12/Firefly's Rebirth

Firefly's Rebirth
Date of Scene:	02 July 2023
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Dark Laboratory
Synopsis:	Hotaru needs some help if she's going to be out with magical girls and like... not destroying the city. That means she needs help from a certain Agera-sempai...
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Takashi Agera

---

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe mildly knew why she was waiting. Very, very mildly. Officially, because he had experience with the devices and they wanted to ensure that the professor's 'precious little girl' was properly tended to.

Realistically?

He was a lowly peon and the leader of the witches 5 didn't want to deal with a little kid who only ever glared and snapped at her and was about five seconds from literally biting her. Which she had done, once.

The fact she was outsourcing this to someone else was also a CLEAR sign that she was annoyed at the Witches 5 for their recent failures. But Takashi had also managed to make a good impression on her father by being there at a point she had needed someone. He didn't have the clearance to know what made her go wild. But he did know that when it happened, when she got very hurt, the dark energy inside her had run amuck and she had caused a lot of damage.

But now they wanted her to help. Obsidian. And they were making her HIS problem.

Which was why Hotaru was besides his desk, her head lowered, a frustrated look on her face. She didn't know who it was she was being pawned off on, but she didn't like it one bit. At least it wasn't one of the witches 5, though.

But for now, she waited for him, leaning against his desk, fiddling with her little plastic ID badge angrily, wondering what halfwit she was going to get pawned off on and how he was going to try and use her to get closer to her daddy.

To be fair, not all of her frustration was with him. There was... something else on her mind. In many ways, the catalyst for all of this. The reason she had jumped at the opportunity... at first... to get some strength. Some help...

Takashi Agera has posed:
The person that walked through the door to the room was probably not who she was expecting. Not some Dark-Energy salaryman or worse, youma, but a boy who looked, while older than her, to be still in school himself.

Tall boy, long silver hair, wearing a labcoat, hands stuffed in the pockets. School uniform - albeit in blue and dark blue - for Radiant Heart Academy under the coat.

It was a boy she vaguely remembered carrying her off when she had... lost control... of her dark side, when the destruction had come. She didn't recognize him. But, she could remember him.

Takashi Agera, ever so slightly above a youma himself, low level researcher on Obsidian's totem pole. He'd only recently been given his own space, but it was... almost a closet, of space. Still, it beat being sent out on stupid missions. Now he only got sent out on slightly stupid missions. The only reason he'd crossed paths with Hotaru Tomoe was luck - he'd sensed her energy, sensed the danger. Her dark energy - and her ID card - told him where to bring her, but he didn't think she was the daughter of *that* Tomoe, of his boss' boss' boss Professor Souchi Tomoe.

So he blinked, and then smiled, tilting his head down a bit. "Hey there. So you're the one who needs a device? That makes sense." he said.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe glanced up and stared when someone approached her. A boy? A weird boy? She stared at him for a few moments, her mouth falling open. Was... he... a youma? One of her daddy's experiments? He looked... like a person. Normal. Heck, she thought she might have seen him in school. She wanted to get curt, to yell at him, to accuse him of being one of the witches 5 lackeys. "Does it?" she asked, a little curt. "Why?"

She wasn't... angry at him. Though she was certainly angry. He was a target, but it was a... vague anger. Directed at SOMEONE. But not him.

No, she had a rage at someone or something. She was nervous, too. She kept fiddling with her badge and glancing down the hall. As if she expected someone or something to come after her. Then... "Because daddy?" she asked. "Or because Kaolinite?"

After all, while she didn't know it... she was a valuable resource to both her father and Kaolinite. The thing inside her, if fully, properly, awoken could be everything they needed. But if it 'passively' awoke, uncontrolled and then going back into a comatose state... it could draw undo attention. Better to ensure if any more accidents happened, she wouldn't get quite so hurt that others knew what she housed.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi shook his head and smiled. "Because you leveled a city block when you let the monster inside control the person outside. Instead of the person gaining strength from the monster but keeping it caged within." Takashi said. He said this all like it made perfect, complete sense. "I'm here because Tomoe-sempai asked me to look at you and help you out. You're here because of... the destruction." He continued.

