142/We Three Kings

We Three Kings
Date of Scene:	23 July 2023
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Board Room
Synopsis:	What if we villains just all work together for once. And we were school mates.
Cast of Characters:	Zoisite, Mamoru Chiba, Takashi Agera, Pyrite, Hotaru Tomoe, Nephrite, Jadeite
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

---

Zoisite has posed:
    Board meetings. It doesn't matter what company they happen in, or where the business is located. Usually they are composed of the same sort of experiences. Sitting around, listening to people talk, looking at presentations, sometimes arguing or politicking at each other. What most of them don't have is quite this many monsters wearing human faces in attendance. Zoisite may have scheduled the meeting, but he's not in charge of it. Even someone as high up as him has superiors. The in-fighting between the three under Hematite is surprisingly subdued most of the time, given that their 'factions' within Beryl Holdings (and the Dark Kingdom) are fierce rivals. But sabotaging each other or looking good in the eyes of management is always present in some capacity.

    Mainly for show, but also to keep things fresh and exciting. That's why, on the large table, way at the far end of it, Zoisite sits with a plate of food and some napkins. There is also some where Hematite would usually sit. There is none anywhere else. Just a stack of boxes of Italian food enough for several people, sitting there slowly getting cold.

    He isn't bothering with the 'Yoshi' identity today. No one here doesn't know who each other actually is. There is a leather satchel against Zoi's chair that looks to be packed full of documents for today's discussion.

    None of which will be audible outside of this room, not even if one has their ear to the doors.

    He's in a pretty good mood, all things considered. Now let's just hope that Hematite doesn't bring that nasty little carnivorous shadow of his--

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite comes in, this time not late and without Darkbucks, which is-- unusual. He's also in the uniform with the cape instead of the zaibatsu three-piece suit, which is definitely unusual for board meetings, and he's got this look on his face, framed by his untamed hair, that speaks of 'I got my expression under control by the time I got here but it's probably just my expression.'

The plate of food in front of his usual spot appeases that expression somewhat, and he gives Zoisite a wry and faintly affectionate look--

--but then he flips his cape back before putting a hand on the back of his chair. "Hi. I hope you don't mind too much I brought Pyrite; she did well in the field and I thought she might have some interesting information to add to the meeting."

RIP.

He's still earnest about that, at least.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon is here, too - why not as Takashi Agera when everyone knows each other? Because it's weird being the one gangly nerd looking kid out of henshin when everybody else is ready to throw a tractor-trailer around. Also the last time he was in an Obsidian Board Room, he would have really rather been in henshin to cushion the contact with a certain boardroom table (not this one).

    Why is he here at a meeting for Beryl Holdings when that's not remotely his divison of Obsidian? On paper, because Doctor Tomoe is on his 'inter-divison cooperation' kick still, at least for this week. Next week he'll probably be back to hoarding everything. Most Divisons in Obsidian seemed to go through that sort of back and forth depending on who they thought was doing well. And well, it's not like Mimette didn't notice that Taka/Riv gets along well with Hematite/Darien. And Firefly is here because he hasn't really let her go too far from him since Dusk Jumping with her the day before. Monitoring and protection.

    Riventon has also come prepared, or maybe just is always prepared. He notices the plates only at the two places, gives exactly zero damns, and pulls a wrapped candy bar from somewhere within his cavernous lab jacket pockets and passes it to Firefly, before producing a Duskfruit from the same jacket and leaning back in his chair, biting into it and letting the sound of the fizzing fruit fill the room. He doesn't need Zoi's food, he'll take care of himself and his partner.

    Hematite comes in and gets a nod of acknowledgement - as does Pyrite, but Pyrite gets a little bit of a smile on his face too, because he KNOWS how the other members of Darien's group feels about her... meeting already less boring now.

Pyrite has posed:
    Stepping out of the shadows of Hematite's cape is that 'nasty little carnivorous shadow'. Only she is wearing a tailored military uniform, reminiscent of that worn by the Shitennou. It's different, because she's Not A Shitennou Yet, but she seems pleased with it. Always hard to tell with her, thanks to that Mona Lisa smile. But she isn't literally draining the life out of the room, and sorts of pirouettes and curtsies to show off. That's more energy and humanity out of her than she has demonstrated up to this point. As her long black hair falls back down, she raises a grey-gloved hand and brushes it back from her red eyes with a flourish that would make time-travelling Puella Magi proud.
    "I am Pyrite. This is my uniform." she says in a pleased tone. Oh, that's also an improvement. She used to speak so brokenly, and never actually referred to herself directly. 'I', 'me', 'us', 'we', etc. were either left out or rarely used. She peeks over the edge of the table for anyone she recognizes and gives a little wave to them if she sees any, but otherwise seems content to just wait there for further instruction, or for something to catch her eye enough to make her act on her own.
    The food on the table is definitely not one of the things she cares about. She had a large dinner last night.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly had only been to... actually, more of these meetings than she likely should have. But always as Hotaru. And only because she was Tomoe's kid, and nobody was going to tell him 'No, you cannot bring your sickly daughter to this meeting to make sure she is okay while we discuss these matters'. Well. Nobody who still had a job. Possibly their life.

But this was the first time as FIREFLY. And she was... nervous/excited. Keep calm. Keep quiet. Keep your face a mask. Don't show emotion. Don't--

Oh, there was food! Aaaaand she only kept her face a mask for like. Three seconds. She looked confused for a minute before letting out an understanding 'ohhhhh'. It was buffet style! Neat. And Zoisite was so nice, getting food for his friend like that. Right. She would follow in his footsteps.

"Thank you," she told Riventon when he gave her the candy bar. Now she had dessert for after! Also... he seemed hungry. Already eating fruit?

