1349/Dusk Triumvirate

Dusk Triumvirate
Date of Scene:	26 March 2024
Location:	Dusk Boundary
Synopsis:	Takashi, Norie, and Keaka explore the Dusk Boundary.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Keaka Hoshiko, Norie Okana

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Takashi Agera has posed:
    The Dusk Zone - the everchanging shadowy funhouse mirror reflection of the 'real' world. Or was it right to call it that? The Dusk Zone was no less real, even if sometimes it felt like a surreal nightmare. The threats here certainly could injure or kill you. Just because there were multiple moons and everything seemed to be in odd colors and sometimes the fruit grew teeth and tried to bight back, didn't make it real.

    But it wasn't the standard world, not for most people. Only those with exceptional circumstances found the place pleasant, normal. Three of those people had gathered here today on a bit of an expedition, making their way through a dark purple forest. Takashi Agera - born with dark energy. Norie Oakana - Cursed with dark energy. And Clarthas Anode, connected or maybe more by their own actions.

    Takashi looked over at Klarthas, curious how this still relatively new addition to Obsidian was taking it. For Takashi, this place felt as much home as the other realm - it was comfortable, even if logically, he knew it was weird. And for Norie, it was interesting, a place to explore and understand - as much as it could be.

    "So, I'm out here looking for something... mmm. I'll know it when I see it. Not the Zarcillos and not the Capricorn. Something at least slightly closer to cute. I have... an idea." Takashi Agera explained, without really explaining anything, as they made their way through the strange forests where trees grew from trees and sometimes tall trees grew up until their leaves were litterally dull grey clouds.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Abstract Space is Wrong.

    There aren's supposed to be things there, are there?

    And yet, it feels right that there are, and also, somehow off. A sameyness to it, an oppressive -- albeit not aimed at them -- darkness that looms over all, reducing ...something... to a Single Biome World, of sorts.

    Appearance... the ghost doesn't really want to pick, today. Why does it have to matter?

    For today, they're using the Keaka shape, but have transformed all the same, into the fancier coat -- fitted in such a way that curves are straightened out, tight with ornamental belts on the upper arms -- and with their long hair in a braid, and still with the same glasses they don't really need on their face. That is... that will do, for today.

    Exploring strange worlds with rules that haven't been figured out yet. Ooh, these were always the most interesting missions for the TSAB. And yet this one is far stranger. And more interesting.

    "Not the what and not the what?" Keaka echoes. "Does that mean you're looking for a creature? Cute, huh?"

    We are ready to engage Beast Tandem." comes the tinny voice of the gauntlet on their left hand. "Right, yes. Everything here is sort of... Helping us, err... aligned with us against the world, basically?" "I'm not sure that's it exactly, but Beast Tandem and other Link Drives seem compatible with at least some things here. Perhaps you should capture something like a bird to use as a scout?"

    "That's a thought..." Keaka holds a curled finger to their chin, looking around. "...You'd think a forest would be full of small animals." They move closer to one of the trees. "What does the local fauna eat? Are there dusk berries, or something?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is with the group in the dark dusk forests and she mutters. "El Bosque Oscuro." she says softly, gravely. "The Dark Forest." she says as she glides a few inches off the ground, following along as she rather do than walk right now on the ground.

She says. "Right. Conventionally cute. Not. Whatever I think is cute." she says with a pout as she stops in front of a smaller tree. She starts floating upwards a little, to peek up into the tree, but stop short of actually sliding into the branches.

Look sometimes the tree themselves are the creatures.

She looks back down to Keaka and says. "Duskfruits!" she says.

"Have you had one yet?" she asks curiously, head tilting.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi hears Keaka's device, but mostly he just files it in some deep space in his mind. Probably just a different style of magic, a different sort of understanding. Probably normal in Clarthas' world. Overall, not important. They did seem to understand the Dusk Zone, and they weren't melting away in it, so they were at least another source of firepower and maybe information, after some... translation.