"You don't need to be sharp with me, you know. I'm here to help you out..." and he paused. "...And I'm here because now I want to help you." he said. "So, why don't we work together for a bit. It seems like you'll be spending some time with me anyways."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe 's eyes went wide when he flat out called her on what happened. "You... you heard about that?" she asked softly. "I didn't... I just... I..." And there it was. For the moment, she wasn't the curt little brat who hated Kaolinite for trying to get involved in her family...

She was the young girl who had something inside her she didn't understand. "I-I never wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't want to destroy anything. I don't... ever want to hurt people without knowing it... but I just..."

She clenched her fists tightly. Even if he was one of Kaolinite's pawns... "And... and this device will... help make sure it doesn't... happen again?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi looked at her. "You don't remember? I know about it because I was there. Or, well, I was there after it happened. I picked you up and brought you somewhere safe?" he asked. "You lost control." He continued.

"But don't worry. That's what I'm going to try to do here. Give you the tools to keep control." He said. And then he rolled up the right sleeve of his labcoat, and she could see a strange bracer clasped around his arm below the wrist. There was a purple-black gem in it. "I have something that helps me maintain control, balance. Keeps me who I want to be. And... I intend to make something like this for you, if you'll allow it. Though probably more of a tool, a weapon, than a bit of jewelery." he says.

"The device is the start, but it will give you an edge, an edge you can use to achieve control."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gasped. "Y-you were there? You... I'm so sorry. I-I don't remember... any of it. I never do. Though... I... I've never lost control like that. But I'm always scared that... whatever that thing inside me is... it'll..."

She eyed his arm. "You have something like... this... inside you? Too? You can... feel it... you... can control it? So this will really help?" she asked. "Not just giving me strength to help daddy, but... to make sure.... I don't lose control again?" And now she was excited. Leaning forward a little. Staring at the gem.

If she could truly get the strength she needed...

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi nods and looks down at her. "I don't know your story, but I'll tell you mine. A few people know so it's not really secret, but. Dark energy is a part of me. It always has been, from the day I was born." He says, and then looks down. "You get used to it after a while. And it's not all bad, really. Lots of benefits. I'd rather be special with difficulty than be normal and boring." And Takashi sticks out two fingers of his hand and drags them through the air - and as he does, an inky stream of black, liquid like energy starts to trail behind them, before he sort of rotates his hand and creates a little ball of inky liquid. And then as easily as he created it he lets it go, and it dissolves into droplets back into the air. "Normal people can't do that." He says with smile.

"And I'm sure you can do amazing things too. But only with control. So, is it alright if we work on a tool to help you gain that control together?" He asks.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, staring at it. "I... I see," she said softly. "I don't... think it was a part of me forever. It... ever since I had an... after my father's... there was an accident," she finally said, glancing away. "Since then it has felt like... there's been this thing inside me. Growing. Always getting... stronger. Just... just a little bit stronger. Each day. And like... like I'm... slowly losing control," she said gently, chewing on her lips a little. "Like if I stop fighting, if I give in... I'll lose myself. I don't... I don't want to do that. I don't want to hurt people..."

"Whenever I lose... control... whenever I stop... I feel like... I don't know what will happen. And I'm scared of it. So I... I want to make this tool. Please help me make this tool. So I can control this. Please."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi listens, intently. More than anyone has in a long time, probably. Not looking to her father past her (though, he's not in the room.) "It's probably stronger because you're trying to keep it down." Takashi says.

"So... you can think of dark energy like this kind of like... if your body is a forest. And the dark energy is... a forest fire. And you'd think that all forest fires are bad, right? But that's not true. If you try to stop all forest fires, what you're actually doing is setting up for a catastrophe - for a fire that destroys everything. The way people who maintain forests actually keep them safe is by letting small fires go out occasionally. Small fires clear out the underbrush, and some trees fall, but that makes a path for new growth - and it means each fire is small so the whole forest never goes up."

"By trying to deny what you are - by denying that you are partially dark energy, just like me - you're preventing all the fires. But it doesn't work forever, and when it does fail..."

    "Catastrophe."

