1036/Days of Our Outers Episode 1036: A Business Proposition

Days of Our Outers Episode 1036: A Business Proposition
Date of Scene:	24 January 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Hannah visits the Casa Del Outers to ask Setsuna for some business advice and perhaps an infusion of capital. During the meeting, Ami wanders by. Things are let slip, questions are shelved for later, Setsuna is bewildered by Ami downplaying herself, and Ideas are passed to Hannah.
Cast of Characters:	Setsuna Meiou, Hannah Steiner, Ami Mizuno

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Setsuna Meiou has posed:
When Setsuna got the text from Hannah about a business ventures, it actually brought her to a complete halt. Truth be told, she doesn't do much personal business meddling now that she doesn't have the cheat machine known as the Gates of Time handy anymore.

Then again, by this point she's made enough money that she doesn't really NEED to. She's got people that handle that kind of thing for her and she just putters about doing the things she enjoys like the eccentric rich person she is.

Still, she figures she can try to help and she hasn't seen Hannah in what seems like, as one acquaintance of hers once put it, 'a month of sundays'.

Thus, instructions are sent back with the co-ordinates of her house, and proper directions to get there either by train and a short walk from the school, or by flight and an indicator of a spot to land that's sheltered from view in the backyard.

Directions sent, she sets about making sure she has something ready to serve her houseguest.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah Steiner is rarely one to be subtle in matters, nevermind the fact that her summer jobs' ventures were almost entirely an overeager bust of various hilarity! That said, Hannah Steiner is not one that lacks for friends, and one among them she can't help but carry a bit of guilt about. She thus decides that the walk is best appropriate, her Device tapping along as the big old Lyran Razorhound in diguise Lyra leads her up towards the Casa of the Outers, and with a thick folder under one arm, she raps upon the front door.

And pushes a doorbell just in case. Tradition is a thing, but practicality is also a consideration.

Once the door is opened? Despite the businesslike, formal text? Contrition is deep in Hannah's face.

"...You've the patience of the Sankt Kaiser Herself." Starts Hannah.

And for all the bluster of a Belkan, for all the massive pride of a Great House heir? Her Device is dipped to her middle, and she bows formally.

"The Great House of Steiner asks entrance to the domain of the Ancient House of the Moon! Should it please its' Mistress!" She straightens, Device tapping the floor as if on rote!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna answers the door, dressed a bit less casually than normal for her...but still not overly formal. Just a white blouse and black pencil skirt.

Seeing Hannah bow to her, however, causes the taller woman to blink in confusion...then she shakes her head in exasperation and says, "Hannah-chan...for one, this isn't the House of the Moon."

She pauses and taps a finger to her lips, "...though I suppose we're VASSALS to the House of the Moon..."

She trails off for a moment, then wavewaves that all away, "Nevermind that. Come in, come in. We can talk over dinner."

Once Hannah and Lyra have entered, Setsuna shuts the door, then pauses to give the younger woman a quick hug, "It's been a busy while. Come in."

And then she leads the two down a short hall towards the kitchen.

The house that the Outer Senshi live in seems, for all that it easily qualifies for the moniker of 'mansion' to lack the cold sterility that one might expect of a domicile it's size that only houses three people.

Somehow, it's managed to retain that sense of being a place where actual people live.

Said kitchen is a fairly large example of the kind, with a large island in the center that does various duty as both a kitchen table and sometime prep area, while the rest of the walls hold the various counters and appliances one comes to expect from a modern kitchen, "So what would you like to drink? I have various teas, coffees, and I think a couple of different flavors of ramune."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah Steiner tilts her head a touch, and then listens to Setsuna! Lips on the Belkan tighten, before she gently chuckles! "...Curse me a fool for not asking the line of..." Starts Hannah, but there's a little leg-kick from Lyra, and she gets the idea. Trying to not blush for the mishap, she gives a simple nod, and follows the tug of Lyra and Setsuna's words!

Her lips burst into a smile at the hug, returning it with the honest affection and one good ol' back-smack of a folded fist common to her House members!

Hannah can't help but add in a few extra taps of her Device, and ensuring to take a few grand sniffs and generally soaking in the atmosphere!

In the back of her head, it all reminds her of the personal dwelling of her mother, far less expansive than the Palace of Tharkad, but in that range of noble cozy.

Her eyes tremble, the young woman on the edge of an old memory.

Hannah backs herself up to a counter. Lyra nestles against her. "Tea! Something local! I admit, such wonderful tastes in drinks on this poor dirtball!" Alright, there's some Great House of Belka smugness going on!

And affectionately, at that!

And then Hannah drops down to brass tacks. "Acht, it really has been too long. Allow me to make things plain, frau Meiou! I come seeking advice, indeed, upon business ventures that may well assist...certain of those sharing or near to mein own origin und allies. Und yet I shan't call such a ruse..." Her eyes close.