    "I wouldn't say aligned against it. The Dusk Zone obviously mirrors the... bright world, so I don't think - in the event some crazy person did destroy everything - it would have anything to draw its own mirror from. It would probably cease to exist... or at least, become formless nothingness. I wouldn't count on it to be a fallout shelter from that sort of thing, for sure."

    He looks around, and then to Norie. "I mean if we find things you think are cute, we can still guess them. The Zarcillos all but fit the bill, just the spine-tail would be hard to sell. I think they're adorable. But we're looking for something a little less directly suspicious. Like... Mascot-cute would be the ideal." he says to her.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Conventionally cute. "I'll keep an eye out." replies Keaka. "Yours or mine?" Sarida quips, in a suddenly more playful tone. Keaka glances down at it. "I'll keep my perception-concept peeled. What does cuteness... sense like?" The pattern of lines in the gauntlet's crystal briefly forms into an angle, like the one-eyed equivalent of a ^_^ expression. "I don't know! But we'll know it when we sense it, right?" Keaka just inclines their head slightly.

    Mention of using it as a fallout shelter should the world fall to Darkness... well, that is kind of the plan, right? Concerning. Something gnaws at the edge of their mind, but then the subject changes to local edible fauna.

    They look to Norie, then back to Sarida. "Is it safe to eat things out here?" they shake their head and add, "Right, that was a stupid question, nevermind." at the same time as the more informative tone of voice from Sarida begins an explanation involving phrases like "concept of nourishment".

    They turn to Norie. "I haven't, no. This place feels... I'm getting used to being outside the world, but it's frustrating that I can never return to the same spot twice, everything keeps moving around, and I can't sense anything around where I'll drop out. So I haven't spent as much time exploring as I otherwise would. This place is nice though. Usually when I come here from the city it's all a maze of cityscape or an endless building like one of those irritating dreams where you can't find where you're supposed to go."

    After a moment, they add, "...and, perhaps, it is better to explore together than alone. No one really knows what's out here, right?"

    They shake their head, and lighten their tone a little. "Sorry. Bit of work voice there. Had to sound all proffessional when I was with the Bureau. Exploring put me in mind of that." They stop walking and stretch their arms over their head, and bend over, shaking their head again, and stand up straight again. "Right! No, I haven't had a duskfruit. How do they taste? Do they taste... like anything? Have you been here a lot? What kinds of places and things have you seen?" They turn from Norie to look into the distance of the dusk forest. "Gods, we should be cataloguing all this, shouldn't we? Is there a stable ecology, or is everything just ever-changing and one-off? You're Obsidian's expert on this place and we've never gotten to talk until now."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana looks back into the tree and narrows her eyes as she reaches into it and fiddles around, she removes a duskfruit, eyes it carefully, puts it to her ear. Listens to it, then throws it to Keaka, "Just don't drink the water. Even I wake up in strange places after drinking that." she says softly.

She picks similar fruits for Takashi and herself and floats downwards and starts floating along as she spins around the next tree.

"You talk a lot." she says. "This place is odd. Don't worry, you'll learn to traverse it. If it isn't useful for a fallout shelter it's useful as a form of travel." she says gently. "Have you mastered the ..." pause. "Well, 'Duskport'. Yet?" she asks Keaka. "Appearing in one place over there. And using this place to appear in another place over there?" she asks. Pause.

"Did that make sense?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi nods. "Norie's my second pair of eyes and ears when it comes to duskstuff. She's free to spend more time researching it, and I make sure she has whatever she needs and nobody tries to stake her for being, effectively, a vampire, so we all win. I find those kinds of arrangements are a lot more stable, when everyone gains." he notes.

    Takashi winces. "Yeah, the water isn't good. I'm not sure if that's the way it always is or if it's like that because... well, it's not important. In the unlikely event we see it, you'll know." he notes. He takes the fruit from Norie.

