861/Seekrit Plans in Seekrit Hideouts

Seekrit Plans in Seekrit Hideouts
Date of Scene:	07 December 2023
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	Rashmi shows Setsuna the Secret of the Shed, and the two discuss plans to both stage a refugee camp beyond the reach of reality, and stage a cooking tournament beyond time and space. Both are equally awesome.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Setsuna Meiou

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Math is awful.

And it's awfulest when it's the first class after homeroom, because what monster would spring trigonometry on a person when they've just barely woke up?

Which is why, while ostensibly paying attention to a lesson on the Three Basic Formulas, Rashmi takes ruthless advantage of having a telepathic Bluetooth connection to her smartphone, and shoots off a message to the school nurse.

    << TXT to Setsuna -- Hey Setsu-chan! So I was thinking over lunch I introduce you to the Shed, since it's slowly becoming the central meeting point for everyone who doesn't want to talk about stuff out in the open. I'll bring hot drinks? >>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The response comes back fairly quickly, as if Nurse Meiou has little else to do:

    << TXT from Setsuna >> Sounds like a plan. Two questions. 1: Do I need to be in henshin? 2: Where should I meet you?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << TXT to Setsuna -- Mmmmmmmprobably not? And I'll be waiting at that one trail into the woods by the Shop building. Anything you want from-- sec. >>

One game attempt at stating the cosine formula out loud -- to mixed success -- later, she picks up the message thread again.

    << TXT to Setsuna -- Anyway, drink requests? >>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
    << TXT from Setsuna >> Any tea is fine, but I'm partial to green if you have it. I'll be there. Now try to pay attention in math so you don't drop a variable again.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << TXT to Setsuna -- ...Yes, sensei... >>

And when the apportioned time comes around, Rashmi does indeed have a hot cup of green tea in one hand, and some cold boba confection in the other, because apparently Rashmi's drink choices only occasionally align with weather needs.

She doesn't seem to have touched it, though, so likely she's waiting on being somewhere warmer before actually enjoying it.

Upon spotting Setsuna, Rashmi lifts the hot cup in approximation of a wave, beaming as her friend approaches. "Hiiii~! Also gonna have to ask for a little bit of patience, there's kind of a not-exactly-a-ritual, but like... Well I mean you know how important theatrics can be, right?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou walks over and accepts the hot cup of tea from Rashmi. She's in her usual labcoat since she's at school...though one might wonder how it is she's walking on soft surfaces whilst wearing three inch heels and NOT having problems, "Ah, Thank you so very much, Miss Terios."

She takes an appreciative sip, then nods, "Oh, I understand. Theatrics can INDEED be VERY important."

She nods and gestures with her cup of tea, "So please, proceed."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Bobbing her head, Rashmi leads Setsuna into the foreboding woods. A short distance down the winding trail, a ramshackle shed shows up along the trail, and Rashmi grins. "Okay, so!"

Stepping up to the shed, she turns the handle. "Open it the normal way..." The door opens, revealing garden tools, spider-webs, and a small, ancient gasoline can. "And it's nothing special."

She closes the door, then turns the knob in the *opposite* direction. "Open it *this* way, however..."

She opens the door with a flourish, revealing... a classroom. A *large* classroom, if in an older style, but working electric lights and a series of windows that look out onto a view of the forest. On one wall, a whiteboard is apparently being used to track Midnight Tokyo understanding.

"Ta-da~!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou steps inside, and there's that moment at of undisguised wonder at something new that keeps some people going.

Still Nurse Meiou is the type to hide it...at least officially, so she absently comments, "...it's so much smaller on the outside, dear."

A glance is given around...as she takes in how the place is laid out.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I know, right?!" Rashmi gushes, because she is *never* the type to hide it. Bounding after Setsuna, she shuts the door behind her. "So... here's the Shed! ...Mamoru-kun doesn't know about this by the way, and according to Naru-chan he *can't* unless he manages to get away, so... that sucks but it can't be helped, y'know? Anyway! What d'you think?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou just looks around, then absently and deliberately takes a long sip of her drink, "...hrm...not bad, I suppose."

