1303/Info Share - Eclipse Zone Scan Two

Info Share - Eclipse Zone Scan Two
Date of Scene:	18 March 2024
Location:	Hikawa Shrine
Synopsis:	Bow and Ami go to Hikawa Shrine to bring Rei up to speed on the Eclipse Zone and get an unexpected guest in Minako. The Reinako is discovered and a plan incubated for how to handle the EZ's generators.
Cast of Characters:	Rei Hino, Ami Mizuno, Bow, Minako Aino

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Rei Hino has posed:
    The sun was shining on the Hikawa shrine, which means it was a good day for visitors to the shrine, seeking fortune and favors -- like good grades, love, and not being attacked by crows for LITTERING IN THE SHRINE!

    Phobos and Demos were currently taking care of the last issue (favor definitely not granted), swooping down on a tourist as they flee the shrine, to the amusement of the miko who was currently broom-in-hand and watching as the crows defend their home from being needlessly violated by candy bar wrappers, used bubblegum, and paper from straws.

    Honestly, some people.

    "Sometimes," Rei muses, "I suppose thing sjust get taken care of."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The sun was out but it was chillier earlier on. Which is precisely why Ami has a loose cardigan on, with the front left open so that she can enjoy a bit of that fresh Spring air against her skin when it gets a bit too warm from having the long sleeves. The rest is just a casual blue dress and fashionable ankle boots. Definitely 'not at school' attire for the moment. Her cellphone is held in hand as she approaches Rei, stealing glances every now and then at the pair of crows doing their best to chase off the noisy tourists.

"I don't envy them," she remarks with a little laugh. "Those poor birds must be kept busy watching over things." Turning her attention more to Rei she adds, "I hope you don't mind that I invited Bow over. We have some things to discuss about the Eclipse Zones, and I thought it would be easier to help get you caught up as well."

Bow has posed:
Making a return visit to the shrine, Bow is dressed in his normal clothing, carrying a small packet with him. Normal clothing being a bright yellow shirt that ends just above his navel, with a colorful design in blue that reads 'Archery is Full of Drawbacks'.

A pair of low slung jeans, sneakers and a light jacket complete the look.

As the tourist runs past the pair, there's a smile offered for Rei. "Hi Rei!" he greets, and then watches the crows return from where they came. "Also, had a few questions about this..." a sprawl of his hands, really just to encompass the world at large.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako hadn't really been the most religious of people, not perhaps as others had been and certainly less than Rei herself. Yet, for -some- reason it had become one of her favorite places, and not just because it served as another refuge for the Senshi from school and Youma alike. The senshi of love and beauty arrived, a bag slung over her shoulder and a smile on her lips, she made her way up the many stairs to the shrine, catching sight of Ami and Rei and lifting a hand for an excited wave.

Rei Hino has posed:
    For some reason it had become one of Minako's favorite places, it's a mystery.

    Rei gives a raised hand of greeting to Ami as she makes her way up first, and gives a not-exactly-hiding-it-smile to the smart one. "They do watch over things, and they don't get in trouble for yelling at the disrespectful tourists. I envy them!" Rei states mildly, and she looks to Bow. The Very Confident, Cheery, Chipper... pretty much still in 'Boy Usagi' catagory. "Good afternoon Bow." she gives a small nod to him, and then raises her eyebrows "If it's about 'the world' in general, are highschool students really the best people to ask?" she inquires -- and then she catches sight of Minako.

    Her ears color just a little bit, and she raises to give a wave to Minako as well.

    "I probably should be cought up -- exams at school have taken a toll on me."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno has to consider that a moment. It really did make sense, and earns a smile. "Oh good point. Yes, leave it up to them then. Not getting yelled at is really a good thing when you work with the public I imagine." Not that she herself had ever had to work with the public, but who liked getting yelled at? No one. Well maybe some perverts or something.

Looking over her shoulder at the greeting from Bow she stares a moment with her eyes slowly widening and a pink flush creeping over her at the bared midriff on a *guy*. "O-oh hello, Bow! You look....Chilly. Do you need a blanket?" She hadn't even bothered to translate the pun on his shirt yet.

Minako's arrival earns a wave as well with a grin. "Ah, good I can catch us all up then. Bow this is our other friend, Minako-chan." Looking to Rei she asks, "Is it okay for us to go inside to talk? Or is it okay out here? I don't want anyone to get in trouble for overhearing."