    "I've presumed the trees and flora pull energy from sunlight, but I think most of the animals - and a fair bit of the trees - are carnivorous. Usually they leave me alone, Norie too I think. But if they pick up that you're afraid - or if they think you're foreign - you'll have weird stuff coming from all over the zone to snack on you. I don't recommend - fighting them off gets tiring." he notes. "Better to just coexist with it."

    He nods. "Some of our previous... employees... had worked out a way to fix certain points in the Dusk Zone, temporarily, to use it... but I'm not sure how long it lasts or how reliable it is."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Something glowing with sweetness and food-ness is coming towards them and they catch it, one-handed, on the first try. Lucky! They stare into space, then hold the fruit in front of their face and look at it, and then... listen to it, like Norie did. "Hmm. Be interesting to see the water, all the same."

    You talk a lot. "Yup." Keaka smiles. They open their mouth to take a bite, but then are asked about duskporting.

    "Mastered? I don't know. It's easy to do, but coming out anywhere other than 'near Obsidian Tower' doesn't seem to be reliable or predictable at all. Which is strange when Sarida should be able to keep me from getting lost here. Keep me in place, or move me back towards reality. And I should be able to sense what's near us, if I dropped back out right now, but..." They shake their head.

    "I told you!" Sarida speaks up, a bit defensively. "It's not my fault! It's like there's a hurricane raging around this place all the time, and we get blown off course! I can't hold you still when this 'Dusk Zone' is constantly shifting and warping in relation to the world. It's like anchoring you to a point in space and then space itself is warped by a black hole. It's not supposed to be this way..."

    "I know." Keaka nods. "That's another mystery about this strange world to solve."

    Takashi has some theories about the ecology, and their place in it. Sarida intones, "This is a far and sunless land. Sorry, I don't know why I said that. You know how our programming is." Keaka nods. "Anyway," Sarida continues, "You're with us now. You belong here, as long as you have me."

    "I know." Keaka nods, slightly, and stares distantly at their gauntlet.

    "That said, I dunno what the deal is with this space hurricane or whatever, so it's possible some of the things here might not be aligned with us either. But I can always pull you back to reality-- Actually, that would be interesting to know!" The lines forming the shape of an 'eye' in the gem shift slightly, the little dot in the middle moving to 'look' at Norie. "Has anything ever been able to stop you from 'Duskporting' back to the world?"

    While Sarida talks, Keaka finally' takes a bite of duskfruit.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana says. "I like the creatures here. They are cute. And dangerous. Don't be afraid and you won't have... too many issues. Some things are just jerks here." she says with monotone as she sits in a tree and looks around as she closes her eyes and listens. "I like exploring here. And taking notes. Taka-senpai gets all my notes and readings, I study the various youma on Earth too." she says.

"My study on Witches took a turn. And yes. A Witch's labyrinth seems to sometimes block it. Sometimes not. It depends In guess on the nature of the Labyrinth." she says.

"You're trying to use 'rules'. Just try doing it. Screw the rules. They suck and we're made to be broken." she says, trying to puff up a bit. She's learning, Takashi! See!

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi nods, a bit ruefully, to Lacrima. "She's got the right of it. The more sense you try to make of magic, the less happy you'll be. Yeah, you'd think magic is supposed to have rules, too - you know all of that 'any sufficent science is magic' - and if it did, I'd agree. But this has very little sense. It differs person to person, even when they should use the same magic. I mean look at you and me and then the Chrono boy. All of us have Devices, but the math behind them is all different here." He explains.

    "Testarossa-san said it was more rigid and rules-like back home, but here it's different." he says, shrugging. "It really is magic. I'm still trying to figure out if there are any rules beyond personal rules to manage things. But it's sort of like the Dusk Zone..." he says, gesturing back in the direction of Obsidian and Clover Tower. "Sometimes you see guideposts, but everything else just changes around them."