She then went to the stack and... "Thank you for the food," she said so genuine and polite to Zoisite. Completely unaware of the game she was missing. And grabbed TWO plates and napkins. Following his example, she grabbed TWO plates.... putting a few small servings on them...

Before walking to Riventon. And holding one out to him. He was obviously very hungry, so she made sure to grab him a plate, too. So he didn't need to snack. Yes, this small, polite child with a very oversized glaive on her back was his assistant. "She seems nice," she whispered to Riventon, motioning to Pyrite. "Should I introduce myself?" Trying to NOT draw attention.

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite is also ignoring the standard business uniform. He arrives in designer luxury clothes, like he's some high-flying traveler just stopping into the office briefly before heading off on vacation. That image changes mid-stride, as he releases his Glamour, allowing his true image and Shitennou uniform to appear while he's still in the process of grabbing a seat across from Zoisite. He didn't bother with bringing a briefcase or anything. His material for the discussions is already programmed into the big screen TV. He's efficient like that.

    The brown-haired man pauses briefly when he sees... The little girl waving at him. He smiles magnanimously and waves back casually, and wonders what in the Abyss that Hematite is playing at bringing her here. Does he really intend to make her a real member of the 'team'? Nephrite has some food for thought on what the end game is, so looks at Zoisite with his smile still on his face, even if his blue eyes grow stormier when he does so.

    'We need to talk.' is the unspoken message.

    Riventon receives a familiar acknowledgment in the form of a look and a nod of the head. Nephrite makes no move to stop, dissuade, or warn Firefly. Zoisite set up this Hunger Game and he can deal with the fall-out.

    "Does anyone mind terribly if I go first?" he asks before everyone is even here, in his natural slightly-raspy voice he uses when he's not trying to sound like a total hottie. Very much Nephrite, and not Maxwell Stanton the talent scout, or Masato Sanjouin asking out the math teacher. (Fun lady, by the way, you should meet her.)

    "It takes a few minutes to start up, so I can begin while everyone is getting situated." he goes on to explain. More efficient than waiting for everyone to be here and THEN queuing everything up.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite is, surprisingly enough, the last to arrive. He bursts through the doors in as foul a mood as one ever did see. He also stops just inside. The double doors start to close behind him but then freeze in place as the blonde man raises a hand. For a moment, seeing that Hematite brought his pet horror, Jadeite considers just turning around and leaving, and then having a chat with the leader of the Shitennou in private later. In private with just three of them versus Hematite so they can Explain Some Things to him.

    But he lowers his hand and carefully circles around the table, exchanging the briefest of nods and glances with everyone he passes, before seating himself directly to the right of Zoisite. The doors finish closing about half-way to his seat now that he's not stopping them with his abilities any more. He is also wearing his Shitennou uniform. If anyone saw who wasn't supposed to, he'd already have their face, name, and employee ID in the back of his head, and a memory erasure for them before the end of the day.

    "How good to see everyone." he says only half as acidly as he would like to. Firefly gets a long Look, but Jadeite is trying very hard not to turn to Hematite with a mouth half open and brow furrowed and just slowly shake his head back and forth in disbelief at bringing That Thing here, now, in front of others. What will the Riventons think!?

    He does not, at any point, apologize for being late.

    He was busy. Deal with it.

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite's mood becomes progressively more sour with each new person who enters, but not for all of the same reasons. Obviously, he is all peaches and sunshine when Hematite approaches, but when the leader reveals his Wardrobe Wight, his smile decays rapidly towards a scowl. It's a good thing the candy bar handed out was further down the big stupid table, because by the time that Riventon and Firefly have entered and made their trade, Zoisite's frustrated, 'Why is this happening to me' look is enough to curdle milk chocolate. Seriously, an entire candy bar (the good kind, the King-sized ones, not the little cheap-ass candies that scrooges give out) just curling up on the spot like a spider in a fire. It would have been a tragic sight.

    Firefly walking up and Taking food for her and Riventon just adds to Zoisite's stormy emotional state. He turns and gives her just the tightest, meanest little smile he can give. "Oh, but of course. Anything for a guest from Tomoe LifeScience. I hope this meeting will be informative." That's what it was called right? Zoisite didn't bother to check first and probably never will. Furiously, he distributes stromboli to those who have some Tact.

    Yes, Nephrite. We will be having a talk.

    He slides a plate over to Jadeite when the last arrival sits down, having already voiced his apathy towards Nephrite going first before settling in to not acknowledge Jadeite's expression, because it would just make it harder for Zoi to get his own mask back into place.

    He also does not actually address Pyrite. Whatever happened to 'Himeko'? Gods, Hematite is even //naming it// now. When times comes to vaccinate it, Zoisite isn't footing the bill, he can already say that much. "Thank you for comning, everyone. For those I've not met yet, my name is Zoisite." he says as professionally as he can. "There were some others invited to the meeting who haven't arrived... Perhaps they will join us later. Jadeite, what about the...?" he trails off, gesturing vaguely towards outside the room.

    You know.

    That.

    Whatever it is.

    C'mon, there's something, right? Help out here.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Sometimes it's impossible to tell if Hematite's oblivious or not-- sometimes he stops being able to school his features. There's an affectionate look at Pyrite's twirling, and as Hematite takes his seat, he pulls out the one next to him for her.

There's also a wide-eyed look in Firefly's direction as she just. Buffet-styles poor Zoisite's power play.

In general, Hematite's just fine with everyone here; he's never indicated he isn't, and he hasn't tended to play games (unless that's what Pyrite is); he shakes his head at Nephrite. "I've got some things I want to bring up, but they can wait. One of them's something awesome Jadeite did, and one of which is how happy I am you didn't happen to get carbonara, Zoisite."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Unlike Zoisite (and Nephrite, and Jadeite), Riventon has no problems with the appearance of Pyrite. Partially because it unnerves those three. Partially because she's a curiosity she hasn't gotten a chance to study - she's less like the majority of the people in the room and closer to himself and Firefly. But also very different.