"I want to catch up. You are a freund und one whom I owe mein life to. How are you doing, frau Setsuna Meiou?" A smile. Warm, and passionate!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna, amongst her many appliances, has one of those little devices that can produce near-boiling hot water on demand.

Thus she takes an appraising look at Hannah, then shakes her head and sets her up with a cup of wakoucha tea...one of the darker cultivars grown in Japan.

She herself prefers green tea, so she sets some of each to steep and shuffling about the kitchen for a bit...

She's seen Hannah caught in a memory, and she's happy to give the younger woman time to get back her composure.

Once Hannah has herself back together, Setsuna puts a mug of the dark tea in front of Hannah and indicates the tea service off to one side, lightly touching each container to indicate it as she mentions them, "There you go, Hannah-chan...and I have cream, sugar, or honey as you like. Spoons are right here."

She settles down on the other side of the kitchen island from Hannah, absently adding some honey to her tea, "Well, as you can probably imagine after that dustup at the Soryuu Shrine and the whole thing finding that Usagi-chan was the Princess all along...things went into a bit of high gear for a few weeks. I actually took the Prince and stashed him at the Gates of Time for a few days, which put him neatly out of reach of his former bosses at Obsidian. Then he and Usagi started targeting his old allies that had been co-opted and began purifying them one by one, denying them to the enemy and bringing them back on our side."

She takes a long sip of her tea then waves a hand slightly dismissively, "There was a brief bit of bother around Christmas where a very old geas flared up on me...but fortunately Rashmi-chan and Chrono-kun came here, grabbed Uranus and Neptune and the four of them kidnapped me back to normal spacetime so I didn't miss the holiday, and the Princess was able to take care of the compulsions for me the next day."

She then sets her mug down, "...but enough of me. Let's hear your business proposal."

Then she snaps her fingers, "Oh! I do have something to ask of you, but you're the guest here, so your business comes first."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
The young woman nods to every touch of sweetness and-or addition to the lovely on offer, but with a nod and a vague wave, she takes a moment to save the scent of the wakoucha. With a few breaths, she then slowly takes sips of the dark liquid in pure appreciation.

...Swiftly followed by a vague 'mmmph!', as she takes the fresh tea just a bit too hot, and then stand proud and tall, and like a prideful teenager, tries to pretend her tongue isn't on fire before once again doing a now triple, then thruple blow-off of the wonderful tea.

Siiiip!

"...The Great House of Steiner demands the source of this tea!!!!" Color her impressed. Her sightless eyes go +.+ even as her tongue is oh-so-happy!!!

And with that, she perks up, and pays full attention to her ally. She just drinks it all in, and then finally? She just sighs.

"It pleases me greatly that Usagi-chan und her Paramour und his rightful allies have largely returned to us! ...Sankt preserve her. Und poor Hema...acht, nein, no longer perhaps? Kark it. Mein struggle with him und his proper introduction have been...I know a good soul when I hear one." A little shrug!

Then there's all this 'Christmas' and Setsu holing herself up in the Gates and just...Hannah's jaw drops. There's then this sound of pure Belkan indignation!

"By the Sankt's own blood!!!! Und while no doubt you've your reasons, should you ever DEIGN to stuff yourself unto such a meager hole, by the Honor of mein House I shall drag you out personally und ensure you've plenty of allies und freunds und FAMILY beside you!!!!" The Belkan might be big on volume, but for all her obvious passion, the mere thought of Setsuna being alone on a holiday is a spike to her orphan heart.

She hides her sucking throat clear with a good gulp of tea, she takes in a few more breaths, and then nods.

That thick stack is slid over, printed out. Summoning a veneer of diplomatic calm, remembering her training, she offers both hands wide.

It's a pile of business plans, mostly all mid-workshop. Some have stamps 'unviable', mostly lending towards weapons manufacture. After all, Steiner Industries is a weapons company at the top, and that's difficult in Japan, nevermind the tech proliferation. The more sensible ones, grand as they might point, lean towards more civilian technology. Communications, cars, heavy industry, and then there's communications again. Seems Hannah's leaning into one direction, vaguely, but has many contingencies.

She's young, but the proposals are well written, clearly the result of one trained for business, if lacking in the practicalities, young as she is.

"I shall need to pass any of this through the good Enforcer, given the treaties with the TSAB...but you may be the best soul to consider all of this. Und given mein capital is more than a few lightyears away..." It...visibly hurts. She's asking for money. Her, a Steiner! Asking for money! Her head drops.

"...Mein ventures at a 'normal summer job' failed." She admits.

Then she pulls herself together.

"Und thus why not do what I am good at? Or at least trained at." Smile! Surely, this Belkan isn't nervous!?

And then she waves at all the paperwork.