To most people, she'd seem rather aloof and uninterested...but Rashmi is perhaps one of the few people alive who might realize that while 'Nurse Meiou' is uninterested, 'Setsuna' is probably internally squeeing right about now and trying not to break out in full-on Matt Smith impersonations.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah," Rashmi says, in the kind of tone that answers the Inner Setsuna rather than Nurse Meiou. "Also the only real security is that the only way people know about it is to get told, so, no cameras or bugs."

And no one to see Nurse Meiou put the mask down for a bit, if she likes.

"I mean, right now it's just the coolest clubhouse in the world, but, I've got at least one fun idea for like a radio station, so someone can actually coordinate properly if things go Omega Sideways. But that'd be a whole project just figuring out *how,* and I'd want at least Hannah-chan and Koji-kun working that out, and others so we can figure out how to talk to other kinds of magical people."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou sighs, and she sets her cup down on a nearby table as she turns to look once more at the various bits of space, "...yeah, being able to have communications WOULD be extremely useful. ESPECIALLY if we can assure they're secure enough."

She smiles a bit, "...which might be a good way for Miss Osaka to help. That young woman is quite sharp, and I imagine she'd probably do quite well as the...'girl in the chair', if I remember the idiom properly."

She then looks over at a certain corner of the room and there's another moment where Setsuna perks up from behind Nurse Meiou...then seemingly goes off giggling somewhere behind the mask once more.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah but there's logistical problems there," Rashmi points out, grinning at the signs of Setsuna popping up from behind the mask. "And it's a long-term project, really. For right now, though... If we need to get a whole bunch of people in one place, this is now the best place to do it."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou nods at that, "Fair enough. I see you've been using it to track the current situation..."

She picks up her tea again and gestures it vaguely towards the blackboard with scribbles about Midnight Tokyo on it.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Actually most of this is Naru-chan," Rashmi grins. "I'm pretty sure she was one of the first ones to get shown this place, so... If she had an office anywhere, this'd probably be it! Really need to touch base with her and get the updates, too... With all the other stuff flying around, I uh... Kinda stopped paying attention to the Midnight Tokyo thing except for what people needed Nicomachea to translate, y'know?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou scowls a bit, then shakes her head, "I confess I've been much the same with various things cropping up here and there...though the developments with Hematite are going to mean quite a boon for us..."

She then frowns, "...but when he makes his run, expect the balloon to go up very shortly thereafter...because that group will HAVE to start rushing their plans almost immediately thereafter."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"'When?'" Rashmi echoes, eyebrows rising. "...That wouldn't happen to do with your keys, would it?"

Even as she says the words, she's working through the potential meaning. "Wait, so... If it does, then are you gonna be hiding him out at the Gates?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The grin that breaks on Nurse Meiou's face is practically glowing, "Oh, EXCELLENT, Miss Terios. Indeed. Some weeks ago, I took Sailor Moon to visit the Gates when we were having a bit of a discussion about..."

Here she scowls for a moment, "...how I dealt with Ironbutt."

After a moment she takes a deep breath and huffs it out as she shakes her head, "We came to an accord, and when I took her back to her room, I met Miss Osaka having a discussion with Mister Hematite's civilian aspect."Here her smile comes back, though a bit wry, "...after Sailor Moon vouched for him and he declared his intention to defect, I offered to give him a place to run to where no-one from Obsidian could EVER find him."

She snorts and shakes her head, "Here I had thought I was offering shelter to a mid-level officer. Perhaps someone with a staff position. The reality was...rather greater."

She shrugs, "In any event, I did indeed give Sailor Moon one of the lesser keys to hold onto in case he could get to her first when he makes his run."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Paying much better attention than she probably did in math, Rashmi nods along with the explanation, brow furrowed in thought. "So Dark Captain-san's not going to be sticking around very long, by the sound of it... D'you know if he's gonna be taking his people with him, or is the plan to extract them later? Because, hoo... *that's* going to seriously upset a lot of people who cause problems when they're upset..."

Shaking her head, Rashmi takes in a deep breath. "You'll let me know if there's any way I can help with that, right? Only, if it helps out Moon-chan I'm pretty much all for it."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou sighs, "He thinks he can get at least a few of them, but he's unsure due to various circumstances."

