474/Totally All Business

Totally All Business
Date of Scene:	20 September 2023
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	Hannah Steiner calls on Greta Legend for a Totally All Business meeting. No attempts at friendship at all. Soon a new would-be Belkan sister is ready to be born!
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Steiner, Greta Legend

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Hannah Steiner has posed:
~Back at Radiant Heart Academy~

Dreiseelen would receive a Ping from Blauer Greif, the Device not at all hiding its' identity, passing along a message as Hannah hasn't actually gotten her ally's cell phone number yet!

<Honored ally, mein Herrin Countess-Palatine Steiner requires your presence regarding your alliance with her.> Comes the old Device formally, and gives a meeting location.

The Game Center Crown, second floor. The one with the best milkshakes in town, or so Hannah thinks. The expectation that Greta will show up, of course, is rather plain. The Noble is a Noble, and she conducts herself with the requisite amount of arrogance.

Hannah has changed out of her school uniform into what looks like running gear, and the pack with extra water bottles supports that. Lyra of course is right beside her, and the Crown is far less busy at this time. Her choice of seats, too, is somewhat in the back.

Also, she already has a vanilla rootbeer float. Lyra, strangely, has a strawberry milkshake. Space lizards are weird.

And so, she awaits her ally with a smile.

Greta Legend has posed:
It had been a hot minute since Greta's last interaction with the Belkan Noble, in part because she intentionally kept herself busy, both in school and outside of it. If Greta hadn't been doing her school work, or her club activities, she would be patroling the city in a search for trouble to rear its ugly head.

Another reason that Greta hadn't seen Hannah in a while was on account that the other girl REALLY seemed to be the personality type that was kind of abrasive in how over the top she was, and Greta wanted none of that.

However, when Dreiseelen got pinged with a message that entailed business, Greta was all in for business. She shows up in her red blazer to the Game Center Crown expecting that the public place was chosen for a reason relating to business.

Milkshakes was not business.

Arms crossing her chest as she approaches, she takes a breath, "Ah, hello... You wanted to see me? I know it's been a bit... I've been busy."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah's smile, despite the standoffish nature of her ally, does not seem to waver. If anything, she seems to brighten up! "Frau Legend, acht, so the cryptid amongst our dear fellowship finally shows her head once more! Come, sit down, you shall attract stares if you just stand there!" She indicates the seat opposite her.

"Order something. Herr Motoki is a good man und I should hate to have him think us /rude/!" Notably, she has her hand drifting to her cane meaningfully. She hopes that Greta gets her drift.

Said blonde is quick to take Greta's order, too, the young man just as kindly as Hannah intimates.

As they wait, Hannah lowers her voice to nigh on a whisper. "Indulge my curiousity. Why did you agree to assist me?" Her head tilts, and then she smirks.

"I quite prefer having mein allies as a known quantity you see."

Greta Legend has posed:
"Cryptid..?" The European Device Mage squints at the Space German's choice of words, before sitting down so as to avoid drawing attention, as suggested. Still, she begins to grow a little annoyed at the current circumstance, but she tries not to voice it.

After ordering a Salted Caramel shake, Greta returns her attention to Hannah, and blinks at the question. "Why did I agree...?" She considers a moment, "I think it's kinda obvious... Your uncle sent a monster after you, and I helped out with that. The kind of person that would do that would be dangerous to people in general needs to have a stop put to it..."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
As soon as they both had their milkshakes? One quick henshin, and a Barrier slammed up all around them, erasing the world of the mundane into a dimension off to the left. Thankfully, those milkshakes are still very much real! Sipppp! Smile!

"There, now we may speak in earnest! Ah, but is it truly so? Some might instead decide that they have done enough, that joining in on a fight against a murderous madman that now no doubt knows what your Device is, might be an excellent way of cutting one's life short."

She sipped more floated.

"Why do you fight for other people, frau Legend? You hardly strike me as a person that enjoys the company of others. I am half surprised you have not fled from your seat!" Smile! Grin!

"What drives you to wield that axe of yours. Who are you, mein dear ally?" Comes Hannah, not letting up with the probing questions.

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta blinks as the Barrier appears, and she blinks at the shake still in her hands, before hmphing and proceeding to savor it, sipping away by the straw gradually, stirring a little to loosen the thicker ice cream up.

But that line of questioning is a bit on point, so Greta reaches to her blazer to grip the brooch that her device took the form of and takes her time to examine it.