    Riventon was amused at Firefly's movements and total lack of regard for the brutality of court politics in a business setting. Surely didn't stop her. He supposes she is his Pyrite, in a way, a little bit of chaos to keep things interesting.

    He does, however, sit the remainder of the Duskfruit on his plate and start eating the food Firefly brought him, after ruffling her hair a bit. Regarding Pyrite, he leans over and whispers to her "You should wait until after the meeting to try and make friends with her. Hematite-san should know where she is most of the time if you have trouble finding her." he offers.

    Riventon guestures to Nephrite to go on ahead when he asks, even though he was absolutely not asking the Shitennou's cross-divisional guest.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly smiled at Zoisite when he gave her such an obviously genuine and gracious acceptance. He really was so kind! Alas, she would not survive in a political environment. Or she would far too well. It was hard to say. Either way, she seemed more than happy to have italian food. She always preferred the meetings that were catered than the ones that weren't.

She didn't answer Nephrite's request... because, of all the people here, she figured her opinion mattered the least. It was why she always made sure to bring her cards to play solitaire if she got too bored. She was to be seen(at best), not heard.

She did, however, give a light cough into her arm. But there were no alerts, so... it was okay.

She then blinked and whispered to Riventon. "Do... you think we should have brought Yochu? Or would she have gotten bored?" she asked, ever so gently.

Then glanced to Hematite. While... she hadn't really... met Hematite before, she had heard that he was important to Riventon. So she did pause for a moment if Hematite glanced towards them and would even give him a smile and an encouraging... thumbs up.

No reason why. He just looked like he needed some encouragement.

Pyrite has posed:
    Pyrite happily sits herself down at the table at Hematite's side. She still looks very much like the child she appears to be when she isn't warping space-time with the density of her emotional state, like a Suffering Singularity or a Torment Nexus or something, with her arms folded politely in front of her (even if her elbows are on the table), just looking around at everything and taking it in. A good meal seems to have inivigorated her and pushed her closer towards being able to pass as not-dead. Maybe feeding her even more will cause further improvements.
    Unfortunately, unless attendees are on the menu, there isn't anything here that she can eat. If she were to eat 'normal' food right now, it'd just sort of... Float around in ectoplasm until it congealed into something glowing green and probably very gross and got spat out somewhere while in private. She was told not to spit in front of others, because it's impolite.
    No, Pyrite doesn't know what 'impolite' means, but it's something to avoid, so she obeys.
    She tilts her head at Firefly, perhaps sensing the attention on her, and is happy to see Nephrite again... Zoisite and Jadeite have been met before, but it was a brief interaction and they mostly talked passed her than to her. Really, this is the happiest she's been able to emulate since before... Something. Something that happened and she still can't recall...
    Oh, look, the wall is making light and sound now! How fun!

Nephrite has posed:
    Yes, Jadeite. He knows. They all know. Hematite is intelligent and cunning and deceptive. He has to have a plan of some kind for his... Sister. Best not to doubt him yet. He'll explain when he's ready. Probably. Right now, Nephrite's attention is on the big screen TV set in the wall that is now on and displaying the Obsidian corporate logo spinny on the screen. Thanks to Nephrite's preparations, it doesn't take long to start his presentation. He pushes his chair back and pushes himself up into a standing position with his hands on the table. Then he moves to the side of the display so he won't be blocking anything.

    He clicks a button on the remote in his hand, and a 3-D rendering of Tokyo appears. "As you are all likely aware, there are many energy sources in this world other than what we may be accustomed to. Even the ones we ARE accustomed to may be absent elsewhere in the world. I've looked in my region, and the largest concentrations of background mana radiation are here in Tokyo." He moves the video forward as he speaks, switching to a global map, with Tokyo a large, pulsing red circle covering Japan. "Here, at Stonehenge, in Britain." Another red pulsing dot, smaller than the one covering Japan appears further to the west. "And another one here, in the Arctic." A rapidly pulsing but even smaller dot shows near the North Pole. Labels pop up next to each of these circles, labeling them.

    1. Juuban, Tokyo, Japan.
    2. Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England.
    3. D-Point, North Pole, Arctic.

    Latitudes and other details are also included. Of course.

    "While there are Obsidian ventures world-wide, the one I wish to speak with you all about today is the one closest to home -- so to speak." The view switches back to Tokyo, specifically Juuban. "The Dusk Zone is many things, but industrialized is not one of them. In coordination with other members of Obsidian, and using my Celestial Map, we have fully traced the electrical grid of Tokyo. With the high background mana that allows us to travel back and forth between the Dusk Zone and Earth, it has become possible to create our own version of such on the other side."

    The map shows a bird's eye view schematic of Tokyo, with all the buildings and such in see-through lines, with Juuban Ward, Mitakihara Ward, etc. highlighted. It then splits into a nearly identical grid on the right side of the screen, but in red instead of blue like the Tokyo grid is. The red grid starts animating to show the expansion in the Dusk Zone.

    "Which brings me to my point." He says. The grid in the Dusk Zone is very similar to the one on Earth but... There's something slightly different. Almost like a kind of symbol or circle or something. "The plan to create a duplicate Tokyo in the Dusk Zone. I call this the 'Midnight Tokyo Project'."

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite aggressively eats his stromboli while sitting through the presentation. He waves off Zoisite's inquiry about That Thing. Whatever it was. The thing he was doing. "Dealt with." he answers curtly. He is already >supremely annoyed< at the budget that Nephrite's plan is going to require and where to get the funding for it. None of them ever think of that, do they? It's all Doom Lasers and Death Bombs and Three-Headed Youma and never a consideration given to where the money for them comes from.

