1543/Paranoid Android

Paranoid Android
Date of Scene:	15 May 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Bow finally has Crystal Hope removed - but at a tremendous cost.
Cast of Characters:	Bow, Setsuna Meiou, Ami Mizuno, Sayaka Miki, Amanda Faust, Madoka Kaname
Tinyplot:	Crystal Nope

---

Bow has posed:
It has been nearly three months since Bow arrived on Earth in a flurry of battle, destroyed robots, and an AI companion that had been helpful for the most part. However, as what had started off as a short jaunt for Bow to find the Sword of Protection and bring it back to Etheria dragged on, Crystal Hope had gotten more and more desperate. Reminders became nudges. Nudges became gentle takeovers. Takeovers have led to threats. And while Bow had become more and more involved in the events of Earth, making friends, finding Sayaka - Crystal Hope realized that she had been losing her connection to him.

An attempt was made to control him - the fight with Lacuna and Stellar. That had led to talks, discussions, and finally, Sayaka and Mamoru had gotten through to Bow that Crystal Hope was indeed dangerous (it helped that Glimmer had tipped Sayaka off to exactly how dangerous).

With Bow agreeing to the removal of the disc at the base of his neck, he and Sayaka had approached Ami and Setsuna to assist with the removal. Ami for her computer expertise - Setsuna for medical. Considering the danger that Crystal Hope was proving to be, Setsuna suggested a place to do the work. Which is where we are now - Bow standing outside of an abandoned building. The light on the disk on his neck is off - and the crystal earring is in a small wooden box. He heaves in a deep breath, fighting off the last minute worries of doing this. What it could possibly mean. What it means for the future. "I can still use her later, when we need her, right?" he asks noone in paticular, even now, taking to heart that without her, Bow will be useless in this world.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
When she'd been approached to finally do something about the implant that she'd been concerned about ever since it was brought to her attention a few weeks prior, Nurse Meiou let Sayaka know that she knew a place and gave her an address.

Which led to a recently abandoned office building.

As Bow and Sayaka get to the door, Nurse Meiou opens it up and waves them in, "Come on in. I've got us set up in one of the meeting rooms."

At which point she leads them in, down a few halls and up a flight of stairs to a reasonably large executive meeting room...but Nurse Meiou apparently put some effort into it.

It's set up as an impromptu surgical theater, with several sources of bright lighting assuring the room is well lit...and blackout curtains assuring that nobody outside can tell.

The meeting table has been moved to one side of the room and propped against a wall, the various executive chairs have been rolled to one end of the room...and in the center is a medical bed locked into place with a small stand and a rather well-stocked medical kit.

Nurse Meiou waves to the bed, "Okay, Mister Bow...hop up there, get that shirt off and roll over so that the plant is facing up. I need to talk to the others while you're doing that."

She then walks over to Ami and quietly says to her, "...if you can get some good scans of that thing, it should help a lot...if it's deep in, we'll be here a while."

Then she waves Sayaka over and says just as quietly, "...while I'd LOVE to be able to put him under for a surgery like this...I'm not a properly trained anesthesiologist...and getting heavy anesthetics would be problematic, anyway. That said, I've got some fairly good local anesthetics, so pain shouldn't be an issue...but he's going to be conscious the whole time, so, Miss Miki, if you could be so kind as to help keep the patient calm that would be GREATLY appreciated."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno was already there as well and while she wasn't a medical professional, she was aiming to be. Her mother also was one. There were a few things she was able to prepare and provide through those means. Like the fact that she was currently garbed head to toe in authentic medical scrubs that had been sanitized beforehand.

The Mercury Computer is already out and in hand, and though she *could* henshin to also get the readout from her visor, she doesn't yet for the sake of cleanliness. So she just smiles reassuringly toward Bow in greeting. "Everything's ready when you are. If you need to take a minute..." She trails off leaving that offer hanging as Setsuna comes over to speak with her.