She frowns, "...I'll have to see about getting them some bedding in case more than just he can make it out. I doubt if more than two manage to make it out with him that they'll be all that comfortable sharing even the bed I have there."

She gives Rashmi a bit of a mischievious grin, "...after all, they're icky boys and they all get wierd about that kind of thing."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Also walls," Rashmi says immediately... as if the white void had been on her mind a *lot* since experiencing it herself. "And a ceiling. You can do a lot with just a boatload of muslin and half a boatload of pipes to attach it to. Maybe a pallet of zip-ties?"

At Setsuna's 'icky boys' comment, she snorts in amusement. "I'd have difficulty believing that, myself... I've seen them all from a distance, they're *way too beautiful* not to have at least a dozen boys crushing on them, each."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou briefly gives Rashmi a confused look at the 'walls' and 'ceiling' comments...as if she said something that doesn't precisely compute.

The look is replaced quickly, however, with another shake of her head, "I can't say I've seen any of them, really...but they're still icky boys...and since I doubt they're all crushing over each other, then I doubt they'll all want to cuddle up together in a single bed."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I mean, fair," Rashmi says, silently despairing at the puzzled look, then perks as an idea hits her. "Tents! You could set up a bunch of tents and sleeping pads, so they all have their own place to sleep!"

Maybe the idea of multiple-boy privacy needs will short-circuit the fact that Setsuna is, apparently, acclimated to an empty skybox?

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou nods, "That was one of the ideas I was thinking about...though I was also thinking about hitting up Ikea and grabbing three or four beds and a selection of hardware...which would both give them something to do and soon after a place to sleep."

She taps a finger to her lips, "...maybe split the difference and get a few tents and futon beds."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That's probably best to split the difference, yeah," Rashmi says. "...Also uh. I'm sure you worked it out literally ages ago, but I gotta be sure because I haven't planned to stay there long-term; ...amenities?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou looks a bit chagrined, "...There's a small outhouse that I have set a short distance away. Bathing's going to involve bottled water...though the conditions at the Gates make the neceesity rather lesser. No sweat and no dirt, after all."

She shrugs, "If they have to hide out more than a few days, we'll have far bigger problems on our hands...as with them on our side, we should be able to collapse at least that division of Obsidian around them...and from what I understand, the only reason the other Obsidian divisions wouldn't outright HELP us would be purely optics reasons."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Well I mean, 'having them on our side' assumes that they'll be immediately ready to stand against their former people and *immediately* prepared to take on their boss," Rashmi does point out. "And maybe they might be in spirit, but... Iunno, if it were me I'd probably need a couple weeks to stop panicking about assassins in literally every shadow."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou shrugs, "I imagine I'll probably have to make more than a few supply runs."

She then blinks and snaps her fingers, "AH! I just remembered. I've got a contact down in Yokosuka that can get me a bunch of MREs."

She looks over at Rashmi, "They're these large plastic pouches that the American Military use for feeding troops in the field. Each one can make a hot meal and is basically a full day's nutrition. They're compact and I think my friend can get me a few cases. That should do for food for a while, at least."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh that's a really good idea!" Rashmi says brightly. "And of course if you're willing, I could also deliver on occasion. I mean, sometimes you just want takeout, y'know?"

Chuckling, she leans against a nearby desk, turning her head to look out the window. "It does sound, though, like things are gonna get *really frantic,* not long from now. In the end that's good, but like... it's worrying in the right now, y'know? I'm gonna have to get a lot better than I am, if I want to be comfortable with being able to handle it."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou nods, sitting on another nearby desk.

Then after a moment, something occurs to her and she asks, "Oh...I have a few questions for you...for one, how intelligent is Nicomichea? Because from what I gather, some Devices are truly sentient and others aren't."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi opens her mouth to answer, but is interrupted by a << *BONG!* >> from the charm clasped to her neckerchief's bow.

    << IF IT IS PREFERABLE, I SHALL EXPLAIN, SUBJECT 'Setsuna Meiou.' THE TERM 'INTELLIGENT DEVICE' REFERS TO A WIDE RANGE OF LEVELS OF SOPHISTICATION, THE COMMONALITY OF WHICH IS THAT WE ARE CREATED TO ACT AS ASSISTANTS TO THE MASTERS OF OUR DEVICES. >>

Rashmi shoots Setsuna a rueful grin, gesturing the the sunburst charm.