"So... What I think we should do, is get you to a point where you can control the small fires, direct them, make the energy within you work for you. Dark Energy is also powerful, and you can use it to achieve things you want." he continues. "And I think they're going to be putting you in the field anyways soon, so I want you to be able to defend yourself. That's why we're going to make you a tool that's also defensive."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, listening intently to him now. "Catastrophe..." she whispered. She remembered that. She felt that. She'd been that. Caused so much destruction. So much pain. So much suffering. "I... I don't want to hurt anyone," she whispered. "I want to... to never hurt anyone again," she whispered. Nervously, she licked her lips.

"A little fire... so like... better to have... little fires. Than causing a full forest fire. I... I think I can do that," she said with a small, timid smile. "How do we start?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi looks down at Hotaru. She is so young, and she just doesn't seem like she wants this kind of life. But... there was once a small boy in an orphanage, a boy who couldn't risk his emotions getting out of hand lest the shadows attack. He didn't want the power, either. And now he was here, standing in front of her, and telling her the same things it took him so long to get. "I understand, believe it or not." Takashi says, and turns away from her and looks down. A few breaths. "Come on. I want to see what it's going to be." He says, and reaches for the handle of the door to the little room Hotaru waited for him in. He turns it the opposite direction from how a door would normally open, and visualizes the destination, and when it opens up, it does not open to the hallway Hotaru walked in from, but a sort of training room. There are several racks of weapons on the walls.

"I want you to see if any of these feel right to you. Don't worry if you're not used to them just... try not to hurt yourself. But swing them around. See if the weight is right, or whatever. Your device is going to be something that's with you all the time, even if in a small form, and it's how you'll defend yourself - from the monster inside, but also from enemies outside, from those who don't understand or try to stop you. So it should be something that feels comfortable to you.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe followed him into the weird room. It was... new. She knew that. Doors didn't open like that. But... this did. A new room. A room filled with weapons. Just seeing them made her breath stop for a moment. She didn't like these.

But she knew that didn't matter. She came this for, she couldn't turn around now. Not if she.... if not for her own sake. Then for others. Timidly, she reached out to the first. She started with a knife, then shook her head, putting it back.

Her fingers stroked over a mirror, frowning. Weird...

Then a sword.

Last, a small staff with an orb on it. Like a mage's staff.

Something about those three... Had she seen them in a dream once? Was that... good? She picked up the staff, then spun it.

She let out a shriek when she hit one of the racks, sending all of the other things on it toppling down around her and quickly backing away. "S-sorry," she said, inching forward and putting it back on the rack. "I-I don't think I'm good with this. Uhhhh..."

Numchucks, she hit her hand.

Mace and flail, she almost concusses herself and it's the first time Takashi would have to shield her so she didn't eat a metal ball to the face. She quickly decided NO chains after that.

Knives, no. Blades, no. Wands, no. Tonfa, no. The small girl continued to go through them, one by one. "I don't think I'm fit for weapons," she said before picking up a spear. It did feel.. better, though. She managed to even spin it WITHOUT hitting anything...

Only to stumble BACK into the rack, scattering the others with a shriek. "S-sorry, I... I..." When she tried to catch herself, she'd ended up grabbing one of the weapons.

A glaive. A very long one, with a strange, almost crescent moon-like end. She stared at it... And then...

When she spun this one, it just fit. No, not just spun it, she spun it in one hand, then the other, spinning around with it as she moved. Even over all the stuff she had dropped, she didn't stumble.

It was as if she had been wielding one like it her whole life. And he likely had seen things like this before. That innate... magical senses that made someone just... good with something. AKA. Magic stuff that didn't need to be explained.

Eventually, she stopped, holding the glaive up and out. It was so much taller than her. Yet... "I... I think this..." Hotaru said softly. "This feels... nice."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Now, there was no way Takashi could have guessed why it felt right for her. But the reason this room existed was occasionally, when you had someone new, they did have an affinity. And if you were going to make a device for someone important, they wanted to pick. But the way that she held the glaive was different. It was... Impressive. She wielded it not like she was comfortable with it... but like she had mastered it. "Yeah, it looks like it suits you." he said. Understatement of the day, maybe month. "Good. Thanks for sticking with it, for continuing to try. Now, I'll make something that serves you well." Takashi says, and guides her back to his impromptu-workshop-closet.

