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{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2023/11/06
|Location=The Shed
|Synopsis=Naru introduces Rashmi and Chrono to the Shed and asks for help in getting some bits from Midnight Tokyo plans deciphered. Devices ftw!
|Cast of Characters=59,41,166
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>A smattering of text messages to make arrangements to meet zip between Naru, Chrono and Rashmi.<br><br>TXT: Meet me by the buildings at the back, I've somewhere cool to show you.<br><br>Naru has a coffee as she waits for the pair of them, behind the bulk of the school buildings, where things become more back wooded area. Forgotten, largely, and with a pretty rough path to the unused chunks of campus. At least the weather is still good for an autumn afternoon. Cool but not cold, the sun making an effort to peer out amongst the trees.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>TXT to Naru: Somewhere cool? Okay now you have my attention.<br>TXT to Chrono: Okay so *this* will be a nice change, someone we *like* having a surprise for us. Want me to get some cider for us at the lunch counter before we go?<br> <br>It's not *quite* time for mittens, but it's cool enough that a hot drink is very welcome for the fingers. Also Rashmi has very definitely swapped out for the winter uniform, because there is no other reason anyone would have leggings in that shade of orange. Her other arm is resting comfortably around Chrono's waist, as the pair make their way toward the back-lots of the Academy.<br> <br>And all over again, Rashmi is struck by how *massive* the school's campus is, that there's room for entire villages among the trees of the spots that people just don't pay attention to.<br> <br>Spotting Naru, Rashmi lifts her steaming cup in salute. "Hiiii, Naru-chan!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown sent a quick reply, because of course. And well... it was just the polite thing to do. He hadn't made much headway in his search lately, so he'd instead focused on important things.<br><br>In this case, wooing a certain eligible heir to a korma fortunate. A taste sensation, as it were.<br><br>TXT to both: See you there.<br>TXT to Naru: Yes, that sounds wonderful.<br>TXT to Naru: Ack, wrong one, sorry.<br>TXT to Rashmi: Yes, that sounds wonderful.<br><br>Chrono arrived about the same time as Rashmi, carrying a cider procured by his wonderful girlfriend. And an oddly familiar bird riding on his shoulder. Well, they went outside, so of course the bird came. She was staring down intently at Naru with her lil bird eyes, her dazzling pink and blue plummage standing out in stark contrast to the stuffy, standard uniform that Chrono was always wearing, a constant reminder that the boy, in fact, had no chill. Then again, they all wore uniforms. But very few were as well pressed, tucked in and perfectly smooth as his. Even his shoes were always spotless. HOW?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"Hi you two!" Naru smiles as she waves to them both. She quirks her head at the bird. "Who's your friend, Chrono?" Because it's hard not to notice a brilliantly coloured bird on his shoulder, turning the TSAB guy into a pirate. Not the usual look.<br><br>"Alright, it doens't look like much on the way in, but just trust me, kay?" Naru advises as she heads down the path into the woods. It's really not THAT far, all things considered, but it's not exactly a well traveled path that she directs them down.<br><br>"Big picture, things okay with you two? Beyond being utterly adorable?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"I mean, *I* can't think of anything more important to the bigger picture than how adorable we are," Rashmi says with a grin. "Beyond that... Pretty sure Riventon's starting to dislike me almost as much as Chrono, and the new friend-- well, I'll let him make the introductions."<br> <br>And minding her footing, Rashmi follows Naru into the woods at Chrono's pace. If she didn't know Naru better, she *might* be concerned at being led into the Dark Woods at all, but... Between Naru being just good people, and her boyfriend being an elite special agent from space -- not to mention her own not-inconsiderable self-defense toolbox -- it's probably fine.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown held out his arm and the bird flew down, landing on it. "This is my familiar, Fenyx. She's new, a lidth's jay," he said. The bird gave a small nod. He, gently, began to scritch the bird's feathers. Why?<br><br>Because this was Naru going to share a surprise with him. While he was... getting used to them, it didn't make the expecting shifting of his world view to be any less stressful.<br><br>Gotta love comfort bird and comfort girlfriend.<br><br>"Don't worry, I've been led into dark, creepy forests by friends before. I do hope this isn't for a 'challenge of courage'. I always mess those up. Apparently I'm a bit too serious and 'monsters' don't appreciate having their attempts to cause fear being critiqued."