"Of course. I'm all set up for this." She was, too, as she moves a rolling stool over to beside the 'bed' so she can start typing on the Mercury Computer preparing the various means of scanning Bow's vitals, as well as the Crystal Hope chip they were about to remove. "Crystal Hope blocked my last attempts at scanning so I'll keep them surface level. But I'll also be monitoring your body's reactions, Bow so that we can keep a eye out for if she tries anything." Like manipulating his body somehow.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
It came as a huge relief to Sayaka that Bow had finally agreed to let Crystal Hope leave his life, and to remove the control chip she is using to manipulate him. Just all the more reasons to be thankful to Mamoru - and now with Setsuna's and Ami's lead, the "how" is already taken care of, so Sayaka is just by Bow's side, offering him her support. She is fiddling with a water bottle, one remarkably full, though she doesn't seem to want to drink out of it.

"We won't need her", she remarks, holding Bow's hand in a tight squeeze. "Let's do this how we decided ok? You don't need her to micromanage you. Your worth is your own, Bow. I am sure you will feel much better once you realise that." She smiles to him, despite a mixture of frustration and worry filling her up inside witnessing yet another proof of how much the AI had messed him up and tied his self-worth to her.

When Setsuna mentions it is her responsibility to keep Bow calm, Sayaka nods. She really wants him to feel the fact he is not alone, now more than ever. "I will do it, thank you for doing this, Meiou-sensei, Ami-san", Sayaka tells the two, deciding to add an extra element to the situation. At her behest, the blue portal opening of Sayaka's Labyrinth opens and Attesa materialises outside of it, her own piano taking space in a relatively uncluttered zone of the office room, and the familiar begins playing a relaxing melody.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Bow is a pretty cool dude! So Amy is concerned to hear that some rogue AI from another world is hijacking his body.

    Unfortunately, her medical training is limited to first aid, and her computer expertise does not extend into magitech. So unless something happens and they need another person to help stop the AI, she's only here for moral support.

    Although that's nothing compared to what awaits Bow. Without magic, will he forget he's even from another world...?

    Her henshin clothes are probably clean, but she's put on a facemask over her nose and mouth all the same.

    It only partially obscures her expression, wincing as he asks if he can still use the evil(?) AI later. "Bow... I told myself that if I ever became a hero, I wouldn't lie to people like they always do on TV. ...I hope it's some comfort to know we wouldn't disrespect you like that. I guess it's possible that you might find some other way. Stranger things are our everyday, now."

    Yeah, some moral support she is...

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is here, out of henshin, but feeling a big out of her league. She knows first aid and CPR, but she hasn't been at the scene of a surgery except as a knocked out patient.

    Medo, however, is hovering next to her. The flossie-wearing Chara is digging through the inside of her egg for various things. Tiny gloves, tiny mask. The inside of the eggshell she uses as a bed is, apparently, as sterile as an operating room. Probably because of weird fairy medic magic.

    The tiny fairy hands a pair of gloves and a mask to Madoka, and then a hair cap. The pinkette looks at her nurse fairy and says, "Medo-chan, this isn't our show..."

    "Don't care. Get dressed."

    Madoka shrugs and starts putting on the gloves, mask, and hair cap. She has to retie her hair into one pink fluffy ponytail in order to fit. There's nothing for her to really do aside from being emotionally supportive to Sayaka and Bow, or possibly fetch things for Ami and Setsuna as needed.

    Madoka takes a deep breath. There's no need to be nervous. Actually, there's no point to it. It doesn't help them. Not right now.

Bow has posed:
As Setsuna arrives, Bow gives a numb nod of his head. He's resigned to this. He's going to go through with it because it's the think that needs to be done. His breath is a bit deeper, longer, taking cleansing breaths to keep his nerves steady - not to back out. When Setsuna directs him wear to go, he nods. "Okay." he murmurs, moving to remove his shirt as he hops up onto the makeshift medical table. He's been in field hospitals that were less appropriated than this one. He'll be okay.

Everyone is set up, this all seems to be a walk in the park. Sayaka's words coming to Bow's ears are a soothing balm, more so than the piano concerto which causes him to laugh a little. "Please don't let her play anything too lively while Nurse Meiou's cutting into me?" he asks her, a final attempt at levity before he moves to settle down on the table.

And that's when the glow on the back of Bow's neck brightens, growing more and more intense as the box in his hands rattles and then drops to the ground.

Bow grips his hands tightly, struggling. "I... I..." he starts to say as that green glow overtakes his eyes as well, and he henshins without anything, the bow gripped tightly in his hand, anger in a voice that is not his.