"So, important question. Do you like to read? Or... how do you like to spend your time? Because I kinda need you to stay close by while I do some of this work so I can attune the Device to your unique energy?" He says, tilting. "So I don't want you to be bored out of your mind. I hate being bored." He hated being bored maybe even more than he hated sparkly girls in skirts with cleansing powers, really. Which was a lot. "Like, it could take hours, so..."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "Y-yeah. It felt... nice. It kind of makes me wish I could try out for more athletic clubs," she admitted. It felt... weird. Like someone else was controlling her for a moment, helping her move the way she needed to. Like it owuld have been easier to run through the stuff on the floor with the glaive, that empty handed.

"I ummm... I like to read... and sometimes play games. I... I have a deck of cards. I usually just play solitaire while dad works, unless he needs me to be there for him to test. I ummmm... I like... books about the stars. Fairy tales, too. I used to have this old book of american stories, 'Grim tales' and the like. Some of them were sad, but most were just... nice. I also, um, like Sadako and the thousand cranes." Yeah, that one... made sense... and hit close to home. "It's okay, though. I'm... kind of used to... waiting," she admitted.

With a father like hers... how many countless hours had she spent waiting for her daddy to finish his work?

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Sure, but nobody should have to wait bored. Well, not if it can be helped." Takashi said. "Unfortunantly the next... five or so minutes can't be helped, but it'll save you hours being bored, which is probably a good deal." Takashi stands up and stuffs his hands in his pockets and then - sidesteps away. Sidesteps to somewhere else. Like he just stopped being there after the step. It's quiet for about... well, a little longer than five minutes. Probably closer to ten. But eventually he sidesteps back into view, with shopping bags. He puts them down next to Hotaru. "Books, like you like. Fairy tales and stars. Deck of solitare cards. Oh, and a bento box for both of us..." Takashi says, leaning down and pulling one out. "Other one in there is for you." He says, and sits the box on the table. "I'll get to mine in a bit."

    "I feel inspired, actually..."

And so Takashi gets down to work, building... well, slowly, building... a staff, first, but then the blade. It looked like it was being built out of... not junk... but spare parts. Because it was. Parts Takashi had salvaged. Nobody on Earth yet could make the things needed to make functional Mid-Childan or Belkan devices, but the wreck of the Artha had given him enough parts to build his own device with some left over... but more importantly he had developed an *understanding* of the things. One day he'd make the parts, too...

Takashi worked fast but it still took time. But eventually, he wrapped a cloth around the handle and suddenly tapped Hotaru's shoulder.

"Hey, give it a try with this. It should be close to the balance of the training one, if not a bit heavy. Oh. But. Over here..." he said, and opened the Door to the training room. "In case that last one was a fluke. And if it wasn't... see what you can do, tell me how it feels, if it needs adjustments in weight distribution. If you can feel that, anyways." he adds, remembering after a moment her actual age and inexperience.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, watching him go. He was gone a while... but she assumed he was going to tell Kaolinite 'Look, I got the kid to do what I said!'

And when he returned, she was playing solitaire.

Then he came back and... When he brought the books, her eyes narrowed. She took them and... Huh. They weren't from the library. They didn't... look stolen. Did he just go out and buy these? That was.... generous of him. She'd thought he was just making small talk. They usually didn't actually act on what she said. She was just a kid, so often they ignored it.

Last time they'd just tried to chuck and handheld game at her and hoped it'd distract her like she was some kind of child with jingling keys. And sure, she was a child, but she wasn't dumb.

She took out the space travel book and glanced at it. Just a small one-off, but... it was... different.

And occasionally she would glance over to see his work. It was... weird. Cool. Interesting. But she didn't understand it. And she was incredibly quiet, especially as young as she was. Almost obedient. Nothing like most children her age. Likely a lot like he had been at that age.

When he touched her, though, she cringed and pulled back. "C-careful," she said quickly, instinctively. "I... I sometimes... have... reactions when people touch me," she said. 'Healing them' was hardly a 'reaction'. But she didn't want to say that.

She nodded, though. Taking the glaive. "I... I'll try. I don't know if I can, but I'll try."

She then took a slow, deep breath and swung it. And then kept swinging it. Spinning it around, stepping around in a tight circle. It was a little off-balanced, but that was fine. She could compensate. Even if it was too tall for her, she just... seemed to know what to do. How to do it.