    >Magic isn't money, Nephrite.< You can't just >Magic some Money< no matter how many bank managers you brainwash!

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite keeps his scoff at Jadeite's lack of helpfulness very quiet as he leans back in his chair and folds his arms. He's half looking at the big screen and half at Hematite to see his reaction. And the rest of his senses are focused on everyone else here. Firefly. He'll remember that name. He knows Takashi, of course, and the other Shitennou, obviously, and yes the Spoiled Specter too. But how they react to what they're seeing will tell Zoisite far more than anything they might tell him directly.

    He doesn't really care about budgets. Human money is a ridiculous concept anyway. It's supposedly guaranteed to have worth due to being backed up by gold bullion, but there isn't enough gold bullion in the world to pay out all the currency that humans use. They'll figure it out. "Why do we care about industrializing the Dusk Zone or this duplicate city?" Zoisite interjects to ask, even though nothing has been said yet about if anyone has questions.

    It's relevant.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's nothing aggressive about the way Hematite works on eating his stromboli-- just hungry and pleased that it's there. He glances around the room again before focusing on Nephrite's presentation -- Takashi and Firefly, and Firefly's little thumbs-up, get a fleeting but real smile.

Hematite does lean over a little to whisper something to Pyrite ("you're doing so well!"), and he blinks at Jadeite's 'dealt with' -- he'll have to sell that a little harder in a few minutes.

He watches Nephrite's presentation carefully, stromboli set down on his plate, and his brows are knit a little bit; he shifts in his seat and leans his chin on one hand.

Zoisite asks a very good question, but Hematite's earth-blue eyes are fixed on the triangle of, for lack of better phrasing, ley line intersections. It takes him a moment to drag them back to the actual shadow Tokyo grid. "Ease of portal location mapping, sandboxing, spying? I mean, off the top of my head, but obviously there must be something else--"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Well, now Takashi is interested. Riventon leans forward a bit. He nods at Zoisite. "Yes, this is a project which is at the very least ambitious. But what's the point. Where's the point. Long-term. Why industrialize the Dusk Zone? We're not even at full capacity for what we've got access to right here in this side of Tokyo. Not to mention the fact that a large part of the workforce here is... well let's just say not even everyone in this room can stay active in the Dusk Zone indefinantly without consequences. And you can't exactly replace our workforce with feral locals." The way he asks isn't like he's trying to tear down the idea, though. More like he's asking Nephrite 'so what's your angle'. He's gone from the passive observer to the interested one, though. He's relatively sure the sum total of Nephrite's plan isn't just 'electrify and industrialize the Dusk Zone' - that seems like folly to him, and he doesn't figure this plan exists because it's folly, so there's something he's missing - a goal or a focus.

    "I'm also going to give you the benefit of the doubt in that you've solved at least part of the chaotic and warped relationship between the Dusk Zone and this side of the dimensional wall? Otherwise it doesn't matter what you build where, it won't line up anyways."

    "Secondarily - why not just make further use of the space we can access with the Doors? We're already at a massive advantage given that, unlike every other corporation and company and mom-and-pop store in Tokyo, real estate is at far less of a premium for us - at least for anything that isn't customer facing. Like, the room we're sitting is is not technically on the same plane as say, the Academy." And he leans in, a bit more, studying the projected images. But suffice to say he's at least interested - the mix of interactions within the Dusk Zone, Industrialization, and the feeling that there IS an angle. "I feel like a lot of this can be done without needing to industralize the grid over there. Also who's to say anything we build will hold up over there - or doesn't get stepped on my a youma the size of Godzilla?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly was... already getting bored. Sure, a second tokyo was... cool? But.... it felt weird. Odd. Did they need a bunch more space? Really? Granted, she *hated* the dusk zone. Whenever she went there she felt... sicker. And not just because of the thing inside her. There was also the fact... people had been... She knew what happened if something went wrong there. If you ended up in the dusk zone in the wrong way, at the wrong time.

It wasn't nice. It was horrific. It was terrifying. It was... painful.

And she was SO BORED! She was nibbling on her food, trying to focus on that, but even now she was slightly drifting as they started talking about adult things. Synergizing their paradigms, or whatever... So her eyes were beginning to drift. But she would remain, just a little bit longer! just... just a tiny bit longer. Before she got her deck of cards out.

... She wished she'd brought a book.

Pyrite has posed:
    Pyrite makes a pleased noise, almost like a cat's 'mrrp', in response to Hematite's whispers. That may be tied to how she got such a responsive, emotional body. She >did< get her missing pet back last night after all... Pyrite is less taking in the details of the plan and more... Expanding her world view. She managed to expand it beyond her shrinem, beyond the tower, and beyond the school, to encompass the city between and around all of those places. Now her mind is undergoing another expansion, to include countries, continents, oceans, and even a planet. It's a lot.
    But she can feel her mind unfolding, like a blanket, revealing that it was many-layered all along, and deeper than just the surface, and that even this isn't covering more than a fraction of the whole. The more she comprehends, the more she grows. Someday, she's going to grow so big... Just like her body used to be, before Hematite-senpai cut it all away. She used to resent that a little. The loss of all that accumulated misery and death that had made her strong.
    Now she realized it's better this way. She is starting from the ground up, building herself into a much more compact form, with more controlled power.
    Like the blanket analogy again, only it's being folded closed this time, more and more, to take up less space. So, in a sense, she sort of understands Nephrite's plan. Sort of.
    "Stronger if we make it ourselves. Harder to break. Easier to protect." she suggests. She might be completely wrong, but that's how it seems to her. If they make the city themselves, instead of just using what humans made, it won't be the enemy's territory that they're infiltrating. They will have their own territory, that they know everything about, and can use as they wish without magical girls showing up to stop them.
    That's her limited-perspective take on it anyway.
    "Ours. It will be ours." she says for emphasis.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite raises his fork. "Also, where are you proposing you get the budget for this?" Look, someone had to ask, and it's Jadeite's job, basically.