"No, I will not let this happen. First, Mara abandoned me. Then Adora betrayed me. You, Bow, are neither of them and you do not have the power to overtake me. I said it was all mine - and it is time I demonstrated it."

As the armor forms, he draws back the bow, and the first arrow that appears is one made of ice - something that Bow didn't realize he could do as he struggles to keep the arrow from being loosed. His eyes are narrowed, his teeth gritted, the press of his muscles as he tries to fight off Crystal Hope. "...p-put... me... down."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Once she's spoken to Sayaka and given her instructions, Setsuna nods to Ami and Sayaka, "I need to scrub down, I'll be right back."

She then turns and walks out, but before she goes, she stops next to Amy and Madoka, "Hopefully, we won't need either of you for anything beyond moral support...but better to be overprepared than under."

A wave is given to the many comfy-looking executive chairs pushed up against the walls, "Thanks for coming and have a seat, I'll be right back."

And with that, she walks out of the room.

A few minutes later, she walks back in wearing medical scrubs...burgundy red, in her case, with her hair under a matching cloth surgical cap...and at first glance, it looks like she's not wearing a face mask at all.

Right until one notices that she IS wearing a facemask...it's just one with a picture of her lower face printed on it.

Which she does JUST in time to see Crysal Hope take control of her patient.

A glance is given immediately over at Madoka and Amy, "...nevermind. Looks like you're up. I'll do what I can to help, but very little I can do henshined is going to do much good. Help us restrain him and we'll see about doing this the HARD way."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno simply sits there preparing for it all. The concerto being played earns a small smile. It was comforting in a way, and music was always nice. It reminded her of older times that she had only just recollected not long ago. Soothing music--

Quickly forgotten as the Mercury Computer lights up with a surge of warnings.

The computer is apparated away with a flick of her wrist as she stands quick enough to cause the chair she had been in to roll away from her with a little screechy-scuffle across the floor. Instead her Mercury rod is in hand as she calls out, "Mercury Power, Make up!"

With the shimmer of light and water she transforms quickly. Enough that she uses her powers to *reach* for that ice arrow seeking to cause it to ice over the entire bow before it becomes an issue. It wasn't often she pressed her power to work without an attack name, but she had been practicing lately how to make objects of ice. This was just an attempt at extending it to someone *else's* creation.

"If anyone has a way to contain him this is a good time to do so!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's eyes widen as Bow suddenly henshins, and then narrow.

    "Of course, Meiou-sensei. I'm always happy to help," she says, with a tone that is more resigned and longsuffering than anything resembling happiness. "It's okay, Bow-san. We know you don't mean it. Medo-chan!"

    Madoka reaches out for her nurse chara, who is already hopping into her egg. The pink girl makes an unlocking hand gesture and utters, "My Heart: Unlock!" before suddenly there's a bright light and stars and sparkles. After it clears, Hope Blossom is standing where Madoka once was, hair done up in a bun and hidden under her flossie.

    Flinging one hand into the air and striking a pose, Blossom shouts, "Hope Garden!"

    Somewhere between ten to twenty copies of her branch bow suddenly appear, only they aren't around her. Rather, they seem to be trying to weave together like a braid before wrapping around Bow. Another bow appears in her hands and she holds it more like a bat than a ranged weapon, just in case it's needed.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The point of the music is to distract Bow from the operation Setsuna is about to attempt and help him relax, so Sayaka is watching out at what actually works and doesn't there. Anyway, she keeps up her smile at Bow's last attempt at a joke before the procedure. "Everything will be alright", the bluenette says as she watches Bow get onto the table.

Sayaka reserves a passing glance to Madoka, watching her childhood friend putting her best foot forward, as she always does. They have everything under control, all of them are here. Or at least, they can adapt to any contingencies, Sayaka frowns when Crystal Hope asserts her own will and tries to grab control of Bow's own body away from him, because that is when Setsuna tells Madoka and Amy to help her restrain Bow.

That AI just couldn't stay down, can it? With the other two girls presumably doing what Setsuna says, Sayaka transforms, the change impacting Attesa too, that gets decidedly vibrant musical notes rise out of the piano she is playing, though the special projectiles stay put as of now. Instead, Sayaka says, her guard up, sword in one hand and bottle in the other. "You have finished gaslighting Bow, give it up, Crystal Hope."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy heard about this, but she's surprised to see it in action all the same.