It was so easy. That was what amazed her the most. It felt like she'd done it a thousand times before. Moving with the same ease she might have... well... Written her name.

Yet it was a big oversized glaive.

How? How was she doing this? Why did it feel so familiar? Why did it feel so familiar? Was it her robotic arm? No. It wasn't that. It was... something else. It had to be. Because both could. Why did it feel so... familiar? Why could she feel like she had done it before? WHY? WHY WHY WHY?!

Of course, getting worked up had its consequences for her. About midway through it she stopped and dropped the glaive, crumbling to her knees and coughing, her hands moving over her mouth. It only lasted a few moments, leaving her crumbled on the ground and shaking. But... It had. "S-s-s-sorry," she said gently. "S-sometimes I just... It... it wasn't long this time," she said softly. "Is... it magic? I don't remember ever touching anything like this."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi stops watching the moment Hotaru crumbles to her knees - his hand coming out to catch not the scythe, but to her. He lets the scythe hit the ground in preference to making sure she gently crumbles to the ground rather than painfully. It is probably not a good sign how few people in her life would choose her over a magical device. Probably a worse sign that the one who did is the mad science kleptomaniac. But, sometimes, you take what you can get.

"You don't need to do that anymore right now." He told her. "It's clear to me that this is your weapon." Takashi said. "And no, it's not magic yet. Only technology. Magic, I have to work into it." He continued. "Actually, it should be *crappy* right now but you weilded it like it's masterwork... the magic's in you, Hotaru."

Takashi has no way of knowing how right he is, or in what nature.

"Right now you should just sit there and decide what you're going to call it. It'll get a name and a voice. It'll be your companion, your shield, your weapon."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was... oddly, not entirely used to being caught. The witches 5 wouldn't have. Her dad would... if he wasn't busy. Kaolinite had once. And gotten bit. 'Accidentally' Hotaru had said.

It hadn't been an accident.

Still... he'd let it fall and not her. That was a good sign. "S-sorry..." she said softly, once she got control of herself again. "O-oh. Good. So I've got... magic in me. That is good at... stabbing people. That's... cause of... emotions. Should be. I guess." Oh, she had feelings.

"I uhhhh... I guess... maybe... a ummm... name..." she glanced towards it. IT was big... Very... very big. "Maybe... shiny... Titan?" she asked. "Ummmmm... Silver Titan? Ummm... Sharp Titan? What... what do people usually name theirs when you make them?" she asked.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi laughs. "Well, it's good at using the glaive from a technical standpoint. I think actually putting it into someone you'd be far leess good at. It doesn't seem in your profile. I had better make sure this thing has a rifle mode." he says, as he sits her down and grabs the tool off the floor.

He walks over to the desk and begins working on the device again. "What do you mean most people?" Takashi asks. "You're the first person I've made one for that wasn't me. Everything else was a prototype or a test. This is a special occasion."

"You don't want to ask what I named mine though, it's terribly nerdy." he adds.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "I... I'd rather not stab anyone if I can avoid it. And yes, something... that wouldn't hurt too much. Please? I don't... I don't want to accidentally hurt anyone. I just need it to be strong enough to do my duty," she said gently.

However, finding out hers was the first made her eyes widen. "W-what? I am? I figured... there were dozens of them. Why... me? I mean, why make one for me? If not for anyone else?"

She was quiet after that, looking down at it... before...

"So... what... did you name yours?" she asked softly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Well the whole point, Tomoe-chan, is to avoid the accidentally hurting people part, yes. But at some points you'll have to be ready to do some intentional hurting. If a monster is threatening three people it's better to hurt the monster, yes? And sometimes the monster is a human." Takashi explains, even though this would work a lot better if they, you know, weren't often the monster themselves.

"I'm making one for you because you need one. Other people might want one, but you need it. You need the control, you need the defense, you need it for largely the same reasons I do." he admitted. He was *also* told to make one for her, but even if that wasn't true he would have done it for her anyways had he known the things he does now. She was a weapon, and it was better for the local weapons to have a good opinion of you, to be dependent on you.