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite pauses his presentation as people start asking questions and offering their thoughts on it. Firefly doesn't, but that's fine. He just thought she might have some insight since she's from... Tomoe LifeScience, was it? That's what Zoisite said anyway. "These are all reasonable concerns to have, and fair questions to ask. Some of you may have caught on to some of the things this could be used for, but I need to lay some groundwork before I can answer. I am an Astrological Mage. I use the knowledge of the stars to weave my magic, and using fixed points in a pattern is one of the key components. I spoke with Culutral Affairs and Immigration Department to determine if any of this is feasible, but one of the reasons why it is a slow process fraught with issues to bring resources across from the Dusk Zone or vice versa is because the energy schematics and dimensional boundary are so wildly different. The more we reduce those differences, the more alike they will become from an astrological perspective."

    Nephrite clicks the video forward. The two circular grids begin to very slowly move towards the center of the screen, on a course to overlap each other. "As our respected co-workers from Tomoe LifeScience who have joined us here today can attest, there are means and methods of shifting space-time into another dimensional layer or plane temporarily. This can be used to isolate a location from collateral damage, both in the property or personnel sense. It can radically shift a battlefield, and those who are prepared can gain a tactical advantage through its deployment."

    The two circles finally begin to overlap, and continue to converge until they are fully layered, unable to distinguish where one begins and the other ends except for where the lines are blue or red instead of the purple where the two grids match each other. The symbol that this combination of grids produces is that of Gemini, the the third astrological sign of the zodiac. "With Midnight Tokyo in place, we will be able to flip the battlefield in favor of those who use Dark Energy or who have access to something to shield them from its effects -- even if only temporarily." He nods towards Riventon and Firefly. "The home turf advantage will no longer be that of our Enemy, who defend Earth. It will be ours, where we can call reinforcements from youma stationed locally, and where the Enemy will be under constant assault from the very environment they stand in."

    The video clicks forwards to the next part. Simulacrum of sorts. Fake people. Hollow shells in the shape of humans. Also shown, a standardized Astrological Magic spell for scrying through the Veil. "It will make it easier, as well, to identify targets for possession by youma and perform the possession quickly and quietly. A window between worlds can let us spy from concealment without opening it enough for anyone or anything to get through other than a small amount of Dark Energy leakage. And considering that we can close those windows, any of the Enemy who can sense or track us will find nothing but a dissipating blot of darkness, with no trail or suggestion of where it came from."

Nephrite has posed:
    The final image of the presentation is a concept artist's rendition of Midnight Tokyo, and what it might look like. It looks very much like Tokyo at night, but... Somehow just... Wrong. Lines a bit too sharp. City lights a bit too tinged with darkness. Streets a bit too empty of life. "As Pyrite says, it will be OUR city. OUR domain. We can use the Doors to go precisely where we want, because we will already be there at the corresponding point, with an exit ready and allies on standby in case something goes wrong. If they want to come for us, they will have to do so on OUR terms." Nephrite steps in front of the screen, the dark glow of Midnight Tokyo's possible future radiating behind him and casting him into even deeper shadows as he smiles a cold, cruel smile. "No more running into mobs of Enemies by surprise. If they're waiting for us, if someone's telling them where we'll strike, then we'll take away their information, ruin their preparations, and make it easier than ever to draw life force from Tokyo. At some point, once the two have integrated enough...' Nephrite turns his head to look over his shoulder a bit, and a red glow of an ancient Evil that ended an era from long ago flickers in his eyes. "...They might not even be different places anymore."

    Nephrite clicks off the display. Presentation over. He smiles at everyone in turn. "Any further questions?" He is ignoring Jadeite's question about budgets. Deliberately.

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite stows his attitude. This is actually interesting. It isn't as... Stylish and flamboyant as he would like, much too secretive. But maybe he can fix that in his own way by running cover for the operation. Distract and mislead the enemy. Lie to their faces and make them believe those lies in the face of contradictory evidence. It'll be a task and a half, but Zoisite has... Ideas. He looks at Pyrite.

    Maybe even a use for that one.

    Zoisite shakes his head no at Nephrite's question, and then turns his attention on the others at the table, before finally landing on Hematite. An arched eyebrow is his only inquiry. 'Do you have anything to add, boss?'

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite is very interested throughout the presentation; his gaze flickers briefly over to Jadeite, and then -- perhaps surprisingly -- toward Firefly, and only after that to read Zoisite's face.

'Those who defend the earth.'

His expression's unreadable, but he nods. "That's very thoroughly plotted, as I would expect from you, Nephrite. The one caveat is as Riventon said -- not all of us can operate in the Dusk Zone, even in a part we rebrand as ours, for extended periods of time."

A beat. "My limit is a couple of hours before I need to be carried out. Or it was the last time I tested. An hour before I start to experience detrimental effects. So -- if you can keep it as tightly controlled as you expect, if you'd like all of our operatives to be able to exist in the space we'll be creating, please make sure you leave part of Tokyo untouched and I'll get an apartment there."

The end of that was definitely wry, though the rest of it was serious, took it seriously.