    Spite returns her snarkiness to her quickly, though. "Stealing bodies. Real classy. Alright, AI, what's your deal? Gonna control all of us in some clockwork world of perfect order where everything is predictable? Going to usher in the age of machines ruling over humans? Or do you just wanna turn everything into paperclips? Or are you one of the ones that tries to trick us with thought experiments about how you might be simulating us, except that if we were in your simulation you could just do whatever instead of fighting us?"

    She glances back at Pluto. "Shouldn't you be henshined, just for safet-- oh, the AI doesn't know your identity?"

    She doesn't raise a weapon for now. Crystal Hope will certainly shoot her first. "I could try a gas grenade but none of you have PPE."

    Madoka is ready with an actual attack! Amy keeps an eye out for Crystal Hope's response possibly giving an opening. "Looks like we've got you out-bow'd."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou shakes her head, "No...I just..."

She trails off as the room predictably erupts in violence, ice and fire being used to restrain and free...and she sighs, "Eh, screw it. There's no way we're going to be able to maintain even a semblance of a clean area now."

And with that, she takes a few steps back into the hall for space.

Out of sight of everyone, a call of "PLUTO PLANET POWER, MAKE-UP!" can be heard...and after the sound of rushing wind rolls by, Sailor Pluto steps into the room, Garnet Rod in hand.

The tallest Senshi frowns, then points, "...if anyone has a way to break his string, that will likely slow him down."

Bow has posed:
As the branches wrap around Bow to hold him him in place, the ice arrow is slammed into one to try to freeze it so that Crystal Hope can break out. Though even as one branch is broken, there are more coming into play, tangling and attempting to hold Bow in place. "You are all detriments to the mission. You have distracted and undermined him. Especially you." With Sailor Mercury trying to freeze the bow, Crystal Hope switches from using the ice arrows to a different one, going with flame to warm the bow to keep it from freezing.

Those words, particularly venomous are aimed at Sayaka, a flame arrow formed and aimed at the Puella, even as she responds to Amy. "None of you matter to me. All I want is the Sword of Protection." comes the bitter retort. "Once I have it, we will eradicate the Horde from Etheria."

"S-stop..." Bow growls, hearing what Pluto's plan is, and as he does - he starts to try to turn the bow so that the string is easier to get a bead on, clearly something is still Bow inside of the crystal and the armor, as his hand draws back the flaming arrow aimed at Sharpsong, "....no." he whispers, as his fingers release the arrow and it flies towards Sayaka.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Cutting the string? Hope Blossom considers. The one with the sharpest swords right now would be... "Sharp-chan! That'd be you-- Oh no!"

    Blossom sees a fiery arrow being fired straight at Sayaka, and Madoka quickly nocks and arrow to-- Well, she wanted to intercept the arrow, but there's no way she can do that in this environment. Instead, she aims at Bow. "I'm sorry, sensei! I don't think we're going to have a sterile environment after this, but..."

    When Madoka releases the arrow, it homes straight onto Bow, but it doesn't even reach him. Instead, it explodes harmlessly into a sparkling pink cloud. Enough to hopefully block his vision for a moment. He can't shoot what he can't see, right?

    Shortly after firing, Madoka chases after her own arrow, lowering her shoulder to hit Bow with a tackle. With both in henshin, she might not have enough strength to actually knock him down, but she can at least try to grab his arrow-nocking arm with both of her own and try to make it a lot harder for him to fire.

    She desperately hopes that this gamble isn't going to result in something bad happening to Sayaka.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Some of the notes Attesa has prepared fly out in response to the flaming arrow that is fired towards Sayaka, intercepting it and preventing it from reaching the bluenette. She figured the AI just wouldn't accept reconsidering things. She had at least hoped that the common sense of being outnumbered would prevail, but maybe that was too much to ask.

"I am fine!", Sayaka reassures Bow. If he comes out of this feeling guilty for almost harming her, she is asking Ami if she wants to load up the earring with lots and lots of viruses. "Nobody cares about your mission of destruction, Crystal Hope, and you won't trick anybody else in doing the job for you."