Takashi paused. "It's named Axion. That's the name for a hypothetical elementary particle of which dark matter might be comprised of." He said after a moment. He was more proud of the cleverness than anything else, which she'd get used to. "Dunno if that helps you with yours at all."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded and then froze. "I... guess that's true. Sometimes humans can be incredibly monstrous. And I don't... think I'd mind hurting the monsters as much," she admitted. "And if I had to to stop them from... hurting innocent people, I think I could definitely do it. Sometimes you have to do things like that to make sure everyone is okay," she said.

Well, he was bringing her around to his way of thinking it seemed... "Thank you, then. I mean... I... I honestly thought these were just... mass produced or something. They don't tell me about them. About the magic. I uhhh... thanks."

She nervously fiddled with her hands now, flushing red. It was a pretty nice gift, all things considered. But hearing him talk about it, the meaning to it, made her think. Dark energy, hypothetical element? So... it should have meaning, right? So... what... did she want her weapon to be like? To signify? She'd need to think on that. What was the weapon, the shield, all of it... going to be to her? So for now, she watched him work.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiles. "A lot of the things I do, it's all to the same effect, it's just on a grander scale. There are things out there that want to destroy us." A lot of those things work in the same company, but that's not the point. "If we don't grow our power, we won't have it when it's needed to protect others. So, the more power I have the more people I can protect." And order around, but that would undermine the current point.

"There's a less useful mass-produced model but it doesn't have the ability to self-regulate, which this one will do. It'll help you even when you can't help yourself. Eventually it'll be able to throw up shields for things you don't even see coming, once you have built up a connection with it." he said. "Tomoe-chan, you have a lot of potential. You can do a lot of great things. But you've been held down by people who don't understand you. I know exactly how that feels. If you were able to fully access your power, your father would hardly need anyone else, and all of those crawling at his feet looking for his favor would vanish, leaving only him, you, and the actually useful people like me."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "I... I guess there are, aren't there? Lots of awful things..." Some of which were inside her. One of which, at least. "And yes. If power is... used for that's it's okay," she said.

"I don't know if I'm that powerful," she said sheepishly. "I mean... even if I get stronger... I don't know if... what that thing inside me did, if I'll be as powerful as it. I usually feel like I'm spending all of my energy trying to hold it back. Some... some days I wonder... how much longer my body can even last, like this. If I keep fighting. Will... I eventually just give out and that... thing... come out?"

"But... but if... using it in small bursts... helps.... if it helps me to control it, to stop it... to... help daddy... I... I think I could... I think I can learn how to control it."

"... There are a lot of people who... look to him like that. Who want to use him... to get closer to him. But..." she mumbled softly. "Some of those people are bad... Do you... think..." She was quiet then. Staring at the tool he was making. "What if... to get that strong, I had to hurt a lot of people? Innocent people? Do you think it would be worth it?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi sighed. "Well, look, all of that might be true - maybe whatever's inside you is dangerous - but if that's the case, this is also still helpful, because I can pull data from your device and maybe even if you can't control it now, we can figure out how you can control it. A little knowledge, a little science, a little technology, and some hard thinking can solve any problem. Especially when you have me around to think faster." He smiled. "And now you have me around, so. Problems are only a matter of time to solve - never a matter of possibility."

"I think... it's hard to judge and we have to do the best we can, Tomoe-chan. I think we have to have our lines and not cross them. I think your line is different than mine, and that's alright." he admitted. "I think we also have to keep the people who help us close, and keep our distance from the people who would harm our success to improve theirs." he added. Already using we. Trying to get her to think of the two of them as a 'we' for purposes of success. She took out a city block - he wanted her on his side. "I think we should avoid becoming monsters by doing monstrous things. But I also think we shouldn't be afraid to make other people think we are - because sometimes if you scare someone you can avoid hurting them." He sighed. "It's complicated, hard to explain in a night, to figure out. But... maybe that gives you an idea of how I operate, at least, and you can use that to figure out how you do."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, eying the device. Staring at it. If it could really solve her problems... if it could *stop* her from hurting people... "So... you think, with this thing... you could help me learn to control whatever's inside me?" she asked. "Are you... sure? I don't think... even daddy knows how to." She heard her daddy and assistants talking sometimes. About her. Searching for... things... to 'help'. Whatever a 'pure heart crystal' was... she didn't get it.

She nervously chewed on her lip. Looking at it... "Yeah... I think... there are lines. I think some people don't have them, though. Not everyone in Obsidian is like daddy. I think... some people here don't care who they hurt."