Another piece of serious, quick and curious, "What sort of protections does the Academy have against that kind of large-scale incursion? I've been infiltrating the student body, primarily -- Jadeite, you're exceptionally talented in finding those cracks in spacetime, as I've recently seen. How difficult was it to project yourself into a barrier within whatever defenses RHA has natively?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon leans back from his forward-leaned position and thinks. He gets the concept - the idea - the plan. He gets how useful it could be to Obsidian, how beneficial it could be to him. He gets the way it might work, could work. And yet, all of that serves to give him pause. Because Takashi Agera is not, as some in this room might be, a true believer. Sure, he believes that someone in Obsidian should have control of this side of the world - but that someone should be him, in his mind. Not the organization as a whole. It's a great, diabolical plan - perhaps too great. It risks the stability of this world a great deal and while he would be more capable of fighting should the Dusk Zone become 'overlaid' in this way, so would the things he ultimately plans (or tells himself he plans) to fight against. It doesn't widen the gap between him and the entities that threaten this world, in a way that makes him happy. Instead it just makes all of the things that can reach into the Dusk Zone for power more dangerous - himself, everything in this room, and also every entity that wanted to destroy rather than create, to smash rather than science.

    He's glad for the mask of shadows the Riventon outfit has, keeping his face from being readable, keeping the dislike for this plan, the concern, out of his featureless mask of shadows. He does, however, stealthily reach between their chairs and squeeze Firefly's hand. He knows she'll like this even less than he does. Since at least he can operate in the Dusk Zone. He is tempted, partially, to stand up and ask Nephrite if Beryl Holdings plans to rule over a pile of rubble. But that's not the play here. Not the smart move. Now he's thinking quickly, thinking smartly. For a moment he does actually judge if he could potentially silence everyone in this room in a permanent manner, except Hematite and Firefly. But no. Not even with both of them helping - and Hematite, at least, would try to defend his brothers. But that thought alone puts into perspective where his 'excitement' in this plan is best placed.

    Instead of any of those rash moves, though, he finds a calm, slightly interested voice with which to speak and ask the relevant questions. "If we were to work towards making this plan a reality, what would be the path? How long would it take? How long before the massive amount of resources we pour in would begin to see dividends? And not everything in the Dusk Zone is on our side - in fact, much of it is just as much our enemy as the ones we fight now. Do you have a plan to prevent them from crossing over once you overlay the Dusk Zone with this world?" If this plan moves forward, a lot of his other plans will have to cease. The plan Nephrite's outlined is too good, too competent. How terrifically annoying. It's not even anything he can draw a whole lot of benefit and value from, he thinks, as Hematite asks the question, in another way, Riventon asked earlier - what about the members of Obsidian for whom the Dusk Zone is hostile?

    And lastly, he's just not super thrilled about having the peace and tranquility of his quite well enjoyed hideaway disrupted by shoving it into Tokyo or the other way around. Maybe he can get the idea dropped. Failing that, well, sabotage?

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly stared at Nephrite now. As he talked, the more he talked, the things he said... She didn't fully understand them. But she understood ENOUGH. And it was horrible. Her eyes went wide and she began to shake.

A voice inside her said to silence him. To silence all of them. But a slightly louder voice... told her this was a great idea. Everything her father wanted. Everything they needed. Her breathing got faster. Her heart began to pound. She felt panic rising inside her.

She wanted to voice her objections, but... even if she was, technically, a member of Tomoe LifeScience, she wasn't supposed to interfere. To speak up in these meetings. She was more of an intern than anything else. She was only here to watch, to support Riventon. But she DIDN'T LIKE THIS.

But, well, any further questions? Yes, she had one. 'What the HELL was wrong with him?!!'

Defenders of earth? Seriously? The dusk zone was DANGEROUS! Even porting THROUGH it made her feel *wrong*. He wanted people to do... THIS? To have all of her fights be in the dusk zone? She reached out to Riventon about the same time he reached for her... her fingers curling around a tuft of his lab coat. Holding onto it.

"Most things in the dusk zone are terrible..." she muttered softly. A little... angrily. Possibly fearfully. But then... she'd seen enough of it, died to it once. She thought she knew how dangerous it truly was. She didn't, it was even more dangerous than she thought. But oh, it certainly was... dangerous...

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite grunts. "I could synchronize and project temporally, but the spatial component will need more practice. Everything was stuck in place. Trying to move into it would have been like launching myself at a wall at the speed of light. It was permeable to mana, so it wasn't a closed system, and I was able to project Dark Energy to a limited degree so I could piggyback my telepathy off of it." He drums his fingers on the table, his other arm propped up on his elbow and his hand resting lightly against his mouth. "Fine tuning will take time." More time than he would like. If there was someone else he could consult with who is more experienced with space-time manipulation...

    He turns to look across the table and opens his mouth, but then blinks and closes it. Who was he expecting to find there just now?

    Jadeite shakes his head and focuses back on the presentation.

    Fine, he gets the message. Even if Riventon brings up the resources question in a different way, Nephrite doesn't care about money. But Jadeite knows that Nephrite is very efficient, and very good at finding the exact right situation and moment to extract the greatest possible benefit. He mutters a bit as others speak. He has a really, really, really bad idea. One he really, really, really doesn't want to suggest. It might cost everything. It might cost >them< everything. His reluctance is overridden by another voice, another presence, that has long had a grip on his soul.

    His eyes glow slightly red as well, as humanity melts off his face like a wax mask in a housefire. "Something doesn't have to be a willing ally to be of use to us. The inhabitants being our enemies may actually make the solution even easier." Ideas in his head begin to self-propagate as he plans out what he'll need. "I'll cover the city's defenses. A movable, multi-layer border to keep attackers from interfering with the construction work. Anything that approaches from the outside will be eliminated. But we will also need holding containers for any that we can capture." He grins. It's not a nice grin.

    "If the Magical Girls want to fight youma and Dusk Zone terrors, they can have both. The hostile will be coming for us anyway. Why not deliver them to someone happy to dispose of them for us? And we won't even have to use our own servants for it."