<br><br>Probably a good thing he didn't get a chance to see Usagi's classwork...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"Nice to meet you, Fenyx." Naru turns and smiles at the bird before looking back to where she's going.<br><br>"I promise this requires no courage, no monsters, nothing THAT exciting. Exciting, but in the good way."<br><br>The one who is leading the way is the most mundane and vulnerable of the bunch, and she walks confidently, holding aside a tree branch as they come into a small clearing with a shed. It's not the most exciting of sheds. It looks largely abandoned, in moderate repair at least, but probably a current or former maintenance shed.<br><br>Naru walks right up to it with no qualms and pauses by the door for the other two.. three really.. to catch up.<br><br>"So.. if you turn the handle this way.. nothing exciting." Naru demonstrates, twisting the handle and opening it to .. yep.. that's a dim and dusty shed. There's not even any cool treasures to be found in it anymore, it's mostly dust and cobwebs really.<br><br>"But if you turn it the other way.. well.. c'mon in." Naru shuts the door and then twists the handle the other direction and opens it to.. a completely different room. A meeting room, or a study room. There's a few desks and tables scattered around, the place has been recently scrubbed within an inch of its life. There's big bright windows letting in the late autumn sunshine. A chalkboard takes up one wall, already with notes on it about the Midnight Tokyo investigations.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"Speaking of, how's Usagi-chan doing? I heard there was a thing, but..." Sipping her cider, she lifts one shoulder with the kind of eloquence unique to teens, as if to say 'I was worried but by the time I pulled my head out of my own stuff it was over.'<br> <br>The door to the shed is opened to the shed, but Rashmi can't help but smile at the theatrics; this is obviously going to be *really cool* when Naru turns the handle the other way. And when the door is opened...<br> <br>Rashmi has never seen Doctor Who, only knows what bits get filtered through cultural osmosis.<br> <br>But she *does* manage to make a very credible impression of Clara discovering the Tardis for the first time. There's the startled blink, the lean forward... "...Wait." And then her hand slips away from Chrono's waist as she goes up to the doorway, and sticks her head inside. "But ho--"<br> <br>Cue at least two circuits around the outside of the shed, and only *then* does she make a circuit of the room beyond. "Okay so-- wow, wait, hang on. It's... *way* bigger on the inside than--" Jogging back to the door, she leans out, looks one way, then the other, then to Chrono. "See *this* is what I imagine when I hear 'dimensional magic!'"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown followed behind her, still a bit wary. After all, who knew what madness would be flung at him?<br><br>Instead of madness, though, it was... "Ohhhhh. Neat. It's smaller on the outside. An efficient means of... storing..." He blinked and looked to Rashmi and then gave a sheepish smile.<br><br>"I mean... it's... one of the types of storage magic." He then held up his device. "How do you think the storage system within your device works? Now, generally you'd want to avoid having it in a place where living things are, as if it expanded suddenly it could cause a lot of damage to those within, as they were suddenly crammed into an area far, far smaller than themselves. But even if there was a mishap here, it seems there's plenty of space for people to go."<br><br>He hadn't seen Dr. Who either... but well. Time Space Administrative Bureau.<br><br>"So, who's magic is creating this dimensional space? It IS a smaller on the outside thing, correct? Not a teleporting us to a different location thing? I didn't scan it... seems a bit rude."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"Usagi had a thing.. but she's alright now." Naru confirms, without getting into the details. Sure, she was a plushie for a while, but that's neither here nor there. She got better!<br><br>"Exactly Chrono. It's smaller on the outside than on the inside." Naru mmms. "Inai-senpai made arrangements for it to be made available to the good side mahou as somewhere secure.. or largely secure, that we can actually talk and collaborate and work together." Naru's expression twists a little. "Although currently our main security is being confident that we only tell folks we trust about its location."<br><br>Not exactly high security, at least not yet.<br><br>"But for the conversation we need to have, all three of us, its perfect." Naru moves through the space over to one of the desks that already has books and notebooks neatly stacked on it, pens and pencils in a little cup on the corner of the desk. Clearly where she's been working of late, and she digs through some papers to find what she's looking for. Someone has, based on those, been doing slightly different mystical math homework than what she was working on with Chrono.