. "And for once you bring it to me within a reasonable time, and with no excuses."
Setting the pad down, Precia leans back in her chair and gives Fate her full attention. "Dark energy," she surmises. "Similar to that foolish Agera's. And yet ... less. And with less control. You are experimenting," she surmises quietly.
Fate watches as her mother approaches. Still sad and tired as usual. Well, she is working hard. At least that's the way Fate thinks of it. In response to her bringing the Jewel Seed in a timely manner, Fate's response is a little cold. "There was very little resistance. Your demonstration may have scared them off. Not I'm complaining, since no one's getting in my way."
Arf stands around the corner, leaning against the wall. She doesn't want her discomfort to be too obvious, and she doubts Precia cares if she's in the room or not.
At the mention of Dark Energy, Fate looks down at her hand, where Bardiche rests in standby mode, and then looks back up at her mother.
"You showed me that I was being too soft. The dark energy lets me..." Fate stops to consider the words. "... treat my enemies the way they should be treated. The extra power doesn't hurt either."
Fate's wine-red eyes look over the inside of the lab, but if she sees anything of interest she doesn't linger on it for very long. "No other Jewel Seeds have shown up. I'll continue looking for them. It'd be a lot easier to find them if the TSAB hadn't been so incompetent as to muck up Subspace."
Yeah, she's not the gentle little Fate she used to be, right now. It's pretty clear why that is.
Precia leans back in her seat and beckons with her finger towards Fate--or perhaps towards the jewel seed, which zips instantly across the room to rest just before her. "Number fifteen," she murmurs thoughtfully as she studies the floating seed.
Reaching for her device, Precia absorbs the jewel seed into her collection, then turns her regard back towards Fate. "Well," she says quietly, "it seems you have learned from Mother's lesson," she says quietly. "It is heartening to see that you may actually care for me, after all. I was beginning to worry," she expresses softly.
"But this is by far your best work, Fate," Precia intones. "Not only have you retrieved another seed for me, but you have done so quickly, and with innovation. I do feel it important to caution you, however. Dark energy can be difficult to control. You are strong enough. But do not let your guard down, or it will consume you, as it did that foolish boy you work with. More than once, as I hear. I hear he has lost a Familiar. What an idiot."
Precia grimaces at something, then reaches up to touch her chest. The fit passes swiftly, then she asks, "What will your next step be?"
Praise from her mother? Fate's eyes widen, and she smiles ever so slightly. It's not as good as seeing a smile, but she only has six out of twenty one Jewel Seeds. There's still time for improvement.
So Precia is concerned about the use of Dark Energy, too? Huh. Maybe Runealy had a point... on the other hand, she's saying 'be careful' and not 'don't do it'. It does make her stronger, and Fate hasn't had too many drawbacks. Aside from some personality changes that Arf is cautioning her about and keeping an eye on.
Then Ayana is mentioned, and Fate's smile falls flat again. "That familiar actually helped me. She's worried about her former master, but it's clear that she won't be coming back." Fate doesn't really want to trashtalk Takashi while he isn't here, but from what was being said it was his fault. She keeps her opinion to herself. "Either way, it's not my business. I think I was the only one there who got what she wanted."
Her next step...? Fate considers. "Until I find a way to predict when Jewel Seeds will drop out of subspace, or find a way to force them out of subspace, I'll have to keep patrolling and locate them the moment they appear."
After a pause, she says, "I could experiment along those lines, but if I mess up I'll just invite more attention."
"Helped you?" Precia asks of the familiar's interference. "Interesting. I wonder how his Familiar survived separation from his linker core. It should have reverted to a beast." But she doesn't dig into it further. Probably some other mage stole it.
"Well, use whatever tools you must," Precia reminds Fate. "But always with thought and intent. Know that you can wield a tool before you pick it up. And when you do pick it up, do not hesitate, Fate. Never, ever hesitate."
She grimaces again, and the little rat slips off of Precia's neck and onto the desk. There, it melts back into a girl, sitting on the edge of the desk. "You need your--"
"Ertiga," Precia scolds with the name alone. "Fetch it. And silence your tongue, rat."