Pyrite has posed:
    So she was right. That's good. There's still A Lot that goes over her head, but she understands basic concepts.
    Like things being Hers.
    Like being full of Want for what she doesn't have.
    She has only passed through the Dusk Zone briefly before. It's a newish ability. She usually just passes through shadows. That place is also A Lot. But she could get used to it. Especially if she could make part of it Hers.
    Pyrite asks excitedly, "The ones who must be eliminated. May I eat them?" There's no way Jadeite was referring to that when he was thinking about what it might cost, right? After all, who anticipates a ghost that eats spirits and keeps asking to do so to volunteer to eat every Terrible Thing in a dimension lousy with Terrible Things that gets too close?
    Okay, yeah, probably Jadeite would.
"The terrible things. I can eat them, right?" she asks more urgently as she leans forwards in her seat, her own red eyes needing no ancient Evil to add glow to them.
    She turns to Hematite and reaches out a small spale hand to pat-pat his arm. "It will be fine. I will protect you. I will eat up all the hurt and keep it from touching you." Well, that problem's solved then!

Nephrite has posed:
    "It won't be quick at first." Nephrite admits as he begins making his way back to his seat. "While we can recruit from the Dusk Zone, as pointed out, there are many hostile elements. Using them as fuel to replace our reliance upon human labor and resources here by confining aggressors in Astrological Magic traps for later processing was part of the plan I was to present today, but if Jadeite wants to divert some of them as distractions to mask our activities and hopefully actually kill some of these girls, then I will let him handle the defense aspect."

    Nephrite sits down. "The more who attack us, the more fuel we will have. We don't exactly need to provide housing for youma, so unused buildings will just become containment for fuel towers, or equipment, or defense forces, or the deployment sites for Doors, or transmission circles, or whatever else we want." The Shitennou brushes his long hair over his shoulder. "That's the great part about all this. Unlike while operating in Tokyo, we don't have to do so AROUND everything that already exists. We won't need to find a place to wedge ourselves into human society, or to infiltrate a business, or whatever else. Everything will be ours from the start."

    He does pause when Pyrite volunteers. That's the furthest thing from what he thinks is a good idea right now, but he is noncommital as he says, "That is an interesting proposal that I am sure we will discuss in greater depth at a later date." Then it's on to the next issue.

    "There are intersecting points where we will have to take action to remove obstructions or else the two layers can't come together. The academy is one of them, and one of the biggest problems. There are at least three layers of energy schematics there on top of what should have been there naturally, and trying to disassemble them myself would draw attention we don't want or need." Nephrite sighs as he wracks his brain for an astrological ritual that could crack it. "I'll see about arranging a big finishing ritual once the chinks in their armor have been widened, but first I recommend supporting other departments or even lone individuals unconnected with Obsidian. Teach them how to make a hammer, and then show them what to hit with it. They'll test the defenses for us while we watch, inside and out. We're allowed to be there, after all. As long as we aren't taking action, I doubt we'll be seen as a threat. Just don't cause trouble there if you can help it. If you have to, maybe Jadeite's plan to just dump random creatures in the city could become a 'find the loophole' mission as well. They want to cause chaos and destruction anyway, and there's a defense force ready to stop them. If they can get in one good swing at the defenses before they turn to dust, that's still a success from our perspective. They aren't our agents."

    Nephrite looks around. Taking in all the expressions he can actually see. He gives Jadeite a questioning look briefly, before turning to Hematite. "I understand there was other business to discuss at this meeting."

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite shrugs. "I was just going to ask about recruiting that white-haired boy I saw at the dance. I feel like he'd fit in here. Preferably working very closely with me." He looks totally innocent as he looks to Hematite for further business. He is glad Riventon and Firefly and yes, even Pyrite, are at least providing critiques. Finding the problems //before// they commit to an undertaking like this is important. Such good and helpful co-workers they have.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite chews on his lip as all the concerns are addressed; he nods. A glance at Pyrite as she pat-pats his arm, and he gives her a lopsided little smile that's full of something complicated. "We'll talk about that later, Py-tan," he murmurs.

Then he sits back in his chair, the other half of his stromboli getting cold, and he regards Zoisite steadily. "I'm already working on him; he was one of my other pieces of business," he says, "and once he's onboarded, he'll work with all of us."

He takes a breath, then sits up. "I touched on how impressed I was with Jadeite's projection at the Academy; the show he put on really unnerved everyone I saw there, some of whom were magical girls who'll actually remember and spread the rumor around."

There's a little wave of his hand, then, and Hematite dismisses what he's been talking about to add, "There are a few points that I think our boss might suggest against in the master plan, but I don't think she'll actually nix any of it."

A beat. "And remember, if she shifts priorities -- as she is wont to do -- Midnight Tokyo might need to run on its own for a bit, in which case safeguards against it running off the rails might be in order."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon folds his hands - pulling one away from where it had been reassuring Firefly - and interlocks his fingers together. "Well, now we get to the point where I ask a question not as a representative of Tomoe LifeSciences, but as someone who has known Hematite for a long time and all of you for most of your time here." he begins. "Firefly, you heard nothing of this." he adds, looking at her with a wink (when the spooky shadow face with the red eye winks it's a little odd).

    "This Midnight Tokyo project you've developed - knowing, as I'm sure you do, how common it is for parts of our very esteemed organization to clamber over each other and go fully crab-in-a-bucket tugging each other down to failure before seeing someone else succeed - have you shared the details of this plan with the other departments. Within your own? Or is it something where it hasn't yet left the ears of those in this room? Because if need be I'm happy to report that we went over exceedingly boring figures from sales at your front establishments and investment successes. But if this is an undertaking you intend to pull more ears into, there's no reason to hide it, as Tomoe-sama will hear about it soon anyways." he said, bluntly.