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"Well I mean, *yeah,* but, *rooms!*" Rashmi answers Chrono, waving her hands in a gesture that takes in the whole space. "This is *so cool!*"<br> <br>Look, half the reason Rashmi is not a gibbering wreck hiding under the covers 24/7 is because magic is so *magical,* so she's indulging in her fan-girling over the room as a treat to herself.<br> <br>Then Naru gets to the talk about the security arrangements, and she cannot help but agree with a sigh. "Not ideal, yeah, but 'who would bother?' is pretty potent too. Until it's not. Anyway." Circling the tables, she wanders to the desk with the books, then looks up at the chalkboard, eyebrows rising in curiosity. "...This looks like a whole project, Naru-chan. And since it's not Chrono's homework..." Looking up, she blinks at her friend. "...You've been trying to decode that stuff on your own?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown cocked an eye. He'd... not entirely been aware of the Usagi thing. He'd heard a bit? But by the time he was aware of it fully it was done. So he'd decided not to stress about it. And it seemed it was good, so woo!<br><br>He smiled, though. Watching Rashmi get so excited over it... it... made him oddly happy. Made him get that almost childish grin on his face. A grin that was just.... a sign of how much in LOVE he was with her. Well. Maybe not love. But definitely... she made him happy in a way other things didn't. Maybe it was too early to say love. But... he definitely... loved her in some ways. And a little red was getting in his cheeks.<br><br>"Any defenses can eventually be penetrated," Chrono said. "So not knowing there are defenses to penetrate can be effective. But I'll try and see what I can do to amplify them. After all, if we have... sensitive things here it's best they don't become too well known."<br><br>He looked to the papers and then reached out, pausing. "May I?" he asked.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>Naru has the grace to look a little sheepish as she passes the pages over to Chrono, replying to Rashmi as she does. "Well.. yes." She clears her throat a little. "Not alone, it took two of us to sort it out."<br><br>Naru leans back against her desk. "So.. long story shorter.. we have labels on a map that we recovered as part of midnight Tokyo that are both coded and in an ancient language. We were stymied by both until recently." Naru gestures to the pages she just handed to Chrono.<br><br>"Through sources, we managed to extract a copy of the cipher code. Which means.. eventually.. we can at least get it down to just the fact that everything is in an ancient language. That's the top page, Chrono." The page itself looks like a printed out photo, taken from another document.<br><br>"Darien and I used the key to manually work through a single word as proof of concept. That's the rest of the pages, Chrono." Naru's handwriting is as neat as one might expect, and the calculations are /intense/. There's mystical math and astrological conjunctions and this was not basic algebra. "I'm hoping one or both of your Devices might be willing to take pity on me and not make me do the rest by hand."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>Rashmi purses her lips and gives a low whistle, upon seeing the top page of a fairly formidable stack, all of which resulted in a single word. "That's... a very lot. A *whole* lot even," she says after a moment. "And math is *not* my virtue. Well... Nicomachea's said he's willing to try, and this'll definitely help speed things along a little bit... What d'you think, Chrono? They got a word, would all this math be enough of a signpost to get started?"<br> <br>Rashmi may have the book, but, Chrono's the one with the head for weird maths and operational experience. So it's only natural her first question is to him.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown nodded, taking one of the papers and beginning to go over it. Bit by bit. Sending information to his device and taking it in himself. If there was one thing a mage of the TSAB was good at, it was math.<br><br>Even weird, complex math. He barely seemed to be listening to them, his eyes flickering over the pages, processing, considering. A hand moving to his chin as he analyzed. Each word so intense. Even Fenyx had leaped off, instead flying over to Rashmi's shoulder and lightly laying her head on top of Rashmi's, waiting for her boss to process.<br><br>Finally, he nodded. "I think our devices should be more than adequate. Though, only Rashmi's device houses an AI. My device doesn't, so it just does as I tell it. I'll likely want to monitor it, though, just in case there is any issue with the calculations as it works."<br><br>"Osaka-san, have you been able to keep up on those other worksheets I made for you, or has this been your primary focus later?" Not accusing, he was just curious.