    << WHEN A DEVICE IS GIVEN THE ABILITY TO FUNCTION INTELLIGENTLY, IT IS PRIMARILY FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUTONOMOUS ACTION. THE SOPHISTICATION, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, TRENDS TOWARD LANGUAGE AND 'ABSTRACT' PROCESSING. FOR EXAMPLE, WITHIN THE TSAB, IT IS NOT UNCOMMON TO INSTALL AN 'INTELLIGENCE' INTO A COMBAT VEHICLE FOR THE PURPOSE OF REDUNDANCY OF CAPABILITY. AS A DEVICE OFTEN IS CONSTRUCTED IN A FORM TO SUIT ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE, IT WAS DEEMED NECESSARY TO BUILD GREATER CAPACITY FOR 'COMPREHENSION,' AS MY FUNCTION IS PRIMARILY ANALYSIS, DISSEMINATION, AND -- OWING TO THE NOVICE NATURE OF MY CURRENT MASTER -- INSTRUCTION. >>

"...Hey..."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou then smiles, "Ah. Nice to finally speak directly to you, Nicomachea. That said, I do then have a few questions for you a bit more directly, then. I vaguely remember other Device users using some kind of magical construct to scan things. My question is A: Can you do so as well, and B: Can they record visual input? Given what you declare your function to be, my GUESS is 'Yes', but I did want to make sure."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << MULTIPLE VARIATIONS OF INVESTIGATION-CLASS SPELLS ARE WITHIN MY GRIMOIRE, >> Nicomachea replies. << TO ANSWER THIS QUERY MOST SPECIFICALLY, IT IS COMMON PRACTICE TO LOG AUDIOVISUAL STIMULI PERCEIVED BY OUR MASTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRATEGIC, TACTICAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS. I POSSESS RECORDINGS OF EVERY COMBAT ENCOUNTER MY MASTER HAS EXPERIENCED SINCE ACCEPTING HER REGISTRATION. >>

"What he's saying," Rashmi sighs, "is yes, he can. At least a couple of those Investigation spells he's talking about are like sensor drones, and others are practically medical scanners, but for magic. He's *been* teaching me how to *read* the sensors, but I still don't completely grasp what *all* the numbers mean. There are a *lot* of numbers," she groans, complaining shamelessly. "And what isn't represented by an insane amount of numbers ends up just a best-guess. He *refuses* to use the term 'Dark Energy,' because it's not precise enough."

    << *BONG!* >> << ANOMALOUS CORROSIVE ENERGY SIGNATURES WILL NOT BE COMPREHENDED THROUGH IMPRECISE LANGUAGE, MASTER. >>

"...Y'see?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou hrms, tapping her chin, "Well, Nicomachea...while your point is well taken and I agree with it somewhat, Miss Terios does have a point as well."

She waggles a finger at the Device admonishingly, "When discussing a subject informally, artifically enforcing arbitrary levels of precsion in language can often serve to HINDER the flow of information and concepts rather than HELP it...and when one doesn't NEED precise measurements, rough catchall terms are perfectly fine for most discussions."

She shrugs, "As long as we're talking mere generalities, I think 'Dark Energy' is a perfectly valid term. Kind of like the term 'magic-users'. *I'M* a magic user. *YOU'RE* a magic user. *GUARDIAN DAIFUKU* is a magic user...but by the same token, MY magic is VERY different from yours and Daifuku's and vice-versa...but that's not a level of granularity we really need to delve into for common discussion."

After a moment, she blinks, then shakes her head, "...but I've strayed somewhat from what I was meaning to discuss."

She chuckles a bit, "In any event, Miss Terios' comments made it clear that the two of you are CAPABLE. Now I must ask if you are WILLING.

She lets that hang for a moment before she goes on, "This isn't a NOW thing, but may be a SOON thing. I'd like to possibly get this done before Christmas if we can, but I want to aim for somewhere after this crisis passes."