Bow has posed:
Bare midriffs x Bow - name a better combonation. "It feels great, actually!" Sure, there's a little chill in the air, but it's a pleasent spring day and on Etheria, his midriff be bare there too! He lifts the tech pad he has with him, like an Ipad, but the entire middle is just screen all the way through, with a little curved antenna.

But there are new introductions to be made, and Ami is taking care of that as the teen Etherian turns his attention to the blonde. "Hi!" he greets warmly and offers a hand. "Luke Armbruster, but friends call me Bow, on account of my thing for archery!" He's getting better with the cover story!

Turning back to Rei, he chuckles. "I mean, that's a fair point, but where I'm from, we had the best information as teens." A wink to the dark-haired girl, before he nods at the idea of going inside. "Oh. We got Adora back to the school, and she's recovering." He had promised to get Ami up to date on that.

Minako Aino has posed:
Steps take her closer, closer still, till Minako was happily bouncing up beside her fellow senshi and another new face. Or at least, a new one in the guise of Minako Aino. "Hey there," she offers, a greeting given with a raise of her hand as introductions are made before blinking at the outright comment on Adora...only to exhale a breath as she realised the 'cover' for recovering could be anything much more mundane.

"Rei-chan," she greets, a little gesture to her bag given. "I brought some snacks, thought you might be hungry? Unless you wanted to go out somewhere...but there's other people and..."

Okay, she was still getting used to this girlfriend thing.

Rei Hino has posed:
    And So is Rei, whose ears turn a little bit more red as she takes a breath, and she looks up and around. There weren't any visitors in the area yet, but she does motion everone with a curl of her hand.

    "We'll go into the haiden to be safe -- just... don't spill anything on the tatami, or I'll have to clean up extra tonight." she states with a little smile, and a sly look over to Minako as she guides everyone in.

    "What *kind* of snacks?" she questions, withdrawing a set of old keys from her sleeve and opening up the worship hall.

    It's a smallish room for the smallish shrine, tatami mats laid out nicely, plain walls embellished with dark wood, and it's quiet.

    "Everyone in."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Do not stare at Bow abs. Do not. "Oh! Yes the shirt! It's a clever pun," Ami points out while turning quickly to stare at Rei and Minako. Who were also looking suspiciously embarassed. This earns a quick little sideways tip of her head as she regards her friends with a slow arch of an eybrow. Hm.

There's no time to dwell on it really, but it at least distracts her from her own mild embarassment over ABS.

Following along she lets out a little sigh of relief. "Oh that's good to hear! I'm sorry I couldn't help much with that. I've been so busy lately that Haruka-san and Zoisite both had to badger me to bed." That. That sounds kind of wrong but given the people she was with, highly unlikely to be anything other than innocent. Because Ami don't play that way. Right? Right.

A quickly flashed smile is offered to Rei as she steps inside. "Thank you. I've got some information to update about the Eclipse Zones. Usagi-chan and I went investigating."

Bow has posed:
"Oh, nice! I hope that the information I provided helped?" Bow offers helpfully, the teenager glancing at Rei and Minako as they interact, and honestly, he has absolutely no clue what he's interrupting. The whole dating world is new to him and he obviously doesn't know how to read the room.

With Rei ushering everyone into a smaller room, he pauses, "Do I need to remove shoes, wash hands and not walk in the center here as well?" he asks, and will follow whatever steps offered to him when they're offered as he moves to join the others.

Minako Aino has posed:
Bow and Ami's own exchange makes it pretty clear that Bow must know a little more about the truth behind the magic as it were, though she does at least shift a little to let the others talk, as much to read her in as anything else. Her last encounter with the crystal had been...an interesting one.

What sort of snack? Well, she gestures to the bag. "They're a collection of these cookies or 'biscuits' that have a jam or lemon center I used to have when I was over in England. I thought you might want to try some...if it's not rude to have them with tea in the shrine."

Following in, there's a bump of her hand against Rei's, perhaps a little tangle of pinkie fingers, but she'll make to settle in the room properly.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Shoes off, yes. This *is* a place of worship, but you're also in someone's home." Rei explains to Bow, removing her own shoes before treadding into the room, curling her pinkie briefly with Minako before explaining "He's... something like we are." in a quizical manner.