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"We've someone else lined up for translation work, so don't stress about that end, just getting the ciphers done, not by hand.. that would be /amazing/." Naru flickers a smile as the pair of them seem agreeable. "With enough time and code, I could /probably/ come up with something to get it done, but it felt much more like something you two would be more suited to."<br><br>Naru takes a drink from her coffee, now that it has cooled enough to be slurpable rather than sips.<br><br>"I thought I'd given you all of those back for you to check over that you'd given me." Naru frowns a little in thought. "Unless I missed some, and then my apologies, I'll go hunt them up and finish them. It's been a little hectic, keeping all of the moving pieces.. well.. moving."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"I'll say," Rashmi says, looking up from the raw calculations with faintly spinny eyes. "I don't care if it *did* take two of you, it's *amazing* that you could work this out *and* magic-math. Every time I try I get an ice-cream headache. It's a little embarrassing, but, if it wasn't for Nicomachea I probably couldn't figure it out at *all.*" Yes, she may be downplaying her own ability, but, only a little. "As long as I know how the pieces fit together I'm okay, but I get lost in the weeds."<br> <br>Glancing up at Fenyx's perch with a little giggle, she digs into a pocket for a small Ziploc bag of seed, offering it up to the little bird as a snack. Then, she turns to a nearby table, detaches Nicomachea's charm from her bow, and sets it on the table. "Nico-kun, active mode please?" And with a flash of golden magic, the oversized, teched-up codex lies in its place.<br> <br>At which point Rashmi does something she hasn't in some time; physically opens the book, exposing blank pages as she looks up still holding the bag steady for Fenyx to pick through. "So d'you have the calculations separate from the original lettering? Feels like it'll be easier to separate the two, so he has a point of comparison."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown nodded, glancing through more of the papers. "Someone lined up? As expected of Osaka-san." After all, there was a reason she was one of the people he sent Runealy to when he realized what she was... definitely off in some way. Every one of them had a skill, a niche, that they fulfilled. And Naru's was... well. She had a lot. Even if she couldn't fight. She was mentally capable, socially capable...<br><br>Something he could prooooobably stand to notice more. However, he did glance up when she said she'd done them all. "You... had? Did I not give you the next packet?" he asked, a frown on his lips. "My apologies, Osaka-san. I'll deliver them later this evening. I shouldn't have let that slip through the cracks," he mumbled, looking thoughtful again.<br><br>"While I will acknowledge that struggling with math is normally not something that will prove useful to a TSAB mage, that is part of the reason some agents are partnered with intelligent devices. Not all mages are as gifted in all fields."<br><br>... Did he just call his girlfriend an idiot?<br><br>Fenyx, meanwhile, happily went into the seed, digging her head into the bag and gulping down the seed. She, at least, appreciated her bosses girlfriend.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"Does she eat fruit too?" Naru asks as she watches Fenyx take over Rashmi's head as her perch and get rewarded for such with a little treat.<br><br>"I mean, I like math. It's got steps, and you follow the steps and then you get what you need." Which is.. really what math is, but this math has at least a few stages where the 'steps' are circular and probably greased at the same time. Naru smiles gently. "There's an awful lot of things I can't do, so I tend to cling to the ones I can. This.. albeit slowly.. is one of them."<br><br>Naru ahhs softly as she goes back to the desk to retrieve pages. "I wrote out the steps in the hopes that it would make doing the next ones faster, to just follow the checklist rather than re-invent the wheel every time." Naru offers those pages to Rashmi. "Is that what you're looking for?"<br><br>Naru gives Chrono a little shake of her head. "I'm pretty sure there was some crisis at the time, and you were distracted and then I got distracted and there was probably some other crisis, but I can stop by and collect another packet. That'd be great, thank you."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"Which is good," Rashmi says, nodding at Chrono, "cos otherwise I'd wonder what Nicomachea was thinking, instead of just being glad he's here."<br> <br>At Naru's question about Fenyx's diet, Rashmi grins. "Lots of things," she says. "but I'm not ready to be hand-feeding her bugs. She does *love* chestnuts, though, which reminds me I need to pick up snacks for her other forms later." Yes, other forms. 'Adorable bird' is only one flavor of Fenyx, apparently.