498/Off-duty chats

Off-duty chats
Date of Scene:	24 September 2023
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Chrono gets to meet with Kyubey and the two have a long, fruitful discussion. Chrono also gets to experience the reason for comfort animals. This is very helpful, all things considered.
Cast of Characters:	Chrono Harlaown, 6

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Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was... relaxing. Laying on top of Setsuna's roof, his staff out but resting besides him. Playing some nice, soothing music. He was... off duty. Taking some time to relax. And nobody could find him (well, okay, Setsuna knew because he told her. And he was on her roof.), but for the moment? He was just... chill. Relaxed. Resting. Recouping. His sensors were up in case there was anything hostile coming towards him, but nothing deep examining this time.

He was just going to relax and allow his mind to calm down and avoid considering the horrific ramifications of all that he had learned. And allow himself to stop worrying about everyone who was still lost. He'd find them. Somehow.

Maybe. That was later Chrono's problem. Current Chrono's problem was to just recoup and figure out how all three of these girls could live in the ritziest place he'd ever seen, surrounded by the most top of the line devices... and yet couldn't seem to fully understand how to cook rice. It was like being around his mother. Oddly comforting, if a tad annoying.

Mochi (6) has posed:
There's a little crest in the rooftop area where the other side of it is hidden from Chrono's (and, at the moment, anybody else's) view. It's that ridge that a small, white creature with long ears encircled by golden rings, fluffy fur, a long soft tail, and red eyes slinks out like a cat.

    "I've heard you've been asking questions about Puella Magi." he says. His voice is almost... chipper, polite. It's also in chrono's head, not his ears. "I thought that since most of them are busy with school, or boys, or hunting witches - it might be better if you could just ask your questions to the source."

    He hops up onto a little bit of the roof crest and sits like a cat or fox. His fluffy tail flicks back and forth behind him. "My name is Kyubey. I'm the one that Puella Magi make contracts with to become Magical Girls and defend people from Witches."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown glanced over to the... okay. What... dog... cat? Thing? It was cute, at least. His mother would have loved it. He started to try and run a search online to see if he could find out what it was. Kind of a--

Oh, it talked. "Magic, nice," Chrono said. That made it easier, at least. It didn't need an explanation then. Well, mostly. More importantly, it seemed pretty polite. "As a matter of fact, I do. If you don't mind answering." He would have, once, asked more questions about what this was. But you know what? Over analyzing Chrono was on vacation. This could be just rolling with it Chrono.

"The big question, I guess, is pertaining to Amy. She said they die if they run out of magic. However, if I'm correct once someone hits the right age, they just... stop... having magic. Regardless. What happens to them then? Do they become human again, or does it stop being fatal?" Well... his first concern had to be for the cute girl going through this. It wouldn't be him otherwise.

"Also, are you a dog or a cat?" He hoped the former. "Or something else?"

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kyubey's facial expression didn't change as it sat there listening. Or when it talked into Chrono's mind. Or really, any other reason. Chrono's question is... difficult. "The loss of magic has never been a problem for any Puella Magi in the past, and the phenomena you humans call the Fade has never caused the death of any Puella Magi that I'm aware of." He says. A calculated, true, but misleading response. "And... I am neither a dog, nor a cat, nor a fox or any other creature. This is a form I take because it is the one that makes humans comfortable while allowing me to have all of the faculties needed to perform my functions. I am Kyubey."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. Well, if Amy would be okay... and... that brought him to his next question. "The linker core is external to Amy's body. Is that... her linker core? Does the process of making her a puella magi remove it and allow it the ability to access magic? Or is their 'soul gem' entirely artificial, given to allow them to fight these creatures?" he asked before glancing towards the little small creature.

He then reached out and gently began to scritch its ears. Heh. He couldn't help envying the girls a little bit. They came with their own comfort animal. Maybe he should get a familiar so he could have one, that sounded nice.

"From what I saw, well... are the puella magi needed to be the ones to fight these 'witches'? Or can I help them without consequence?" he asked.

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kyubey leans into the pets. He's very, very soft. Designed, almost, for that exact role - to comfort magical girls (and therefore also boys) in stressful situations. While that was necessary, at least. "It is... akin to what you call a Linker Core, as much as I am familiar with that classification. It is where she draws her magic from. Where all Puella Magi convert the power of their emotion into magical strength. In order for me to awaken their full karmic potential and unlock the power to grant their wish, it is necessary for me to create the Soul Gem." he explains.