"I am on it, be careful!", the bluenette confirms to Madoka. Sayaka does have control over her own swords, even if it isn't the best in terms of finesse, but it should certainly be able to do the job Setsuna has just asked someone to do. The sword flies forward, aiming exclusive at the string of the Bow, set at an angle that will then impact the furniture instead of Bow or anybody holding him back if it is successful in reaching its target.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The moment Bow fires at someone else, Amy... fails to summon whatever she was trying to do. "Oh COME ON!" She spins, rocket launcher appearing in her hands as she tries to just club him and knock him off-balance with it, instead. "The hell is the Sword of Protection?! It sounds like you want the Sword of Eradication. What about all those alternate timelines, will that even work? What about the timelines you don't go back to, you gonna just leave the Horde there?"

    It seems she's going to go with plan: Run her mouth to try and distract Crystal Hope. Sayaka will probably be fine, right?

Bow has posed:
The pink cloud blows up in Bow's face, blinding Crystal Hope momentarily, which means there's no firing this round - no arrow to launch, as the arrow he had fired is intercepted and destroyed by Attesa's notes. Blossom slams into Bow, holding his arm, preventing him from firing again, and Bow is trying his best to take back control from the crystal that is cutting into his skin.

That is when in the middle of the room, a portal opens. It's green, like Bow's eyes - and Sayaka will recognize it as the same portal that appeared on the beach that first day that Bow arrived on Earth. In the view of the portal is a grassy field. In the distance, a magnificent castle rises, a river and waterfall running through it pooling into a crystal clear lake.

Those that have watched Bow's recruitment video will recognize it as an exterior shot of Castle Brightmoon.

"If you let them take me, you will never go home. You will never see Brightmoon again. You will never see your dads. You will never get to save Etheria.". A pause. "You will never see your Adora or Glimmer ever again." That said as Amy clubs him with the rocket launcher, knocking him off balance and sending the bow clattering from his hands and across the floor.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto doesn't really LIKE getting in close.

Especially so many unknowns. Sure, her transformation gives her a level of superhuman strength...but she's aware that a LOT of henshins do the same...so it's likely in pure hand-to-hand, she'll be outmatched in the strength department.

Unfortunately, a situation like this one is one where there are no 'good' options...one has to just go with the 'least bad' and hope it's enough.

Thus, she notes the various projectiles and swings going at the now possessed and unruly patient...and she tries to assist by swinging the Garnet Rod at the back of his knees, muttering, "...okay, we need a young priest and an old priest."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
With the onslaught of attacks being tossed around, Sailor Mercury had been knocked back out over the chair she had originally been using. Not out, not completely, but a bit dazed from it all.

When she works to her feet again it's chaos. Attacks flying everywhere. Crystal Hope showing portals to places she'd never seen, threatening Bow and his entire family. Removing all sense of hope. Sailor Pluto attacking.

Mercury's entire face contorts as her eyes widen with a look of anger, rage, fear, disgust. Memories still raw from recent recollections surge up inside her and she responds quickly out of instinct.

Hands raise as she calls out both vocally and with drawing on her power, "Mercury Aqua Mirage!"

Power surges in her, through her, and water can be heard rushing into the room with a sudden plume of water that shoots up around Bow's form engulfing him. It continues to rage and surge keeping him trapped within the liquid confines devoid of air. Her fist closes ensuring that the water stays with him and his technological highjacker caught inside until his air runs out.

Past that.

Until Bow's body goes limp from lack of air.

Only then does the strange expression on her face crack with shock as she realizes what she's done. The hand falls away, water with it, and she steps back several times. "O-oh no I... I didn't mean to... I just wanted it to stop..." The readings on her visor still show life signs. Just. Weak. "He's still alive. Just. He needs CPR and... I'm sorry." It's all blurted out quickly as she turns to rush off with her hands covering her face in horror at what she'd done.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Help me hold him still!" calls out Hope Blossom. Then, when she sees the attack that Mercury unleashes, she yelps and immediately releases him and steps back. She watches with hands over her mouth as Bow gets suffocated in front of her. When it ends, she glances at Mercury with a look of shock... but... there's no time for that.

    Immediately she is back by Bow's side, dropping henshin, following her trained procedure without thought. Check the breath. Check the pulse. If either are missing, it's time for chest compressions.

    The whole time, Medo is flying around Madoka and helping. She has one of those fingertip oximeter/heartbeat monitors clamped onto one of Bow's fingers.