<br> <br>When Naru offers out the checklist, Rashmi brightens. "Oh perfect!" she says, taking the bundle and beaming at Naru, before turning back. "Okay... Nico-kun, we'll need an optical scan of aaaaall these pages. We're going to start with the order of operations, then the math, then the text. That *should* be enough to keep everything straight, but let me and Chrono know if you throw any errors?"<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">IT WILL BE MY PLEASURE, MASTER,</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span> says the book in his tweedy, tech-distorted professorial monotone. <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">COMMAND INPUT AWAIT</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>And Rashmi just starts... pressing the papers against the page, waiting half a second for the chime, and pulling it away to reveal a copy of the page, but *written in the book.* And she does this for the next page.<br> <br>And the next<br> <br>And the next.<br> <br>Data entry always finds a way to have at least one tedious step.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown couldn't help but grin when Rashmi answered for Fenyx/him. The fact she was taking such an interest in her... well...<br><br>There was a reason he liked her so much. And a lot of reasons Fenyx liked her so much.<br><br>"There's a lot of things a lot of people can't do," Chrono said. "But you're managing what you can efficiently, so others can do their own tasks. Optimizing ones ability so others can optimize their own is the basis for any well operating organization, were we in TSAB space there'd be plenty of jobs you'd be pivotal in. Just because you lack the ability to fight doesn't make you any less an important person to aid us in our encounters. I was one of the most powerful fighters on the Arthra, but I could only operate efficiently because I had a support group of at least ten other people to take care of the tasks I wasn't as good at."<br><br>Nobody should EVER undermine the importance of a good support network.<br><br>Though, as Rashmi got to work... well... Naru would be privy to something else.<br><br>The way Chrono just... looked to Rashmi as she got to work, telling Nico what to do, organizing it, setting up the order of operations. He... very nearly had hearts in his eyes, watching her work. Before he started and started doing it as well. After all, it was easy to each scan half the pages, then send each other a copy of their half and ensure that they got the full work done. Yup. And he definitely wasn't mooning over his girlfriend or nothing.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"Nico, you are a saint for making my life easier." Naru has no qualms about telling the Device that herself. "Thank you."<br><br>She watches the pair of them scan all of her careful notes with steps and proofs and math into that device and just shakes her head a little. She drinks her coffee, to feel just a little less at loose ends as they work together. "Okay you two somehow manage to be adorable while /scanning documents/, you guys are as bad as Darien and Usagi, I swear." She shakes her head a little, chuckling with warmth as she watches.<br><br>"I'm hoping the hard copies can stay in here." Naru comments as she thinks of it. "So that we've got them somewhere cnetral, just in case we need them."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>When Chrono jumps in to help scan, Rashmi adapts remarkably smoothly. There's a bit of a stutter in the workflow for the first couple documents, but once the dust settles the two are working with remarkable synchronicity. At Naru's comment, Rashmi looks up, giggling for a moment. Oh yeah? Who's Da--" A pause, and some blinking, as shenanigans involving The Veil assert themselves in their proper chronological order. "...Oh. Oooooooh. Tall, dark hair, terrible taste in sport coats? ...Huh! Well if they're one of the school's Power Couples I'm not gonna complain about the reference!"<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">IT IS A PLEASURE AND AN HONOR TO BE OF ASSISTANCE, GUEST USER 'Naru Osaka.'</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>As Nicomachea says Naru's name in Rashmi's voice, Rashmi herself looks up, cheeks reddening a bit. Clearing her throat, she looks to her fellow Debalt Club arguer, and shrugs. "I mean, if it ever turned out you came into some magic you can use, I thought it might be worthwhile to give you guest access? Think of it like giving you housekeys just in case I need to go quickly, and someone has to feed the cat."<br> <br>And while there's a *great many limits* on a Device in guest mode, it's still a distinct show of trust. But, Rashmi smiles it off easily. "And yeah, don't worry about the hard copy. It's best we leave it here for a lot of reasons, not least of which who knows who's gonna come along and incinerate bookbags *specifically* for nefarious purposes."