    "If you've got the magic bullet that makes it make sense, tell me. In plain Japanese, if you can. Otherwise, eventually you just have to roll with it. I'm happy when I can say that doing A leads to B happening consistently."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Keaka looks surprised as the fruit fizzes in their mouth. Norie's rant about rules stirs something familiar in them. Like there was a speech they have ready on the subject, but nothing comes to mind.

    Sarida replies, "Pretty sure I'm made of rules, lady! Like a computer. It's the only way the power to break the rules could be put in the hands of a User."

    All of us have Devices. "It's not a Device." It really is magic. Keaka looks at the crystal eye. "...A little bit. A bridge between magic and reality. Magic in the sense you mean it, I mean."

    "S'why I first started studying this power. I wanted to learn the rules behind everything." They sigh. "I guess it doesn't matter, now. I'd like to have more fun with things, from now on."

    "Obviously, I don't have the magic bullet. Thought I was getting close, but... You heard 'em." They wave their gauntleted hand to indicate their surroundings. "According to that, it isn't supposed to be like this. So, there's something unaccounted for."

    "Can we make soda out of these? Or do they not last if brought back to reality?" They take another bite. A bit of juice drips down their chin. "Mmm!"

    "To be clear," Sarida notes, more calmly, "I'm only 'made of rules' on the outside. Like my User said: A bridge between the conceptual and the real."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana has opinions, okay. "Being made of rules must suck. I'm a human soul in a dark energy entity. None of that makes sense but here I am." she says. A pause. "I guess there are rules. Like. Yelling your attack makes it more powerful. And Purification sucks for dark energy creatures." she says lowly. "I've been hit with too many Moon Escalations." she says lowly.

She considers a moment as she regards Keaka. "Duskporting for me. For example. Happens when I think about it. I just think where I wanna be or. A locale or. Whatever and I'm there. It's strange and weird." she says.

"Uhm." she considers. "Actually I haven't considered making a soda with it."

"But I desperately want a pie. I don't bake. Onee-chan bakes. But. We'll need to get a test kitchen. I'm not having her accidentally ruin everything because the pie turned into a youma because it doesn't like being cooked at 450 degrees for 45 minutes." she says gravely.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi nods. "I got into it trying to learn the rules. There's part of me that still thinks there must be rules - even if those rules are individual, that your power must have rules, Norie's, mine - even if they're not the same or even conceptual. Like, Norie has to drain energy and so do I, but the level of it's very different. On the other hand, Norie can subsist just fine entirely off energy - and donuts - but I have to actually eat vitamins and minerals like a boring normal person."

    He looks to Norie. "Probably because you're more in tune with the Dusk Zone than most of the rest of us. We can basically get into the Dusk Zone from anywhere, but going from the Zone out to the real world is like... I'm lucky if I can target the right *ward* of Tokyo. Unless I'm trying to hit Obsidian Tower or Clover Tower. Those, pinpoint, because of the energy that seeps out from them." he says.

    And then he considers a Dark Energy pie. "You'd probably have to help her, I don't think your Onee-chan can handle it any better than I can handle all of that weird stuff from music magic land."

    "They last if you bring them back to the Bright World, yeah. I wouldn't call this place... not reality, though. You just really ate food. Your body will really derive nourishment from it. If you drink the water here, you'll get really actually sick. All of that stuff."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Keaka listens, and bites the duskfruit, and chews, as rules are talked about. Nodding slightly at Takashi's words.

    The 'eye' in Sarida's crystal looks at Norie as she sympathizes with having a strange body. It seems to consider her words for a long moment. Eventually: "I am soul-shaped. I could just as well say to you, that having a body with limbs and digestion and organs and whatnot 'must suck.' But we both need bodies of one kind or another, to interact with the world. I need a body of rules, to achieve my purpose of aiding my User."

    "...It's funny, how that word is used here. My User calls me a Pure, because I am not... corrupted, shackled, truncated, by the sort of forces referred to as 'pure' on this world."

    "Huh. Sho you cah--" Keaka finishes chewing, swallows. "So you can control where you end up when you duskport? Is it because you're-- your body is a dark energy creature? Oh right, sorry: Right, 'no rules.'"