    She leads the way into the room then, on stocking-clad feet, and pulls some kneeling cushions out from a wooden box, hidden in the wall.

    They're brightly colored and very plainly sized for small children.

    "Tea sounds like a great idea. If you don't mind waiting a few moments, I can grab some from the main house as Minako divides the treats?" she offers.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno steps to the side immediately ducking forward to reach for her shoes to slip them off even as Bow asks the question. A grin is flashed toward him as she falls into 'mentor' mode to explain the custom. "Most houses in Japan have tatami mats, or wood flooring. It's considered impolite to wear shoes inside past the threshold. It brings in dirt and other things. Usually there's house shoes to use while inside which are cleaner because you never wear them outside. Socks work too," she adds as she pads in her own over to take a spot to sit on the matts comfortably tucking her feet beneath her.

"Yes, Bow is a magical archer. The world he's from has magic as well, I'm told?" It's a half question because while she'd heard some of it, not all, so she looks toward him questioningly.

"... I'd like to try some of the cookies too if there's enough," she adds a bit hesitantly toward Minako.

Bow has posed:
There's a slow nod of his head as Bow takes off his shoes, setting them to the sides, and hey, he's wearing socks! With little hearts all over them in a pattern. Once settled in, he chuckles. "It's alot to get used to. I'm not from around here..." he starts to say to Minako.

Just for Rei and Ami to help it out of the bag. Well. An easy assumption for him to make is that apparently, Minako must be in on it too. "I'm from a worth called Etheria." he explains, since he should elaborate. "It's a world where magic has overcome technology, or rather, the First Ones left remnants of their technology behind." He holds up the tech pad as an example. "On that world, there are seven runestones, and a Princess has powers based on each one and it provides for the needs of the world." There. That's the basics. Except. "Besides myself, Adora, Catra, and Double Trouble are here as well."

"I'll pass on the snacks, I had a pretty big lunch. Portions on this world are so large!"

Minako Aino has posed:
Down she'll sit as they part for Rei to claim tea, Minako fishing the two packs of treats out of her bag and setting them down on the table while Bow launches into his story. "I remember 'Catra', she was the cat girl that Adora was trying to convince about a different life...but it seemed like she had different memories..." Well, there was proof that Minako was aware of the life, though since Bow hadn't been there he probably wouldn't -immediately- know he was looking at Sailor V.

Refusing snacks? "Suit yourself."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "So there *are* differences between you and Usagi. Usagi would never refuse snacks." Rei chides as she makes her way back with four tea cups and a round, plain teapot, on a tray with short, stubby legs on it.

    This she sits down, and turning the teacups over one by one, she begins to pour tea. For Bow first, seeing as he's further from home, then for Ami and Minako, and then herself as she settles down.

    "Having a friend show up with different memories, different lives, must be very stressful." she states, and she does pick up a cookie and nibbles on it.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno smiles with a bit of warm amusement at Rei's quip. "They are both very cheerful, but Bow's also rather intelligent. He got me some excellent information on the technology used in the towers," she explains while also nodding toward the boy in question. "Which has helped."

As the mention of different memories and different lives comes up, she can only pause. "It's hard enough having memories of two lives. If everyone had different memories..." She looks between Rei and Minako with a little shiver. "That would be so difficult."

One of the cookies is reached for to nibble on lightly with a soft, "Thank you," to her hostess and Minako both. "Usagi-chan was able to distract Sunbreaker while I got close enough to scan the tower we looked at. While it appears the technology it was built on is similar to that of your world, Bow, the encryption isn't." HERE is where the bluenette smiles brightly with obvious delight at the fact. "It's just regular Earth encryption. While it's not exactly easy, it *is* something the Mercury Computer can decrypt without much issue. We should be able to take them down easily once we work out how to hit them all at once." A pause. "At least I assume that would be the best strategy."

Bow has posed:
As Minako brings up Catra and Adora, Bow lets out a sigh. Soft, simple, but relays sooo much. "Talk of Adora and Catra would take me the rest of the afternoon, and just. At this point? I'm ready to let that set to the side for a bit." Even though his jaw is healed, he rubs at it a bit where Adora slugged him.