Then she shifts to German from Japanese, her tone a bit more honest as she replies, "<When I was little, my mother used to tell me the story of Red Riding Hood. I don't know if you know the story, because you're not -actually- from Germany, right?>"

She flips the device over. "A girl in a red hood travels through the woods to visit her grandmother, and comes across a hungry wolf, that's plotting to eat her but asks where she's going. Red Riding Hood shares that she's off to her Grandmother's house, and the wolf decides to get there first. It eats the grandmother and dresses up as her to fool the girl. When she arrives, it lulls her into a false sense of security and tries to eat her too...>"

Greta fiddles with the device some more, before looking back up to Hannah. "<In later versions of the story there is a huntsman that shows up with his axe and kills the wolf, cutting it open and freeing the girl and her grandmother.>"

She then smiles softly, "<My mother used to tell me a version where red riding hood herself had the axe, and cut the wolf open to free her grandmother... It's a silly change and the only reason she ever gave me was that 'Little Red' saw right through the Wolf, and had the courage to take the fight to him... At least, I think that's how she meant it...>"

She sets the device down and states, "<The evening that Dreiseelen awoke to me, he did so to protect me from a Youma that took the form of some wolf monster... A coincidence, I think... He started calling me 'Little Red' too.>"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah perks up as a /story/ is offered, and she briefly nods with every sign of rapt enthusiasm for the answer she's asked for. "Indeed. Many, many lightyears from this backwater, frau Legend." Confirms Hannah, similarly swapping to Japanese.

And then she drinks it all in.

"Hmmm. You know, I think I quite like your mother's version of the story! Hah! So you are the young lady forced to grab an axe in order to save others! Or, perhaps, Dreiseelen grabbed you!" She laughs at that, to some joke that's clearly funny to a Belkan, maybe. Still, then she nods.

"Und so, now you are the vicious Little Red that carves monsters in the dark wtih your axe. Do you enjoy it? The rush of facing down an opponent with your blade! Right in front of your eyes, no hesitation, wielding all of the skill und magic you have gathered in order to defend others weaker und more cowardly than you!"

She nods in approval.

"Given the name, I believe Dreiseelen is a product of mein own tradition, or perhaps an offshoot. Has your dear Device explained what it is to be 'Belkan'?" Asks the young woman.

Greta Legend has posed:
"Well, he hasn't exactly been forthcoming, on account of being... Well, damaged... Whatever happened to the ship he was on caused him to be launched backwards in time to 1673, so he's been something like three hundred and fifty years without maintenance... That boy from the... TSAB? He ran a diagnostic and he's functional, but apparently a lot of his memory storage got corrupted so..." Greta shrugs. "I've been improvising."

She then has the device change from is stand-by brooch form into a rod form, and it begins to speak, <*ksh*Little Red is correct. Much has been damaged when I*ksh*got wrecked by the Arthra disaster. My memor-*ksh*data banks have been compromised, and there are other functions I am unable to access.*ksh.>

Greta gestures to the device, "He also does that."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah...really, /really/ does not like anything that Greta informs her of. Her normally violently friendly demeanor slowly descends to a mixture of outrage, and pure pity. Not really for /Greta/, but directly aimed at her Device. Which just deepens, edging on sheer horror as she listens to that poor Device try to speak.

"If...I may?" She starts, openly hesitant to confirm Chrono's scan results. But this is her /duty/ to a lesser Device of Belka as a member of a Great House.

The scan...well, she's already realizing that despite not being a meister, Chrono and S2U are good at that kind of thing. She just appreciates the finer details.

"The fact, dear Dreiseelen, that you have not in such a span of a temporal anomaly without a proper meister at your side suffered either catastrophic systems failures in your sensoren rendering you unto an abyss of nothingness, or succumbed to the desire for a total systems emergency shutdown for a lack of a Herrin or...or...kark. Worse. Memory storage blight or segfaults..." Hannah actively has to rub her eyes to stop the tears, just imagining what potential destruction could have befallen Little Red's partner in so much time alone.

Then, she lets out a /very/ conflicted sigh. "Greta. Consider it a Blessing your partner awakened enough in one piece to choose you. While you may be of this land's get, you are deigned a Belkan by wielding a Device of such a lineage. Und luckily for you, mein own House is of one of the oldest lineages of such a culture, formed in the bad old days of the Sankt Kaiser War. I know not whether your freund is of Ancient Belka or Modern, but I /can/ offer mein services."

Those words are tinged with open sadness. As if there's some catch.

"However I have meager tools und lack many parts even from just a brief scan to restore them to full operational capacity. Memory storage is /tricky/, as well." She offers openly. Poor D-chan, this is /bad/ in her estimation.

"Frau Legend. I should like to consider you a freund. But if naught else, an ally is acceptable. Work with me. Und in turn, I shall do mein utmost to teach you the traditions of Ancient Belka, as well as restore your Device as we've the resources to do so. Are we agreed?"

Suddenly, she kisses her own hand, and then offers it out to Greta as if to shake.

"By the Honor of Great House Steiner, do I invoke the Holy Sankt Kaiser's name, may She strike me down from Her most Holy of Cradles, should I deign to fail in mein duty to the House of Legend und her precious Device!" Comes Hannah full of religious zeal! A small lesson for Greta in the ways of a Belkan!