She takes a sip of her tea, realizes it's going cold, then sighs and slams back the rest before going on, "So I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but Guardian Daifuku's powers let her express a large spatial pocket that possesses a rather high temporal gradient and contains a professional-grade kitchen that she uses to cook her sweets."

She pauses to let that process, then goes on, "...similarly, I learned not long ago that Sailor Jupiter happens to be a rather talented young cook."

Another beat, "...now when I was in Guardian Dafuku's pocket to help her when she was rather badly burned, I took one look around and all I could think of was a show that's a bit before your time, Miss Terios...but gets a fair amount of play in reruns and I imagine you might have seen before...it ran back in the late 90s and was called 'Iron Chef' There was a bunch of kayfabe around the show, but the way it went was two chefs would get surprised by a secret ingredient and they had 60 minutes to cook at least three separate dishes that all used the ingredient of the day."

She then gets a bit of a grin, "...so I recently talked to the two young women in question, and they're on board. What I'm asking you and Nicomachea is are you willing to do color commentary while Nicomachea films the whole thing so we can share it with the rest of the mahou community as a bit of a morale booster?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"*ABSOLUTELY,*" Rashmi says, eyes wide and bright. "We'd talked about that before, back in the hospital! They wanna do it?! Awesome!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou nods, "I remember mentioning it in passing, but that was when it was just a passing idea. Now I've got most of the details banged out. Plus, I couldn't remember if that was before or after you'd fully recovered, Nicomachea...So I thought I'd run it past the both of you just in case."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I would *pay money* to judge a mahou cooking battle," Rashmi says with quiet intensity. Clearly the idea has her absolutely enthralled, and she cannot *wait* to see what Daifuku's pocket-kitchen is like.

When you grow up in the business, you *really need* to see what magic does to the concept of 'the ideal kitchen.'

Sadly, Nicomachea seems to not have let go of the previous subject.

    << *BONG!* >> << IN COLLOQUIAL SPEAKING, THIS STATEMENT IS CORRECT. IT IS, HOWEVER, NOT THE FUNCTION OF THIS DEVICE TO CONVERSE IN THE MANNER OF TRUE INFORMAL SENTIENCE. ANALYSIS REQUIRES PRECISION. COMPREHENSION REQUIRES PRECISION. MY FUNCTION IS EQUAL PARTS REAR-LINE SUPPORT AND FORENSIC/SCIENTIFIC ASSISTANCE. >>

...Wow, he really *does* sound like a tweedy old English professor warming up to his favorite subject.

"...What Nicomachea's saying," Rashmi chuckles, "is that while he's happy to talk to people, he leaves the *communication* part of things to me, he's more comfortable in a... utility... setting."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou just rolls her eyes at Nicomachea, then shakes her head, "Well, I'd be relying on you two to do most of the post production, and you to do the color commentary, as I don't have anyone else to handle that kind of thing."

She then grins, "*I* of course, will be playing the ever important role of Chairman."

She taps her chin, "...I'll have to see if I can find something flamboyant enough to wear."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I have *absolute faith* in your ability to find a proper Chairman's costume," Rashmi laughs. "If you want me to be the Ohta-san, I can *happily* do so."

Finishing off her boba, she tilts her head. "Also! What's the challenge going to be? Something sweets-related?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna shakes her head, because she's fully let the mask drop, "No. I don't wamt to give Daifuku an unfair advantange. I've got an idea for an ingredient that can be used very very broadly for a vast number of different things."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Okay," Rashmi laughs. "I won't pry any more then. Oh wow this is gonna be *so much fun,* Setsu-chan."

Pushing away from her desk, she raises her hands, gesture taking in the whole of the Shed. "So! Now you're read in on admittedly the *coolest* communal secret we have, so far, and you have your color-commentator for Kitchen Arena! ...And I think lunch is almost over, yikes! So uh... Any questions I can answer before I have to get back? You saw how I opened it the wrong right way, right?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou smiles and nods, "I saw, Miss Terios. And I can feel the difference in the spatial gradient here. Probably best for you to get back to class. I'll nifty up a bit and be back to my Infirmary soon."

She pauses...then steps forward and gives Rashmi a hug, "Take care of yourself out there, dear."

After a moment, she steps back and smiles, then waves Rashmi back off to class.