2416/Proof of Life

Proof of Life
Date of Scene:	19 March 2025
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Rashmi getes a late night call... from a most unexpected source. It raises a lot of questions, but answers one very, very important one.
Cast of Characters:	Molly Skyline, Rashmi Terios

---

Molly Skyline has posed:
It's been two days since Seriss last attacked. Or... experimented, or whatever it is that she's doing, aside from creating brutish, rage-crazed monsters with no apparent purpose other than fighting the Mahou until they die.

Tonight is quiet. There's still posters up to be found around town, of course, found in greatest concentration around places like the Academy or near the building where Molly used to live; 'Have you seen this girl?' with a picture and a reward offered. Molly's Moms hven't given up.

It's three o'clock in the morning. Rain is falling outside the window; Tokyo is alive with the thrum of nightlife, but the Academy dorms are quiet. Any students awake at this hour no matter than to make a big deal out of it (even if there are a few semi-illicit Fortnite tournaments doing on, and a few students crowded into someone's dorm room for a game of Agricola).

But someone, somewhere, wants to get ahold of Rashmi, right now, and is calling her. And Nicomachea would probably recognize the number. So might Rashmi.

It's Molly's buner phone that she kept in Starcrash's secure storage, for emergencies.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It's not often that Rashmi is catapulted out of sleep by an alert from Nicomachea. But every time it's happened, it's been of absolutely dire importance. Which is why when it happens this time, she won't even be a little bit angry.

    << ALERT. MASTER. ALERT. TELEPHONE. ALERT. SIGNAL SOURCE: EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE, OWNER: SUBJECT 'Molly.' ALERT. MASTER. >>

Groping in the dark for her Device, she extracts her phone, staring blearily at the fuzzy icons before remembering to poke the green one.

"...Nnnnh'llo?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
The second Rashmi hits that little green button and utters her bleary-eyed greeting a breathless, desperate voice wails over the line "Rashmi don't hang up it's me Rashmi it's me don't hang up please don't hang up it's me Rashmi it's me it's me please please don't hang up It's me Rashmi it's me,"

And she pauses to gulp in a breath, and there's just a brief pause as she does,

"Don't hang up please Please PLEASE don't hang up it's me RASHMI IT'S ME IT'S MOLLY"

And there's one thing that might, once Rashmi's nighttime cobwebs have cleared, seem significant about her voice.

The British accent is back.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi has dreamed of that voice.

That voice is part of the reason all civility flies out the window whenever Seriss is around.

That... *thing* that looks like Molly but doesn't, that *sounds* like Molly but doesn't. That *creature* that by her very existence makes a mockery of her first and best friend.

But that is not who is on this phone.

"...Molly-chan...?"

She is very, very definitely not hanging up.

Molly Skyline has posed:
"DON'T HANG UP IT'S ME IT'S..."

She slows down, as it sinks it that Rashmi is, in fact, not hanging up. And she's clued in who it is on the other end. And for a moment, there's just silence on the other end. Then comes a ragged breath, drawn in and let out slowly against the phone speaker, the sound of a time-honored precursor to tears. "It's me," she repeats, voice cracking as she speaks.

"It's me," she finally asserts, once more, and sniffs sorrowfully. It doesn't seem like she's thought this conversation through past merely making contact and just... declaring her existence.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"*How?!*" Is the first question that bubbles to the surface of Rashmi's sleep-addled mind. "How are you doing this? How did you *survive?!* Just... just *how?*"

Oh there will be so many tears later on, but they'll be tears of *joy,* of *relief,* because Molly is *here.*

Molly Skyline has posed:
"I..." She trails off. How to answer that? And she's quiet for a moment, but only for a moment.

"Rashmi-chan, I..." She starts, and stops again. "Rashmi... I died. I... just... Viluy found me, but she didn't save me. She just watched. And... do you remember the field of flowers and snow, I told you about, from my vision or, dream or whatever? After Tellu shot me? I was there. And... I was happy, because I knew you were safe. All of my friends were safe."

She pauses, sucking in a ragged breath. "But they... They did things to me," she whimpers. "They dragged me out of Heaven and shackled me in darkness. And they put... something inside me."

Molly sucks in her breath, and Rashmi can practically hear her tryign to calm herself down, somehow, so she can keep talking.

"I woke up without waking her up. I don't know how I did it entirely. I don't know if I'll ever be able to again. But I don't have long."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh Molly-chan," Rashmi breathes, tears starting to fall. "No, Molly-chan. You did it once. THat's enough. That means we can get her *out* of you, and you can come *back.*"

Drawing in a shuddering breath, she closes her eyes. "Okay... Okay. You don't have long. Nicomachea's recording, tell me what you need to tell me."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Tell me what you need to tell me.

Tyhe words hang in the air, while Molly is prioritizing what she has to get out, and quickly.

"Okay," she gasps. "Okay. Okay, Seriss is more powerful than you think, she's just been toying with all of you. She's treating all this like a game. You have to be ready for her when she decides to be serious because she'll take the gloves off. Probably after Achilles. ...Dr Tomoe is working to upgrade her too. There's... rods they want her to use, I don't know what they mean. But Seriss already has a lot more mana and is a lot stgronger than I ever was, and she hasn't shown you most of her abilities yet."

Molly pauses, and sucks in a breath, "Right now beating Seriss and rescuing me can't be your priority. You *have* to deal with Mistress 9 and save Hotaru, she's... I don't understand what they're doing but they are going to DESTROY THE WORLD, I'm certain about that. I'm not important right now."

Molly gurlps another breath before continuing. "Seriss and Mistress 9 talked about you. They called you the Korma Girl and they might come after you. ...Or your family restaurant. I don't know." Molly takes a breath.

"Rashmi-chan I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried to fight her. Every time she fights you I'm trying, I'm trying to stop her but I'm not strong enough. I'm not... good enough. Please, please don't hate me, I--"

heartbeat

"She's waking up I gotta go*click*

Rashmi Terios has posed:
*So many questions* bubble up to the surface as Molly talks, but Rashmi *forces* herself to remain quiet. If this much is this important, she *has* to be allowed to get it out.

Even if 'Dr. Tomoe' and 'Mistress 9' practically make her hop in place due to how much she wants to ask WHAT?! HER?!

And then that *they* know about *her* brings chills down her spine, because it means her family might be targeted, and *oh no.*

But it's when she says 'I'm not good enough' that Rashmi cannot stop herself. "Molly-chan no that's not true you *know* it's not tru--"

*click*

...

Rashmi's phone drops into her lap, and she just... stares at the screen, brain frantically trying to catch up with everything she's just learned, minutes after waking up.

Molly's alive. Seriss is working with Mistress 9. Molly's alive. Seriss is getting upgrades. Molly's alive. They're going to have to be fighting for the fate of the world again, possibly soon.

*Molly's alive.*

A tear falls on the screen with a soft *plap.*

And in the darkness with only Nicomachea to witness, Rashmi curls up on herself and begins sobbing.