    Soda, pie... "Or a cider. One world I went to, they had this really great cider. But I don't actually know much of anything about alchohol, or how it's made. Never liked most of it. That cider, though..."

    They hold Sarida's fingers to their chin. "I wonder if you could find a kitchen out here. In one of the buildings in the more... urban parts of the Dusk Zone."

    You ate dusk food! But it was real food! "I guess I worded that badly. Or lost some nuance getting the words out of my head..." They look at the mostly-eaten duskfruit. "It is really food. It's food in all ways that matters, but it also isn't from the world, right?"

    "...A few years ago, I would have wanted to take it back and put it in a chemical analyzer. And a DNA sequencer. And I would look at whatever I'd found and spout a whole bunch of theory about what this means about how everything works. All while thinking I was one step closer to unlocking the secret behind it all and fixing everything. Ha!" They take another bite.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana says. "Yes! We'll raid the cafeteria kitchen. I'll help her cut them and handle them. Don't worry. And then, we'll see if a pie or a cake or a baked good could be made." she says in monotone.

She then looks down a little. "Utau Hoshina. From Easter. Might be talking to you soon, Takashi-senpai. Maybe. She wants me under their label. As an idol." she says, still monotone. but it's that weird 'hopeful' monotone. "But I told her that I'd only consider it if I didn't fall out from under your purview. She caught me...Dancing on the rooftop- and thinks I'm good." she says.

"But. That's later." she says as she looks back to Keaka. "It's from the duskzone. It's edible. I haven't studied the duskfruit. Beyond that it is tasty. I feel like it's something someone would had studied before. Maybe we could grow them in the 'bright world'." she says. "But I bet they grow stunted if at all." she says. "The water."

"I drank some as a test. I blacked out. I woke up miles away in an alley in a trashcan. I was in the dusk zone at first. I think I went native and probably energy drained some folks because I did feel pretty good."

"Yeah I'm fully dark energy. In form." she says. "Like. weird. twisty. But I only have the three types. Norie. La Crima and the lack of any disguise which is. Like. Youma looking."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi thinks on it for a moment. "Nah, you find a kitchen and the oven is half microwave and mostly youma, or the lamp grows teeth and tries to eat you. I prefer the natural parts of the Dusk Zone to the ones touched by human habitation on the bright side." he says. "Animals don't think as much and I think that's why the trees at least don't usually grow sideways and morph into an M.C. Escher painting the way cities seem to often."

    Takashi turns to regard Norie. "I mean, as long as it is something you want to do, and that it doesn't take too much time away from your Dusk Zone exploration. I think..." he says, looking up to the strange sky "... it will be very good for our group to have policial help from the other groups at this rate. Given what happened to Sunbreaker. Beryl certainly isn't Tomoe." he notes. Then he looks back at her. "But only if you want to. If they're just trying to steal you for themselves they can just talk to the DG Girls."

    "I bet they'd come out all funky in the bright world. Whatever they feed on here, it's not there. Or it's boring. They just end up being an orange or something. Meh." he notes. "But I don't think anyone's tried to grow one back there? Like, they're pretty common here. I'm not gonna try to nurture a plant when I can pop over on my way back to my office and grab one off a tree."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    A kitchen where the lamp tries to eat you. Delightful. "I wonder why that is." Takashi posits a theory. "Maybe this is too much thinking in rules, but, are you suggesting that the thoughts of people influence the inhabitants of the Dusk Zone? ...Fascinating. My theory of everything that was taking shape did suspect that the truth behind the rules of the multiverse is shaped more like thoughts and ideas than like laws of physics."

    Norie might be an idol? "Oh, congratulations!" Keaka smiles.

    Growing duskfruit in the bright world? "Would still be interesting, just to see what happens. If you can find the same place here, might be interesting to try planting 'bright world' plants and see what they grow into." They pop the last bite of fruit in their mouth, leap up into the air, flying up to the tree, straight to a couple of duskfruit they pluck and tuck in their coat pockets and then land again.