    This is what they pay her for.

    Just kidding. She's a volunteer. No one pays her.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka would really like to retort that Glimmer is here and rub it in Crystal Hope's face how monumentally wrong it is. But she promised not to, so instead she just says "Just shut up, you don't know any of that. We can do things without you. Even your portals. We will find a way to open one to Etheria.

With Bow getting suffocated, Sayaka looks on with worry and drops the water bottle on the ground, unused. Not that it would have been needed anyway, with Ami having the power to generate water. Even so, Sayaka frowns at Bow getting suffocated to the point of unconsciousness, even if it was kind of a necessity. She could have prevented that being needed had she just been a little faster. Even so, she is filled with relief when Madoka is already on the case, administering the correct procedure.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Crystal Hope taunts Bow with the things he gave up to focus on saving Adora and Catra instead. Amy won't make light of that. "Stop torturing him!" Before she has to start figuring out if she can make anything that would function as an anti-AI grenade, Pluto comes in with the steel chair -- sorry, garnet rod -- to the knees, and Mercury bubbles him for the win!

    ...And keeps bubbling him.

    He's still bubbled.

    "Um..." Amy starts to ask, as he finally goes limp, and Mercury realizes what she's done, and at least this is what most of them are trained for, although Amy's a bit rusty--

    --but not Madoka! Amy stares, stunned for a second at how quickly she gets to work. Whatever step Amy thinks of to helpfully call out, Madoka's already doing it before she says anything.

    If it actually does come to chest compressions though, she kneels at the other girl's side. "You have to risk breaking the ribs, are you sure you're strong enough?" and then she looks down at herself. "Oh wait f--" she doesn't have any more weight to put into it than Madoka. She looks up at Pluto, and stands up and steps back, looking away awkwardly and feeling stupid. "Nevermind. Let me know if you need anything." She pulls the first aid kit out of her cloak, but it probably doesn't have anything Setsuna didn't already prepare.

Bow has posed:
The crush of the rod hitting the back of Bow's knees drives him to the ground. Unarmed, now, as Setsuna is calling for priests - she ends up just getting holy water - well, Mercury water as the wave washes over Bow. And as he draws the water into his lungs, his breath forced out in bubbles, his last thoughts as things start to go black.

...he's back on Etheria. Adora is stumbling out of Light Hope's chamber. The Sword of Protection is shattered. She's holding onto the ruined remains by the hilt. "I had to..." she says. "It was the only way to save Etheria."

Bow understands. Glimmer was taken, Light Hope had turned out to try to destroy the whole of reality. As he's walking out, he feels a sting on the back of his neck. His hand swats at it, and he realizes too late that it's a control disk as Crystal Hope overrides him and he blacked out, waking back up to a reality that she had crafted for him to be her pawn to find the Sword.

As he struggles his last, he slumps forward, the crystal armor fading, the crystal itself falling to the ground. The green light flickers... and goes out. And shortly after, so does the warmth of light in Bow's eyes as he too falls.

No pulse. No breath. Blossom is pumping at his chest, trying to bring him back.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Blossom doesn't even look up as Amy warns her, still trying to pump Bow's chest. "I know, but... if I do it in henshin I might go to far..."

    Medo is by her side. "You wont if it's with me. Trust me."

    Madoka hesitates. "Okay, but..."

    Back in henshin, Madoka is doing sets of chest compressions. 30 presses, then break to check, then 30 more presses. "Water might be in his lungs. I need to keep pressing to push it out."

    "Meiou-sensei, I'm kinda hoping you have something for this. Also, we need get that chip off of him! If we don't do it now..."

    She trails off, because she's focused on working. Does she really need to finish that sentence?

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Madoka has been doing her best, and yet Bow keeps not breathing. There is really nothing she can do here, except hope for the best and trust that Madoka and Setsuna will figure it out as she watches over anxiously.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Mercury shuts Crystal Hope down in a way that, while effective, seems to have been a bit on the ruthless side...the small, detatched, clinical bit of her notes the Senshi of Water running out...and makes a note to check up on her later.

Meanwhile, Hope...has CPR under control.

A tiny sigh is breathed, then orders are snapped, "Amy. Grab that bottle over there, cut the top off and dump the water, then fill it with the alcohol bottle in the kit there."

