View source for Office Meeting (Hotaru Tomoe)

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2023/08/22
|Location=Obsidian Tower - Board Room
|Synopsis=Tomoe Lifesciences has a leadership meeting
}}
Kaolinite and the Witches 5 stared at the professor, forced smiles on their faces while he worked.

“I’ve always loved tea,” the professor said, his laughter echoing through the board room. “The whole ceremony of preparing and serving it is so relaxing.” In front of him, the pot boiled furiously. He dipped a ladle into the pot, taking out the water and pouring it into his tea cup before laughing wildly, then stirring it.

“Ahem, so,” Kaolinite said. “Thanks to your efforts, professor, our daimons are now ready for proper field testing and can be mass produced as necessary for our goals. They--” She went silent when the glass of tea flew past her head.

“Darn it! It’s too hot!” the professor yelled.

Kaolinite gulped, but soon started to laugh when he started as well. “A-ah. Of course. Would you prefer some… colder tea?”

“No,” the professor said. “Carry on.”

“Err, right. We are almost ready to begin our search for a suitable heart. Pure heart extraction is nearly ready to begin,” Kaolinite said.

“Nearly?”

“We, ahhhh, are still running into a few minor issues,” Kaolinite said. “Our current methods are… less than perfect. The survival rate is estimated at fifteen percent. But we’re certain if we locate a proper pure heart, then--”

“An eighty-five percent chance of destroying the heart?” Professor Tomoe asked.

“Err, for now,” Kaolinite said. “But we’re certain a true pure heart would be more than capable of handling the process.”

“We will not begin until we are certain it can be properly extracted,” Professor Tomoe said. “We will only get once chance at this, ladies. We cannot allow any chances of failure. Speaking of… the host?”

Kaolinite sighed before giving a small nod. “The host has finally entered the second stage of her awakening. Your hypothesis was correct. Short, continued interactions with magically enhanced individuals seems to have awoken the egg from its dormant stage. While the growths are currently less penetrating, they are far more stable. However, without the pure heart crystal, her full awakening will be impossible. While Mistress 9’s power is what we’d expect, it is only active for short bursts before going dormant again.”

“That is fine,” Professor Tomoe said. “So long as the egg continues to grow, all can proceed according to plan. Her recent outburst, do we know what caused it?”

“Unfortunately, we do not,” Kaolinite said. “Apparently the host was discussing something with Zoisite, one of Beryl’s agents. Agera was unable to determine what, but he was able to get the host away before she could level the tower.”

“I see,” the professor said. “And here I was just thinking how this tower needed a bit more ventilation.” Professor Tomoe began to laugh at his own joke and, after a few moments, Kaolinite joined him. “This Agera, is he a possible candidate?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Kaolinite said. “Mimette has already ran tests. Due to the nature of his unique physiology, a daimon egg would not survive within him. However, he isn’t currently aware of our plans and has been useful at gathering information on the host.”

“I see,” Professor Tomoe said with yet another laugh. “Then I suppose we’d best continue for now. Inform me the moment the extraction device is ready!”

“Of course, Professor Tomoe,” the Witches 5 said in unison before they got to their feet and bowed, the professor’s laughter echoing through the board room.