    A body made of dark energy? "Huh. Neat."

    The water did things. "I just want to see it. I probably won't drink it."

    Three types. The lack of any disguise. There's... something about that though...

    For a brief moment, any attempt to look at Keaka's eyes misses, and if this is noticed and one focuses on looking, it's like peering through windows to a night sky filled with falling stars.

    And, especially in a place so suffused by Darkness, it gets a lot easier, why, it comes naturally, to assume your two comrades here are up to something. They must be. They must be malicious, they can't be good--

    And then it passes, and their eyes are normal again. Well, as normal as they ever are.

    They blink and look at Takashi. "Sorry, what happened to Sunbreaker?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana eyes light up, almost, if they could, when Sunbreaker is brought up. She almost curls her lips upwards. They try to but nothing happens. Straight face. Monotone. "She upset Director Beryl, so ended up in a crystal. Frozen." she says. "I don't know what she did. But she probably deserved it." she says as she crosses her arms and floats forward a moment, back turned to Keaka.

"That bitch deserves all the dumb shit happening to her right now." she says flailing her hands upwards before closing them into fists.

"I hope a bunch of sparkledorks bring her to an end. Too much aggro."

Like she's one to talk.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi sighs. "Look, I'm just glad it wasn't me in there for a few days. Sunbreaker said she was aware the whole time. She was pretty shook up. Honestly, I was shook up from hearing it second hand, a little." he says. "Our boss is onto the 'expecting results' part of action. Which is... partly why we're here. I have an idea." he says.

    And then he shakes his head. "If you brought a plant here from the brightside, I'm sure the same thing would happen as when you bring a person here. They fade out and/or are replaced by a monster version of themselves. I think unless it's dead - like whatever organic parts are in our clothes and such - or resistant or empathic with Dark Energy, this Dimension just eats it eventually. Even some of our comrades can't stay in here forever." he notes.

    "Start hearing and seeing things and feeling themselves degrade. It's not something I've experienced, just what I've heard." He notes as they move through the forest.

    "But anyways, I'm thinking if we find something cute-ish, Dusk Zone creatures handle being engineered by Dark Energy much better than say, a common bird. They don't monster out... probably because they are already dusk-ish. And I'm thinking we could get value out of that." he notes.

    A duskfruit drops off a tree and thuds to the ground, rolling near a bush, where a long-eared fuzzy creature waits to try and pluck it without being noticed by the three loud humans.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Frozen in crystal. "What?!" Keaka stands straight and clenches their fists.

    "That kind of bullshit. Of presuming you have the right to judge and punish because of authority -- is part of why I left the Bureau, and their enemies."

    They point at Norie. "Say that you do it because you want to, because it is how you choose to use your power. Say they needed to be stopped, and you used whatever methods you had to. But no one deserves to suffer."

    A little voice inside them says that maybe everyone who mistreated Martin should suffer a little before the world ends. Or at least, it wouldn't be bad if they did.

    If Queen Beryl really did that, maybe she deserves it, too... Everyone like that... in power... Always ends up that way, everywhere. Another reason the world needs to end.

    "Why do you hate her so much, anyway? The Eclipse Zones are a great success!" They turn to Takeshi. "Which is why if Beryl is really the 'expecting results' type..."

    Their brow furrows in thought. Well. Time to begin figuring out how to fight back. In secret. They're happy to share info, but perhaps some things should remain secret from their allies.

    They take a breath. "So you're thinking that we could more easily modify these creatures. Why 'cute'--" they start to ask, and then their head suddenly turns to look right at the fuzzy creature. "Ugh, are you two able to see it? It's there but it's in a bush. Try to get it from the other side so if it runs, it runs towards me. Or I'll chase it towards you. Sarida--"

    The gauntlet chimes. "Powering Link Drives. Beast Tandem ready."