    "The world has always needed some Puella Magi to fight witches - creatures borne from the depths of humanity's despair. Grief Seeds do not last forever in the hands of another kind of magical girl, and until a grief seed has been used to cleanse a Soul Gem, I am unable to dispose of it in a permanent manner." he explains. "Left alone, a Grief Seed will re-form into its witch. Only in the posession of a Puella Magi can this process be stopped - as far as I have seen. And then the final disposal requires a Puella Magi. So in order to keep the world from being overrun with witches, there will need to be Puella Magi." Kyubey continues, at the same time hopping down into Chrono's lap and curling up there. Warm. Leaning into scratches. Doing the 'animal things' that help humans feel at ease.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown probably needed a warm, fuzzy creature to pet more than he realized. And hey, this one was soft and nice, apparently magical. So why not? "I see. So the magic is different from the magic of the greater dimensional regions. Are you aware of the TSAB?" he asked. "Where I am from, primarily?" That brought to mind another one of his thoughts. He knew there was a second type of 'magic' in this world. 'Emotion' could be it. Was it the magic that was making the others so strong? Were both energies tied to such things in some way?

"These... wishes. I heard of them. Apparently Amy's was to help others. Can you grant these wishes to anyone? And does it always turn someone into a girl when it's done?" he asked.

He mentally made a note of that. If he found any grief seeds, give them to Amy. Possibly Hannah, if Amy wasn't... give them to Amy. While avoiding Hannah. Yes. That was the correct path.

"So, witches are created by this... dark energy then, I take it? That... would explain a lot..." he muttered. "This world is so insane. Witches born from humanity's despair... is this a natural occurance on this world, or is there something, or someone, possibly creating them?" Perhaps another side effect of the lost logia, though he didn't mention that yet.

Mochi (6) has posed:
Kyubey doesn't shake his head, because he's currently being pet. "I'm aware it exists but I am not aware of the details." Kyubey replies. "All I know is the way magic is harnessed on this side of the dimensional walls. Here, without emotion, you have no magic. It's why we recruit Puella Magi from girls this age - they are capable of higher highs of emotion at this point than latter in thier lives, making them more suited to purpose." The purpose of being a witch, more than magical girl.

    "I am not a genie, if that is what you are asking. I can only grant wishes to those who have magical potential that is currently unrealized - those who have not gained access to it by some other means. Once someone has taken another path they can no longer turn their potential into a wish."

    "You speak of Amy Faust's wish? She did not become a girl, or turn into a girl. As part of her deeply held desires, the process of granting her wish simply made her outer body match her inner truth." he explains.

    "Witches are not creations of Dark Energy in the way that the humanlike enemies and youma of magical girls use negative emotions to fight. Witches are altogether different. They are the opposite of a wish. They are curses made manifest. Ill will. Despair for the world. They do not coexist with Dark Energy - those who use it fear and battle witches just as much as those who use positive emotions. Witches are the enemies of all."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod on his own. Scritch scritch scritch. Good Kyubey. Pet away the negative feelings. "I see. So emotion truly is tied into magic here. I'm surprised I can... no... I guess there's a difference between struggling to properly show it and not having it," Chrono mumbled to himself. He did struggle with it a lot. But you'd need to be blind to think he was emotionless.

"So you basically take the magical potential of those who won't have it from another source and then give them the option, using a 'wish' as the catalyst? Fascinating. A shame you're on this world, then again... magic like this wouldn't work outside these dimensional walls, so it would likely be an entirely different system for you."

He blinked a few times when Kyubey explained it... and... still... didn't get it. But he sighed. "Okay then, I guess that's... good? She seems happy enough."

The knowledge of witches, however, made him frown. "So there's a third force in this battle. I suppose it's good, though. They hardly seem the type to ally with some of the darker forces out there. But, there is something else that Amy mentioned. 'Prevails against entrophy'. What did she mean about that? Also..."

Deep, deep breath. Time for him to take the question he didn't want to ask... "What are the limits of a wish? Could one wish to bring back the dead? Undo the past? Alter reality? Even..." And then sighed. "Even wish themselves out of this dimension and into TSAB space?" No, he didn't intend to. But he was curious what kind of limits such things could have.

Mochi (6) has posed:
    "Lots of Puella Magi hide their emotion from others, but having emotion isn't the same thing." Kyubey agrees. "And yes, that's how it works as I understand it. The whole system isn't fully clear to me, either." he admits. "But for the good of all I must play my part in it."

    "In theory the things a wish could accomplish are only limited by the karmic potential of the girl making the wish." Kyubey says. "I don't know what the practical limit of karmic potential is, so I couldn't tell you the limitations of Wishes. The average girl could not revive another human, but they might be able to alter the past so that they did not die. I have seen one girl who I fully believe could be a god if she wished it - but she has assigned her karmic potential to another form of magic now." He only sounds the tiniest bit grumpy about this.