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown chuckled and lightly scritched the side of his face. "We, err, are? I didn't realize. I just... well. Paperwork is easier to manage than some of the things on this world." He really was uptight. He even kind of... liked the paperwork. What a weirdo. And yet, he got Rashmi. Somehow. She must be weird too.<br><br>"Darien-san... yes. I believe we've met. He seems... nice." Troubled. But nice.<br><br>"Wait, there's someone out there just... burning up people's book bags? They seem.... troubling," Chrono muttered. "But yes. I see no reason to take the hard copies away from a central location. Especially if we have access to the scans as needed. Best to have them in a known location where we won't run into issues."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"Yep.. that's the one." The 'terrible taste in sport coats' clinches it and Naru's smile is warm and affectionate. "They are terminally adorable, and so are the pair of you." She sips from her coffee again.<br><br>Naru mms and nods to Chrono. "Often times paperwork can be really relaxing. It's a bit like most mundane math. The form asks a question, you answer it, you move on. It's soothing in being generally pretty clear about expectations."<br><br>Clearly Naru is a little weird too.<br><br>"I'd be surprised if you hadn't met, Chrono.. I'm pretty sure you guys are like next door to each other in the dorms. Or nearly."<br><br>Naru mms softly. "NOthing surprises me anymore about what gets trashed. I've only lost one book bag so far, but considering that was part of the kidnapping, that's not super surprising." She's pretty chill about that aspect of her recent past, there's no outward signs of undue distress.<br><br>"Guest user?" Naru blinks a moment and then smiles again. "Well thank you. I wouldn't know where to start, but I expect if push came to shove, Nico could help me figure it out. Ideally I never have to use it."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"No Chrono, just there are so many things happening all over the place, and some of them are *actively nonsense,* if that kind of thing did end up happening I would believe it," Rashmi chuckles, giving Chrono's head a smooch. "Also with work like this... it's mindless. Once you've got a good enough rhythm going, you can put your body on autopilot and just think about stuff. Like what I imagine Papi's doing when he's chopping vegetables."<br> <br>"And thank you, Naru-san," Rashmi says, mirroring Naru's smile. "Also, Guest Privileges mean mostly that you can talk to him, and he can answer any questions you have to the best of his ability. He'll need your permission for any magic things though, and that'd probably be emergency-use only, but... I figured if *anyone* would know how best to make use to a Google who can converse back--"<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">COMPARISONS TO THIS WORLD'S INFORMATION NETWORK REMAIN INADEQUATE, IF THEORETICALLY TECHNICALLY CORRECT--</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>"--And if I have to be separated from him," Rashmi says smoothly, as if they're had this argument multiple times, "I can't think of anyone who could get better use out of him that isn't Chrono. And *this* sweet little goober already has admin privileges, so."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>It was times like these that Chrono kind of felt at home. With people like himself.<br><br>Massive nerds.<br><br>"Yeah, he gave me a flower," Chrono said before he could stop himself. "Don't worry about it, it wasn't romantic in nature," he said quickly. Curses. And here he hadn't meant to spill too much... "But he's itneresting, at least. Haven't met Usagi much, but she seems nice."<br><br>He nodded to Rashmi, though. There really was. It was a good thing he wasn't trying to stay on top of EVERYTHING anymore. He'd have snap, crackled and popped a while ago. "Yeah, the moments of calm where all you have to do is fight a monster or stop an impending apocalypse or do some paperwork are nice." Compared to the moments the rules of reality are being re-writtet.<br><br>"Google is a... fascinating tool on this planet, I won't deny. The way it manages to go between incredibly efficient to utterly useless on a random whim is impressive."<br><br>Earth search engines. They do not impress him in comparison to come.<br><br>"Admittedly, once a device has chosen a user, I rarely try to access my admin privilages. It's generally considered rude and, frankly, can have consequences. So I likely wouldn't get much more use out of it than Osaka-san would." He stacked up the papers as they finished scanning and then began running his own programs to begin work. He then held them out to Naru. "Here. We'll text you as soon as we find anything, okay?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"There's so much going on, all of the time." Naru agrees with a shake of her head. "It's ridiculous. I am trying to remember to let go, I'm bad at it."<br><br>Naru quirks a brow at Chrono at the mention of a flower, but she doesn't comment any further.