    And they will circle around and chase towards the others if asked, or wait as they suggested to try and catch it if it runs from the others.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana looks over her shoulder and gives Keaka such a look like she sucked on a lemon. "She called me a youma. She made fun of my monotone. She deserves to suffer." she says bluntly. "Hinoiri Kirara deserves every bit of her karma!"

She's about to say something more when "Duskbunny there's a duskbunny do you see it!?' she suddenly asks, throwing herself to the ground and wiggling towards it. She called it a Duskbunny Takashi. Someone needs to learn better.

As Keaka throws up, Norie turns into pure shadow and chases after it. "I'll get it!" she says as she THUDS into the bush and just covers it like a dome, the bush.

She's gonna catch this thing and it's gonna be the last thing she does.

That thing is cuuuuute. <3

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi blinks as his two compatriots prove why they're the dusk fauna explorers, compared to him. He didn't even notice the little thing, and then Clarthas rushes out before he fully is aware of the creature's presence. And then Norie just... becomes a dome of energy.

    By the time Axion's noted the thing's signature, his groupmates have it well under control. "Well um. Good job." He says, shrugging. He's got the Duskfruit in his hand and pushes it into the Noriedome for the creature.

    It is kind of like a rabbit, but it's also very puffy in the sense of its fur. Like a poodle rabbit or something. Except when it bites into it - then it has at least two of not three rows of absolutely razor sharp teeth. Which is totally unncessary on a herbivore, Takashi notes.

    He looks at it, a little shocked, through the dome. "Well. Cute outside, yes. Probably doesn't need multiple rows of razor teeth though. That might... terrify the hell out of people." He sounds slightly put out by it too.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    It's okay Takashi, Keaka has a bunch of unfair advantages in a Dusk Zone-adjacent space! Although, perhaps that's why they are a natural fit for a Dusk Zone explorer.

    Norie Domes it, which is a neat trick, but Keaka rushes over, expecting it to flee through the dome. It doesn't, but just for good measure, they decide to make sure it won't run away.

    If they can, they reach through the dome with Sarida, and grip it. The gauntlet is some protection against claws and bites, and they only need a moment... but Keaka's forgotten something.

    "Uhh, blue, I guess." Keaka dictates, unprompted. Sarida chimes, "What do you want to call it? I have to fill in this 'Name' prompt or it won't work." Keaka just looks at the dome, "Um, do you want to name it?"

    Once a name is given, energy arcs between gauntlet and beast, and a collar of blue light materializes around its neck. Its resource-providing/processing, utility magic abilities, and problem-solving tools and capabilities, if extant, are boosted. And also this minor dusk beast is under Keaka's command like it's an RTS unit or something. This is an inefficient use of Sarida's power, but they expect it's only temporary.

    "There." they say, plainly. "I control it, now. I'll release it when we've gotten it back to a cage in the Bright World."

    They smile a bit as they reminisce, "You know. Multiple rows of teeth aside, I had a pet like this years an' years ago. There was this infestation in the capital of Mid-Childa. I was there for, I forget, regular exams or something? And the story I heard later was, one of the Bureau's librarians was experimenting with summon magic, and summoned a few of something like this, but it did what small fuzzy creatures do, and suddenly there were a whole lot of them, and one followed me back to where I was staying and I kept her."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    "...To be clear, I don't, like, puppet its every move? it's more like, go here, attack this, that sort of thing. An' I could scout with it, if I were keeping it. But the video is really crappy, for some reason." Keaka explains. Sarida responds defensively again, "Hey, I didn't program all this! You get what you get, the video transmission is just like that."

Norie Okana has posed:
"I'm gonna name it George!" says Norie.

When everything is under control, she forms back into her normal Norie-ish shape and is holding the duskbunny. She looks!..... like she has resting face because she can't smile but she's holding the thing and has that elated monotone again.

"I win." she says.
R"Because Iii have a duskbunny!" she says.

"It's a dusknbunny. I don't wanna hear it. I'll give it a proper name later!" she says.