Greta Legend has posed:
Dreiseelen chimes in response to Hannah's concern, simply responding, <*ksh*Your concern is appreciated, Conte*ksh*ssa, but upon recognizing the effects of the Fade upon my previous user, miss*ksh*fraulein Hilda Jaeger, March 13th, 1673 local Calandar, hibernation was my best option for survival, with my sensors running on low power.*ksh*In summary: It could have been worse.*ksh*>

Greta for her part is surprised at just how much reverence her device is being given, but she's not going to complain, but it's when that respect is directed at herself that is increasingly surprised, and feeling a bit awkward, "That's... A lot of swearing by that you're doing for someone you don't really know.... But... I guess?"

She then reaches out to take Hannah's hand for the expected handshake.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Suddenly everything clicks /immediately/ into places. Hannah nods vaguely to Dreiseelen's chime. That almost physically hurts her to hear. "Acht. What is the local term? 'Freezer burn'?" She ponders, before considering Greta. "Even magical technology /generally/ loves cooler temperatures. Heat is heat even when magic is involved. However...too much of a good thing. It explains much of the damage. Kark. It would be difficult, but within mein specialty if I had a proper repair lab und, again, the parts. Working with hand tools is both insulting und makes even easy jobs exponentially more difficult. Und I am very much skilled!" Preeeeen! Such is the pride of House Steiner.

Glower! "Nein. You shan't flee from mein mending touch that easily! One merely needs gather resources!" A challenge only excites her, she's suddenly grinning again!

Lyra does a hiss-bork!

"Acht, handshakes, yes." She vaguely offers her hand, letting Greta work the rest out. Her grip is firm, but not trying to do some pathetic strength check.

"Perhaps. But your Device is Belkan. Und it is mein duty as Countess to see to the proles amongst mein cultural allies. That means you now."

Greta Legend has posed:
"Fair enough..." Greta replies, shaking Hannah's hand before asking, "What kind of ancient traditions of Belka are we talking about?" She was a little reluctant, considering a lot of that would probably hold no meaning here on Earth.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah leans back, and chows down on the dredges of her milkshake, vaguely wincing at the oncoming brain freeze! Nghhh! So worth it though. After a moment's recovery? She grins.

"Admittedly...The cultural lessons might be a bit lost upon you as you are now. No, more pressing are the historical ones as well as the practical lessons in Belkan combat. You needs learn how we fight und /why/ we fight the way we do in order to avoid playing out a series of sins that stains us as a people. That the Holy Sankt Kaiser Olivie Sagebrecht, blessed be Her nomen und may She guide our every step!" Comes Hannah, with all the zeal of a proper Saint-Church devoted Belkan zealot.

"You will learn rites of Dueling, methods of warfare, und how to not be a scourge upon the galaxy. Instead you shall be a vanguard for your allies und a defender of the weak. A wall of sheer pride und /violence/ against those whom wouldst tear down all things good und pure on this benighted little backwater." She explains, yet not /quite/ explaining.

She snaps her fingers, and points at the sound of Greta's voice.

"Should you prove yourself, well, while mein home is far away, I hardly have Counsel nor knightly retainers as is proper for the Countess-Palatine on either this or any other planet. You have already saved mein life. That is one thing owed. The next is to see to it that you are well trained, und then once your skill matures, we face one another!" She sounds /so/ excited for that last part! Giddy, even!

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta is mid-sip of her own shake as she listens to the declaration, "I don't know what any of that means, but given that the German half of my heritage has a... Complicated history with sins that stains us as a people... I think I can relate?" She was starting to wonder if the Belkan people were 'Space Holy Roman Empire' which was a big reach for own history education.

She was still starting to become increasingly concerned, "Pride and violence? Ummmm... Those are words you definitely used..."

It's the last part which has her reeling back, "Face each other -What- now?!"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
The fact Hannah doesn't even flinch about such weighty words? Yeah, there's an Understanding already. She smiles.

"Half way there already!" How can she be that cheerful under such dire topics? It might just be a bit Weird.

A raised brow. "Nein, nein! I said /when your skill matures/! Und if I am being honest, I have much work to do in order to properly stand as the position that was so quickly thrust upon me." It's...an effort to keep herself composed. Luckily milkshake sipps are a good way to keep up the illusion of royal authority rather than deeply traumatized young lady.

Then, she promptly slams down enough yen for them both. Her wallet immediately cries. But it's all about appearance, and Hannah is too proud to split a check.

"frau Legend? You have been a Lady und Meister to listen to mein rambles of a place you hardly know. I shall ensure it pays off for us both, hm?" A slipped card. It's her number.

"Call me when you feel like becoming a /true/ daughter of Belka und seeing your Device raised to her true heights of glory, or may we /both/ be cast down as one of the many felled Heathens of the Bad Old Belkan Empire!" Griiiin! A wave, she catches Lyra's leash, and suddenly that Barrier shatters as she de-henshins.

She fist-daps Motoki on the way out as if this was nothing but a friendly chat!

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta stares as Hannah leaves after doing much declarative statements, opening her mouth, and then closing...

After about half a minute, she says largely to herself, "This might have been a mistake."