    "My understanding is that on your side of the dimensional walls, magic is seen as a science, a mathematical work. Here, we use the term magic to define things that operate outside of science. If there were rules and everything was known, we would call it science." he explains. "A few forms of magic - like wishes - even defeat the universal scientific concept of Entropy. When a Puella Magi wishes, more energy is introduced into the universe via her emotional magic than is spent. Thus, they prevail over entropy - and each Wish keeps the universe going a little longer."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. "Yeah. I'm still learning and unlearning so many, many things on a daily basis. Sometimes two plus two makes four. Sometimes here it makes three, or eight, or green," he said flatly. One issue with so many things being scientific where he was from. When the science broke down...

The wishes were... unique. But unknown. Undoing history. Undoing loss. Changing time and... It was such a strange concept and his mind rebelled against the idea. Yet, here it was. He had no reason to disbelieve the creature...

"I see. Creating more energy than they use. Perhaps another effect of the Lost Logia. Or maybe... hmmm..." Lost in thought for a moment. Before...

"I believe I only have two more questions for you, Kyubey-san. The crew of the Arthra. They're... old. In their middle twenties and up, by Earth's years. So I don't think they'd be valid due to the fade anyway. But... if not for the fade, would they be valid puella magi to you, or does their usage of devices in the past remove them?"

"As for the second question... is there a way to grant a puella magi magic from the environment, like other mages usually draw? Or are the grief seeds the only way?" Pause. "Actually, third question. Why call them grief seeds?"

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kyubey looks up at Chrono and tilts his head. "You ask a lot of questions." he states. Not annoyed sounding, or frustrated sounding. Just a statement. "I suppose that's why I'm here though." he adds. "Many things on this planet, many things humans do, have not made sense to my species as well. Overcoming entropy should be impossible, and yet we have evidence that happens with every wish. Whenever I contract with a new Puella Magi, the impossible happens again. On this planet, what seemed like the firmest rules of science become suggestions that might be discarded. My advice is to accept that fact, because it is the truth of the situation we both find ourselves in."

    "At some point, I will request you explain to me what a lost logia is. But for now it seems like you have absorbed a lot of information and it may take you time to process it all, so there's no pressing need. As far as your crew - it does seem that connecting to a Device and either making an agreement with it or using it for magic expends that Potential. Devices have not been on this world for long for me to know if that can be changed." he admits. "But when it comes to travellers from another dimension and magic, I must assume anything is possible, even if improbable."

    "The nature of the contract a Puella Magi makes with me - the same contract that prevails over entropy - locks them to grief seeds and fighting for them. I am unaware of any way to add more than a paltry benefit to a Soul Gem from any outside source of energy. But, anything is possible. As for the name - I did not choose it. It is my understanding that the name was chosen long ago, in another language - and may not have been as dire sounding then as it is now. Grief Seed is the accepted translation, the accepted name among Puella Magi." he adds.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown couldn't help but laugh at that, nodding in agreement. "I do. It comes from being an Enforcer. Part of the duty that comes with being trusted to take on the responsibilities I have is to properly investigate things where ever I go. The impossible becoming a reality is... something I am learning to accept as well. Not easily. But I am accepting it. The magic of this world is... special. And learning how it works, or at least understanding enough to be beneficial, is one of my current goals. Hopefully it's one I can achieve."

"Thank you for that, though. Lost Logia are... a difficult thing to explain, I'll try and come up with a more satisfactory explanation in the future. It doesn't help that, in general, it's just a term we use to explain things that make what should be impossible possible. The amount of it that seems beneficial on this world is... surprising in its own right."

He gave the little critter a few more scritches before sighing. He'd need to think on... all of this. But it didn't seem too bad. Certainly no worse than many things he'd learned. He then held out his hand and a holographic display showed, revealing... the eight missing members of the Arthra. "If... you see any of these people, please contact me or Amy if you can. They're the ones I've been searching for to try and save. And thank you for answering my questions, Kyubey-san. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to aid you in return." All in all, not a bad talk. Far better than he would have hoped.

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kyubey looks up at him. "So you use Lost Logia the way we use magic, since you have relegated magic to a science." he states. It's not even a question. "Perhaps that connection will help us both understand."

    Kyubey stares at the image for a long while, fixing it in his mind. Not that he feels helpful towards the boy, but he would be expected to do this so he might as well get the use out of it. Favors could be useful in the coming months. "Due to restrictions placed on me there is only so much help I can give but I will keep them in mind." Kyubey says.

    He hops off Chrono's lap softly. "I'm sure we will be seeing more of each other in any case." He reaches out his padded front paws and stretches out slowly. "I must attend to some business of my own. But if you have questions for the Puella Magi, please just ask them if you can meet with me. They are under a great deal of stress at all times, and things are actually harder now than usual." he requests. And then he steps behind the same ridge he appeared from and is gone.