Order given, she starts quickly gathering up the scalpels, forceps, and other tools she'll need...then snaps her fingers and says, "Hangon..."

She looks over at the medkit she'd brought...then at the other bag of supplies...and with an 'AHA!' pulls out a sealed BVM mask from her 'better to have it and not need it' kit. She steps ver and moves near Bow's head to wait, "...okay, as soon as you guys have his airway clear, this will help a lot...and once he's breathing at least partly on his own again, I can get to work...with that at the base of his neck, I won't be able to work around you and getting him breathing is more important."

Bow has posed:
Hope pushes and pushes, hup hup... and it finally it takes. There's a sudden cough and Bow's head rolls to the side as he horks up the water that was in his lungs, sending it pooling onto the ground as he catches a desperate breath, but he's not conscious.

It's bad, but it's survivable, Bow's body just a limp noodle at the moment. But one that has a heartbeat and breath.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "As soon as he's alright..." promises Blossom to Pluto, while checking for pulse, and then breath, "... I'll be out of your way. I'll help you lift him if you want."

    Water is coughed up. Madoka immediately rolls back onto her feet and stands up, stepping out of the way. She moves around to Bow's feet, but she doesn't start lifting or moving unless Pluto gives the order. "You're in charge now, sensei. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do my best!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy provides rescue breaths until another order is given. "Yes ma'am!" She goes to fill the alchohol bottle and her combat outfit is replaced with a cutesey pink nurse uniform. It's possibly slightly more hygenic! Amy only glances briefly at it and mutters 'ugh, I guess it'll do...' As for the BVM mask, she's pleasantly surprised to see it, "Oh, handy!"

    She holds the bottle until further direction for it is given. "We could get him back on the table facing down, and support his head over the edge while--" and then he coughs. "Oh thank god."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Bow finally starts breathing again, Sailor Pluto breathes a sigh of relief, "Okay, help me roll him over so I can get at that...thing."

After a few moments poking around and getting a feel for the chip, she reaches over, points at Amy, then says, "Set the container right there where I can reach it and give me the rest of the alcohol bottle."

Grumbles can be heard about 'should scrub up' 'no time' 'work quick' 'bastard mind control' and a few other choice bits while she waits and examines...then she goes into action again.

A quick splash from the remaining alcohol bottle over her senshi gloves to do what can be done, then she splashes a little more over the chip and the area around it.

Then she grabs a pair of forceps, washes them in the container full of alcohol, and starts applying pressure to pull off the chip before leaning forward and looking at how it's being held on, "...Damnit...this thing's literally stapled into him."

Her left hand reaches straight out to her side...and then her fingers twist and a pen spins into them...or, as is revealed when she brings it back, a pen-light.

She shines the light at an angle that lets her get a better look at the angles the staples are into the young man's neck, and comments, "Someone PLEASE let me know if we ever enounter the utter TOOL that came up with this damned piece of work...I have several tender areas to kick him or her in...and I may just end up shoving the Concept of Death down their throats for this travesty."

And then follows several minutes of her setting her forceps, pulling with a steady pressure...then pausing when she feels a shift, checking the chip...swearing in several dead languages that Hope and Amy might have heard recently in the portal to the past as gutter Lunarian, then resetting herself and going back to pulling again.

In between, she calls out, "Someone find a pack of gauze that's still sealed, some medical tape and some wound cream...I think I've almost got this..."

And then she's back to pulling once more...

Finally, with a small exclaimation of triumph, the chip comes loose...and it's revealed just WHY the thing was so hard to remove...a series of needle-like spikes protruding from the bottom, with the longest ones being very nearly two centimeters.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Obediently, Madoka squats down to help roll Bow over, and then she waits and watches while Pluto works. When the call out is made for some extra gauze and wound cream, Madoka immediately looks down at her henshin gloves and realizes... "Oh... actually... aside from scrubs, underneath my henshin..."

    Medo separates from her again, and Madoka is wearing mask, latex gloves, and has her hair in a net. The medic fairy crosses her arms and says, "This is why I said to get dressed."

    "Right... right..."

    "And don't forget to sterilize your hands again, silly!"

    "Right! On it."