Ertiga bows her head to Precia, then dashes past Fate and down the stairs.
There is a soft wheezing noise as Precia draws a breath, then she raises her head to regard Fate thoughtfully once more. "I will give you a suggestion," she notes quietly. "Since you have neither the wit nor the power to force them out of the mess that TSAB has made of subspace, don't bother. Instead, work on developing better sensors. Create a network powered by your own energy which will notify you when a seed appears anywhere within the city. It is entirely possible--likely even--that some of them have activated beyond your search range, and then gone dormant once again. Do not miss the opportunities, my daughter."
On the topic of Ayana still being alive, Fate's response is: "I didn't ask." She leaves out the part where she thought she was better off not knowing. As long as she works with UMBRA, that will remain true. She can't be responsible for not telling something if she doesn't know it to begin with, and she can't accidentally give it away either. Ignorance is bliss.
Fate considers Precia's motherly advice as she hears it, staying silent for most of the time, and only sparing a casual glance towards Ertiga as the rat runs by. The comment about her lack of wit is barely even responded to, but if Ertiga looks back she might see the silent gnashing of Arf's teeth.
"A network. If I do that, I can keep an eye out even as I handle other matters." Fate considers. She'd be able to cover more ground if she just had more dark energy, but fortunately there's always a donor for that. Willing or otherwise. "I should be able to manage that. Thank you, mother. That should make things easier for me."
After a moment, Fate responds to Precia's earlier words. "... and I won't hesitate. If I need it, I'll use it. I'll get your Jewel Seeds no matter what I have to do, and if some of them have fallen out of subspace and remain dormant, there are still ways to locate them. Forced activation, maybe."
Fate's tone is cold, but Arf is looking away from the door and out a window, trying very hard not to give away her concern.
"I'm sure you will, Fate," says Precia ominously. "But you must hurry," she emphasizes. "My research cannot be delayed eternally. Each Jewel Seed you provide brings me one step closer towards a breakthrough; one step closer towards finally finishing this project. And then, my daughter and I will return home to where we belong."
She almost looks wistful as she speaks these words, looking now past Fate rather than at her. Then she wheezes again, and turns her gaze back on Fate.
"Go, go, why are you still here?" she asks. "You have a network to put together, and it will take a good deal of energy to do so. Do not return to me until you have the next seed."
Ertiga is on her way back up with a kettle in one hand, a dish full of various herbs in the other, and a teacup dangling precariously from thet tip of her tail.
"Ertiga," Precia says, and the rat-girl stops cold, jostling everything as she looks up at her mistress. "Provide Fate with a means to contact you. You will be her primary point of contact until she has found the next seed."
"Yes mistress," Ertiga replies, before setting everything down on Precia's desk. She reaches behind herself to pluck the cup from her tail last of all, then sets it beside the other things. As she prepares Precia's tea, Ertiga rattles off two cell phone numbers and a private letter box for Bardiche to record, then turns to regard Fate. "You got all that?" she asks, as if she thinks Fate might have missed it.
Precia, it seems, is already back to reading from her pad. Fate's dismissal, it would seem, is without preamble. And Ertiga doesn't look inclined to walk her back to the door.
Fate bows respectfully to her mother, and is about to leave without another word. If there was any need for a 'goodbye', Fate doesn't feel it. She'd rather just get back to work, since mother is so desperate.
The only thing that stops her is when Precia commands Ertiga to be a 'point of contact' for her. Fate eyes the creature, and then for a moment flashes her a toothy grin. No one can see how uncomfortable Arf feels right now.
"Bardiche has it recorded. That should be good enough for you." Fate really feels no need to write it down when she has an Intelligent Device that keeps track of that sort of thing.
Fate turns to walk away. Arf follows without a word. Ertiga's presence isn't missed. Arf doesn't start warning Fate about how scary her thoughts are until they've already left the building. Fate does listen to this, because 'magically induced behavioral changes' is a problem they've come across before, but it hasn't reached the point where Fate feels the need to cut back.
Mother was right. She does have a network to set up, and she has a few other tasks to complete after.