She glanced towards the weapon and considered it for a few moments. And him. Then, finally... "I guess it's hard, huh? But... ummm... where's your line?" she asked.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi looked up from his work, looked up at the ceiling, and sighed. "I don't like dragging in people who haven't agreed to the fight. Sometimes it's unavoidable, and then, I try to do as little damage as possible... I'd rather drain a little bit of energy from everyone than drain someone so dry they're sick for a long time. But ideally, I wouldn't have to at all." he admitted.

"I'm a little bit more open on people who have chosen to be part of the fight. Whether that's with dark energy or the sparkle skirts. They have powers, they have chosen to take a side, so I don't feel bad. Obviously, I'm not in it to kill anybody, that's a waste. But I'll use the force I have to, to acheive my goals." he admits.

"But some people around here who just pick on the people who haven't gotten into the fight, who could go blissfully about their day without ever knowing? That's lame. Its weak."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small smile when he said his line. That was fair. In fact, it was more than fair. "I... like that line," Hotaru said. "If someone agrees to the fight and you fight them... it doesn't... seem so bad. At least they know. It's the ones who... haven't. Who aren't making the choice. Who get sucked in. They don't... deserve that. Nobody does."

"... But you and I made the choice to be involved, didn't we?" she asked. "That's... why we need things like... Axiom, right? And..." She trailed off, eying the glaive. Titan. Something Titan. Who was she? What was... she going to be...

Then, when he was working, there was a little glow in the blade, when he fiddled with pieces. "Luminous..." she finally said. "Luminous... Titan."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi smiled a little bit as he worked. He was reading Hotaru's energy signatures, the way her magic interacted with the world, with the magic he was running. There was something in Hotaru that was similar to what he felt inside himself, but also different. He wasn't sure if it was native, but that made sense with what Hotaru had recently said about it coming together after an accident.

"That's a good name. Maybe a little too much like a sparkle-skirt's but. Not everything needs to be BlackDarkMcAwful here either." he smiles. And the idea of Hotaru's anything being 'titanic' is amusing to him.

"I didn't make the choice so much as I've just always been involved." Takashi admits as he starts the work of finalizing a purple gem near the break between the haft and blade of the polearm. "There isn't a way for me to not be. There was no accident that changed me, no deal made, I've just always been this. My first friends were shadow puppets that were... quite real, if short lived."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, eyeing the blade. Would it really give her the power she needed? "Sparkle-skirt? I... don't know who that is," she admitted. "And... I guess. I mean... I've never named a weapon before. Never had a weapon before. I uhhh..." She trailed off again, before glancing to him.

"... If you had the choice, to not be involved... would you? I mean... if you could choose to... have not... had any of this?" she asked. "To not be here?"

She then glanced back to the blade. "If... you found out that you could have had that choice... but someone... took it from you, chose it for you... could you forgive them? Would you hate them? Or would you be grateful to them?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi shrugs. "You know, sparkle-skirts. Mahou shoujo. Shiny magical girls. We've been seeing more of them crop up, like exactly as we're doing more." he said.

He considered her question. "Well, I mean... if I could choose to be... normal... or be who I am now? I wouldn't choose the normal side. There are things in my life I wish are different, but I don't begrudge the chance to do more than most people, to be more than most people."

"If I could do it all without the downsides, yeah, I'd prefer that. But I think in most cases it's not an option. So if I have to choose between boring normality, and difficulty with a chance for greatness... I'll choose the chance for greatneess."

"So... it's not even an if, for me. I know the choices that lead to me being who I am. And the person - the woman - who made those choices for me - she also paid a heavy price for them. A final price. And because of her, I have a chance for greatness. So... yeah, I'm grateful to her. And I won't waste my chance, either."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "Oh. I ummm... wasn't aware of that. I... don't think they mean poorly. Sometimes I think they might be right. I know what some people here do is good... but I think... some people, not so much," she said.

One group in particular she was thinking of right now, actually. His talk of being happy with it, too. Welllll...

He wanted to ask about the woman who made the choice for him. But... She lifted a hand to her chest. He might have heard, even. The accident that caused... this... to her? Also took her mother from her. But finally... she asked it.