    He needed to know how far the information, the plan, had spread. Needed to judge options. Needed information. Oh, he needed so much information now.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly liked this less and less the more they talked. She had nothing to really add. She didn't understand all of it, though. She didn't like MOST of it. Her hand tightened on Riventon's coat. Oh, she was going to ask him more about it later. He knew more about this kind of stuff than she did.

She was reminded of something her father once told her during a particular meeting... 'Often, what is said in these meetings is fantasy, more even than what's in your book. Fools who think they can achieve the impossible, or at least attempt to make it sound like they can. What they claim, what they desire and what the result is are very different things. That is why people like your father run these operations.'

She didn't know all of this, couldn't fully understand it... but she did NOT like this. And so... she'd trust Riventon for now. He'd... he'd shown himself that he was her friend. That unlike those 'witches 5' and Kaolinite, he could be trusted. So she would talk to him... and if he... thought... this was a good idea...

... Well... she'd gone most her life without a friend. She could... go... right back... if she had to.

Pyrite has posed:
    Not exactly a ringing endorsement of her offer, but this has been a lot of talking and Pyrite is starting to feel... Jagged for lack of a better term. Her appearance isn't changing but the shape she holds her 'identity' in to pretend to be a human is becoming harder to sustain. It's not an immediate priority get out of here, not like at the dance. She has definitely grown stronger, and gained more endurance, even in the area of resisting returning to her true state and violent origins. But those nearest may start to feel just the vaguest sensation of something lightly stabbing them in their soul. Just pin pricks for now. Very faint.
    Ghostly, even.
    But it would be a good idea to get Pyrite out of here sooner rather than later. "Later." she confirms with a nod, as she leans towards Hematite in case he wants to whisper more things to her. Whispers are comforting, in their own way. Like the oens she used to hear at her shrine.
    The whispers of fear.

Nephrite has posed:
    "For now," Nephrite says. "It was just another meeting. I have an eye on someone who might be able to keep our co-workers with less foresight find something else to do than pry into our affairs. I don't want to harm Doctor Tomoe's projects or efforts. If he wants in, he is welcome, as are any of his associates." He nods to Firefly. "But interference right now is the exact kind of thing we don't need. Imagine if we were setting up zones of exclusion to keep those susceptible to the Dusk Zone's influences safe, and someone decided it would be an excellent idea to put a crack in it. You could go home, be poisoned in your sleep, and never wake up to know about it."

    He definitely acknowledges the need to protect some people. He isn't--Well, the man named Nephrite isn't trying to kill everybody. But the thing inside of him might have different thoughts. He isn't going to make it impossible for humans to live in Tokyo. But it needs to be locked down. This high concentration of the Enemy is not sustainable. Not enough of them are dying, whereas youma are being gobbled up like grains of rice. Minimize losses, maximize gains, increase efficiencies, save for the future, keep the employees happy, and keep screwing over rivals while directing their antagonism at each other.

    It sounds so doable when it's thought of like that.

    Too bad the hard part starts now.

Jadeite has posed:
    "Good," Jadeite says in answer to Hematite, without a smile, just the same cold burning in his eyes that the magical girls witnessed. "It's good that they're afraid." They should be. He meant what he said. He is going to hunt them down one by one. If youma can't do the job, he'll do it himself.

Zoisite has posed:
    Pouting a little bit at Hematite, Zoisite sighs and dramatically throws himself backwards in his chair with one leg over the arm of it. "Fine, fine. Meeting adjourned or whatever." He then looks sharply at Hematite and wags a finger as he scolds. "But I want to know all about how you hook him! Spare no salacious detail in your recounting!" He is so used to terrible people expressing terrible desires that Jadeite doesn't even faze him. There will be plenty of magical girls to kill, based off the turn-out they've gotten so far. If Jadeite thins the numbers a little, fine. And if he doesn't make it out in one pieces, well...

    He can't have everything. Where would he put it?

    An odd thought, given his generally cordial relationship with the other Shitennou. Not very much like Zoisite. He just feels... Prickly. Like something is agitating him on a spiritual level. Maybe he needs to take a nice long hot shower after this.

    "Jadeite dying would be bad." Zoisite says out loud. Then he realizes he said it out loud, and adds on casually, "So be careful. Those children have a way of turning things around when we least expect it." Also, Zoisite pushes himself up and stands as he prepares to leave. He is taking any unclaimed stromboli with him.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon nods at Nephrites damnable non-explanation. Yeah, it was just a normal meeting but he might pull others into it later which meant it could expand and... ugh. And the way Firefly was looking at him, they'd be talking right after this, he knew it.

    "Well, this was certainly something I'm glad I came to, in any case. Thank you for tolerating my presence and my Kohai's." he said with a nod as he began to get up. "I am excited to see where your little project goes." No he isn't. He is not delighted to see it do anything other than crash and burn.

    Damnable hell, why couldn't his brother have just gotten attached to some of those morons who just throw out youma, throw a tantrum when it is destroyed, and leave? Why did Hematite have to pick the ambitious, smart ones, who made plans. Obnoxious. Difficult. And now he was going to have to work at cross-purposes, against them. He sighed. Oh well. Not really any different than half the days that end in Y here in Obsidian, anyways...

    Riventon took Firefly and exited, stage rightnow.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly nodded, following behind him. She gave a slightly worried look towards them... And towards Hematite. That was the one special to Riventon...

And he... was this the kind of person he was? There was just this moment of sad eyes towards him, before Riventon was going. And she, hanging onto his coat, followed closely behind.

Once they were outside, she... She took out the candy bar and started to nibble it. Once they were alone and she was sure nobody else could hear...

"I don't... like that plan. That... that is a bad plan."