<br><br>"Google used to be better, I swear." Naru mmms softly. "I think they are somehow getting worse. It's frustrating as anything." She nods to Rashmi. "I'll continue to hope that I never have need to speak to Nico without you. Other than socially."<br><br>Naru pushes off her desk to move closer and collect up the papers again. "Thank you. While I'd like to get to the translation stage sooner rather than later, we've had this for a while, spinning out wheels on it. So a while longer isn't /that/ much of a problem."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"It *was* good training for getting answers out of Nicomachea though," Rashmi points out. "You can have all the questions you want, but you have to ask the *right* one for the answer to be useful. Intelligent Devices are amazing, but now and again -- very rarely, really -- you get reminded that you're still talking to a computer."<br> <br>When the papers are finished scanning, and Chrono starts running his own programs, Rashmi takes a deep breath. "Okay, Nico-kun. Using the order of operations we gave you, run the calculations detailed on the second set of papers, and format the results to match the characters shown on the third set."<br> <br>Blinking a bit, she runs that back in her head, nods, then looks to Chrono. "...That should allow him to come up with the results we want, right?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown nodded. "There really is. I mean, we had a lot of time like this back home, but there was an entire organization filled with thousands of ships and enforcers. So it does feel a tad... overwhelming at times," he admitted.<br><br>Still, the papers were returned.<br><br>And Rashmi was doing her reallllly sexy 'commanding her device like a soldier' thing he found so intoxicating. And she thought he was coooool.<br><br>He had it so bad.<br><br>"You're doing excellently, Rashmi. You'll make a fine enforcer one day." Then blinked. "Well... would. If... in TSAB space, I mean. Anyway. It'll take a while for the translations to show results, is there anything else needed or should Rashmi and I depart? And should we leave together, or in spurts so as to not draw too much attention?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"I don't think there's anyone lurking in the shrubbery just yet." Naru points out and then grins. "Besides, unless they know what's in here already.. if you two leave together, they'll assume you wanted some.. quiet time together." She giggles softly, teasing them.<br><br>"I'll look forward to seeing what you two come up with. Fingers crossed that we get this next stage sorted out." Naru takes a slow breath, letting it out in a bit of a sigh.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>Rashmi purely *shines* under the praise. Even if it's only a theoretical capacity, the idea that she would be an *exceptional* civil servant is practically a certificate of distinction to the redhead. "I'll be checking in on what Nicomachea's been crunching," she says, and with a mental command the book shines, shatters into shards of golden mana, and resumes his standby form as a sunburst charm, which gets affixed back onto her bow. "But unless something goes weird, yeah, we probably won't have anything to say until it's done."<br> <br>Then Naru suggests 'quiet time,' and she stands up straight, as if the thought hadn't quite occurred to her. "Hey, uh... Chrono? How d'you feel about taking a walk in the forest?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:'''<br>Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. He held out his arm and Fenyx flew to it, to be bet again. "Fair enough. Well, I wouldn't get too excited. There's a lot to do here and while our devices are advanced, they can only do so much with something this complex. It'll take a while. But... we'll message you as soon as we know. Thank you for all of your help and for getting us into contact with resources we need to help. You'd make an excellent dispatcher." ... Which was more praise than it likely sounded.<br><br>He then glanced towards Rashmi and answered in the most boring way. "I don't imagine there's much danger to it, while these woods are slightly overgrown and the trails aren't often used, they-- oh. OH! You meant... not in a tactical manner, but as a... yes. I think a uhhhh... couple's walk would be nice. I'd like that," he said, gently taking her hand in his, Fenyx moving to his shoulder. Now filled with bird seed.<br><br>"We'll see you again soon, Osaka-san." Before heading out the door.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:59|Naru Osaka (59)}} has posed:'''<br>"I know how long it took to do by hand. I am not expecting instantaneous results." Naru assures them. "Er.. thank you." She isn't quite sure what being a dispatcher might entail, but it seemed like it was offered in a spirit of praise, so she'll take it that way.<br><br>"Shoo you two. Go be cute in the woods." Naru's smile is warm and it's clear that she has no plans to follow them out. "Thank you, all of you!"<br> <br>
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