"Would you make that choice, then? For someone else? If you thought... it would turn out good for them in the end? Do you think that would justify making the choice for them?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi paused midway through his work on the gem and thought. "It would depend on the person. Do I know the person? If I don't know them, it's a lot to put onto some random person, so no. Do I think they're strong enough to handle it, that they have the drive, the desire - that trying to become all they could would make them happy? Yeah. Then I might make the choice for them. But... if you don't know?"

Takashi went back to work, shifting magical parameters and closer to being ready to turn it on and link it to Hotaru. "...if you don't have the stomach for it, the strength for it? This is a hard world even when you don't have powers. Even the people outside of the labs, the regular guys doing their job have it difficult. The ones that don't know magic at all still have great struggle. For those of us in the know, for those of us in this world? It can be brutal. I think putting that on the wrong people is wrong."

"...I don't think my mother knew how difficult it would be, so I forgive her for that side of it. But I know, I've lived it, so I have to be more responsible, right? Like. It's lucky that I have this sort of drive, but if I didn't? I would have been swallowed by it a long time ago."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. "Yeah. I guess... I guess in a way it's our job, then... to show them. Huh? I mean... the... sparkle... skirts? How dangerous it can be," she said. "So they know exactly what they're getting into," she said. But he could see it. Even if she said those words, they weren't happy words. In fact, she looked incredibly sad at the idea. Hurting someone, anyone... even if it was for their own good.

But then... she looked determined. "What... would you do... if... daddy wanted you to? If he told you to grab... someone. You didn't know them. And you didn't know if he knew them. If he told you to just... grab someone and take them into this world. Into all of this. Would you do it?" she asked.

Was she testing his loyalty? Or something else? Her eyes lingered on the necklace... She wondered how close it was...

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi stopped. "Well..." And he finished the point he was working on and pulled away. "I respect your father a great deal. He's a genius. And... one of the things about genius is being a few steps ahead of the norm. But... I'm a genius too, and I'd hope if he respects me even a little bit, he could explain to me the purpose." Takashi said. "Maybe that's the reason I'm still where I am, and my friend has risen much faster. Maybe I ask too many questions, think too much, and that's not what I'm supposed to do." Takashi continued.

"But like... we're playing with dangerous things here. With something beyond what other humans have dealt with. This is something beyond the corruption of poisons, of radiation. Dark Energy *is* dangerous. And it *can* play with your head. And part of making sure you don't become a monster is making sure that whoever is giving you orders that you're following... hasn't become a monster before you and isn't just making you walk down that road."

"The smart thing to do is know why you're doing what you're doing, I think. Understand at least some of the consequences, the path, the reasons. Then if you have to do things that make you uncomfortable... at least you can know what goal they're in service of."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. But, there was more to it than that. More on her mind. Because, in the end... they wouldn't listen to her. Wouldn't tell her. She kept getting brushed aside. "Ummm... how much longer do you think the device will take?" she asked.

She couldn't ask him... not until it was done.

"I... I'm... admittedly... scared of becoming a monster. Sometimes... I almost... it's almost like I can feel a voice. A presence inside me. Telling me... trying to control me. Saying that... that I should do.... things... that I should let it out."

"... I want to be strong enough to never, ever let it out."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi actually picked it up off the bench and passed it to her a few moments after she asked. "Till about now." He said with a sly smile. "Give it a little bit to finish booting up and soon it'll enter standby mode, and you should be able to communicate with it from there... it'll tell you how to set up your Barrier Jacket."

"Well, the first step to that is obviously going to be to get stronger, right? You can't get stronger to contain it if you let fear rule you." he said. "Dark Energy... it's an emotional energy. And fear is one of the things that gives it power. Courage controls it." he says to her.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded. She glanced up at him again, before looking down at the device. Watching it boot up. Then...

She slowly got to her feet. "Thank you..." She looked to his name tag. "Agera-sempai... one... last thing," she said before looking back at him. Looking thoughtful and... then...

"On... the twenty-fourth floor, room 4D. Professor Hara's... experiments. You should... look into those... and tell me... if... those... are within... your lines. Then... then let me know. Please..." she said before she turned to leave. "Thank you, for your help."

She didn't say the last part she was thinking, though. 'I hope.'