While he refused the snack? The tea, totally different. And then a slow blink at Rei as he realizes she's been comparing him to Usagi. "Ah, yeah, I think there are." he says with a laugh, "Usagi is a ball of perpetual energy I'm not really sure I can keep up with, and as amazing as Adora was... is." Present tense. She's here. Alive. He's still wrapping his head on that.

But then Ami is speaking up, and the two are comparing notes, this is where the second descerinble difference between Usagi and Bow may make it's appearance. "So if it's using your encryption, that rules out perhaps that Entrapta was here - and either the First Ones tech that I'm sensing might be similar to something else. But there's no telling how many worlds the First Ones visited." he hypothozies, but turns himself back to task instead of following that rabbit hole. "So if we work in concert, between your Mercury Computer and my Tech Pad... oh, taking them down wasn't exactly what I had in mind." he grins slightly.

"You know, how they are using these pillars and towers to pull energy and send it somewhere?" he asks Ami, a sly little smile playing on his lips. "...what if we use it to either pull from their enegery... or... or..." A press of his fingers together, because he really likes the idea, but. "...use it to send something that their systems will find a lot less agreeable?"

Minako Aino has posed:
"Probably why he has abs and she doesn't really?" Minako adds teasingly, but she's busily dividing up snacks until she settles on her knees and takes a cup for herself and listens in while they talk. The briefings are offered, the infomation shared before she lazily nudges against Rei in a little moment of affection before offering the a cookie her way deliberatly.

Maybe she was simply full of nervous energy, unsure what exactly Bow and Ami were discussing just yet.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Usagi doesn't have abs because she sleeps through gym probably." Rei comments quietly, though there's no teeth behind the statement, and she lifts her tea with both sets of fingertips against her cup. She looks over to Mianko as she nudges against the darker-haired senshi, and then one hand draws away and loosely drapes about Minako's back.

    "What are you considering sending up? A computer virus?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno stares at Bow with slowly widening eyes at his suggestion. "That's *brilliant*!" She blurts out with an equally broad grin. When Rei asks about the computer virus, she gives a nod. "It could be a virus, though that would take a bit of time, but it's possible. If I'm getting your drift right, though?"

Here she grins again quite cheerily. "If it's energy it wants, it's energy we can send. How about a nice Moon Healing Escalation? All it would take is tweaking the configuration to allow purifying energy and then we can just throw that right at them!"

Bow has posed:
As Bow was talking, he notices Minako's look of confusion. "Are you aware of the Eclipse Zones that Sunbreaker has been setting up?" he asks of the blonde, ready to provide to her an explanation of what they were, in case she needs it.

But when Ami turns the suggestion and offers her own twist on it, well, Bow's expression is mirroring Ami's and this is what happens when you put two nerds together that believe in sneaky tactics, "That's a great idea! I saw how big of a Moon Escalation she could make when we were in the library during that crystal episode with the monkey!" And the girl he accidentally sat on, but we're not getting into that here.

"So, that brings me to my first question, also. I know I was told that Adora was affected with dark energy. And that's what the Eclipse Zones are creating, but... what is it, exactly?" A sigh. "The only thing I have to compare was when we were on Beast Island on Etheria and there were these signals that just... continously pounding you with negative thoughts until you give into them and give up."

Minako Aino has posed:
"I am, but...knowing exactly what they do or how they work is still beyond me," Minako offers, looking back towards Ami. "Ami-chan is usually our best bet at working out how things tick. Beyond that? We've just been focused on saving people when we can, where we can." She comes to sip from her teacup again, considering. "But it sounds like you two have a good idea of how they work, or at least what to do about them..."

Even as she speaks, the subtle lean comes into the contact of that hand at her back.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno takes a little nibble of the cookie having finished at least half of it. The tea is taken up then as she considers her friends, and then Bow. "The easiest explanation is that there's an alternate dimension out there that instead of positive energy, it uses negative energy. The Dusk Zone is what some of our enemies call it. Things there are... different. Altered, and dangerous, from what we're used to. They survive and thrive by stealing energy, and apparently energy from our world is particularly potent."

Bow has posed:
Ami starts her explanation of what the different zones are, Bow looks confused for a moment, but soon he's catching the hang of it. There will be other questions of course, but he doesn't ask the all-important questions of - 'If they're Sailors, where's their boat?'.

That will have to wait for another time. For now, it's tea and conversation and plans to take down the Eclipse Zones, once and for all!