    Once prepped, which she does very efficiently, Madoka digs through Pluto's supplies to find gauze and wound cream, placing them on a metal surgical tray before moving across from Pluto. She gets down to her knees and holds the tray out so that the time senshi can reach either easily.

    Medo, for her part, stays out of the way and observes, possibly helping others find stuff around here if needed.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy watches curiously. She's still masked, that wasn't part of her henshin.

    Amy's barely started to ask, "Which kind of wound cr--" when Madoka's already got it. Please let Madoka be nearby if I'm ever seriously injured. she thinks, and then remembers that oh right she's kept functioning by magic in any case, which rather reduces the need for emergency care. Somehow, in this moment, that just makes her feel more removed from human...

    Amy fetches the medical tape and stands by ready to be a spare set of hands for dispensing or positioning it while Pluto is using tools.

    At last, the chip is free. "Jesus." Amy stares at the device, eyes wide. Then she peers down at the wound. "Are you sure you got all of it? Could it have left, like, nanites in there? It must've connected to his nerves somehow, right?"

Bow has posed:
When they compare the chip to the first scans there were made, the connections were much more shallower in Bow's neck. Apparently it was growing against him and overtaking his system. That explains why Crystal Hope had been able to get more and more control over him.

With the chip removed, the green glow in it dies out, leaving the chip powerless in the spot where Setsuna placed it while she works to close up the wound. Thankfully, Bow is still unconscious, his face locked in a moment of profound sadness and acceptance of the situation.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto gives a thankful smile at Madoka as she gets a tray and puts what she's about to need on it nearby, then drops the chip down onto a bit of tray that's unused, "...someone do something with that...thing. I'd recommend destruction...but if you're going to keep it around, seal it up REALLY good first."

She then heaves a sigh and then starts in on wound management...something she's gotten a LOT of experience handling in a school filled with reckless adolescents.

A close look is taken at the blood seeping from the several deep but small puncture wounds, "...on the plus side, I'm FAIRLY certain those weren't deep enough to make it to his spine...and I'm not seeing any sign of Cerebrospinal fluid..."

The area is washed with alcohol, then wound cream is applied and gauze over it before medical tape is used to secure everything.

Amy's questions get her to look over, and she shakes her head, "I HOPE not...but given that A: those things were growing down towards his spinal column...it's likely they needed actual contact for full control...which between how deep they were versus how big hiss neck is, I think they were JUST shy of doing."

She heaves a sigh, "..and B: If it were using nanites, it would be more useful to site over a major blood vessel so that it could dump into the bloodstream easier...which would circulate the nanites directly to wherever they needed to go."

A finger is pointed at Sayaka and then over to the medical kit, "There's a pill jar in there with two small candies in it that kind of look like crystals...when he wakes up, make him eat one, then make him eat the other a few hours later. There's something Guardian Daifuku makes for me that give a little kick of magical healing. It's not as good as someone who can use full-up magical healing, but it's shelf-stable and speeds up healing. I take it you're going to be his caregiver until he's capable of doing it himself?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Destroy it or seal it? "...I'm kinda tempted to try to figure out how it works, which means it should probably be destroyed." Amy does sound a little resigned about that. Who knows what secrets for advancing human technology it might hold? "I can make thermite." she offers, since they can't actually throw it into a volcano.

    She's actually relieved at Setsuna's logic of how it's probably not nanites. "Thank goodness..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks down at the tray, and the chip on it, and considers what one might call 'aggressive sterilization'. It would be so easy...

    No, that wouldn't be right. Even if the AI can't be trusted, there might be important information on it that Bow might need later, or maybe the item itself might have magic that Bow needs. It would be easy to destroy it, or seal it away somewhere, but that's not what needs to happen.

    "Bow might have a chance to go home some day, and this item might become important when that happens. I don't know if destroying it right away is a good idea. Against my better judgment, I almost think we should keep it somewhere safe. Where it can't harm anyone, but we can still access it if needed."

    Madoka stands up and carries the tray to some place that isn't in Pluto's way. Then she starts wrapping up the chip in gauze. They'll have to figure out where it goes later.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Seal it it is, then. Amy watches Madoka carry it and... start wrapping it in gauze? "Don't forget to put it in a faraday cage, just in case. If you can somehow put it somewhere unknown magic can't penetrate, or isolate it in a closed space, that's probably a good idea too."