"...Und yet all of that is, bluntly, not mein true purpose. You've heard of the unfortunate crashing of the Artha, ja? I have yet to encounter another proper Device Meister with the training und skill to ensure the health of our dear freunds und partners." She grips Blauer Greif fondly, affectionately, protectively!

"A 'front', if you will. For the purpose of ensuring easy repair, maintenance, und health of all Devices that stray towards our path of Justice!" Passion flares in her sightless eyes, and Hannah grins!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Hannah has her bit of adolescent mismanagement of thermal states of liquids, Setsuna brings a hand up to cover her mouth so that her huge grin doesn't show...however, when Hannah demands to find the source of the tea, the taller woman can no longer hold back a soft giggle before she replies, "Oh, it's an incredibly rare and difficult to acquire tea...you can only get it in about three quarters of all the grocery stores around Tokyo, I'd imagine."

There's definite amusement in her voice, but it's clear from her tone it's not at Hannah's expense.

Then when the young blonde gets indignant on her behalf, Setsuna blushes faintly, and she then says, "...thank you for your consideration, Hannah-chan...the whole thing was a bit of well-intentioned magic put upon me a very, very long time ago that should have been altered or removed also a very, very long time ago...but unfortunately by that point we'd run into an unfortunate case of sovereign existence failure."

A hand is waved as if to brush the matter aside, "In any event, the Princess was able to take care of that as she is now my sovereign."

When the plans are slid over, the older woman glances briefly at them, then says, "...this will take me a bit to read over...so let me get you something to eat while I read."

She then gets up and reaches into the fridge, retreiving a gladware container of some dark brown substance which she carries over to the microwave and sets to heating, then she grabs a pair of plates and spoons on some rice from one of those fuzzy logic rice makers that make it so that you can basically have hot ready to serve rice at very nearly all times, "So, among other things, I have cultivated some contacts down at the American fleet base in Yokosuka. I have a friend there who I swap things with. He gets me stuff the Americans ship in so their sailors can have a taste of home and I get him local treats that it would be inconvenient for him to come all the way up here to Tokyo to get."

A brief rummage is taken to acquire some silverware before she goes on, "...anyway, Chief Hendricks apparently has a tradition of making something called 'gumbo' for Christmas every year, and he gave me quite a lot of it."

She glances over at Hannah, "I believe you are acquainted with Miss Terios' family curry resturaunt and it's offerings?"

As the microwave dings, she retrieves the container and uses a spoon to put about half on each plate over the rice, "...gumbo is for practical purposes an American Curry with sausage, chicken, shrimp, krab, and several different kinds of vegetable."

Description given, she steps over, places a plate and silverware in front of Hannah and one in front of her chair, then sits down, "Now give me a few moments to look over these. I won't call myself any kind of business genius, but I've seen quite a few businesses rise and fall over the years...and I'm pretty sure I can help you both physically and fiscally."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah's brows raise. Then squint. Then she tilts half way to the left until she's tilted back up thanks to Lyra support! And proceeds to down the test of the tea like some kind of liquor shot!

"Und whom says the proles are not brilliant!?" Comes Hannah cheerily, taking the blow neatly!

The young woman's smile does brighten! "Und what a Princess she shall be. Hm. What of Herr Chiba? He is recovered?"

She seems to want to ask another question, then reconsiders. "Acht, I wish to dig deeper, but some things are best learned first hand." Comes Hannah vaguely.

"Just know that Usagi-chan und her House, I consider her mein own blood. No matter what complications may arrive from her station? Should she or you require /anything/..." Her jaw sets. There's resolution in her voice.

"Anything." She repeats firmly.

She listens to the story about gumbo and the flee contacts, giving Hannah an opportunity to smirk and nod in pure appreciation of Setsuna's politicking! Really, this woman is a wonder. Part of her wishes she could have listened to her parents and Setsuna match wits over galactic matters.

Alas, they're cut off, now that the Princess yet again exists. The gears of her mind turn. And a goal clicks into place that she's been pondering on for quite some time.

She can't just merely escape once her task on this world is done. She has to right the wrong that was done so long ago.

"You are wonderfully terrifying, frau Meiou!" That is of course, a high compliment from a Belkan!

She starts to eat, nodding in appreciation...and even sneaks some to Lyra! "Ahhh, this good Kommandant is quite the skilled cook!" Comes the young woman, leaning back and just enjoying good food and wise company as Setsuna reads her work.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
While the complexities of American curry/Gumbo are being enjoyed by those within, there's a small click of the door opening heralding the entrance of another to this small gathering. There's no call of 'I'm home!' that might be expected of a few other inhabitants of the house, though perhaps it's not hard to guess that whomever it is has reason and right to be here.

Distracted as she sometimes is Ami quickly removes her shoes near the door and pads in on stocking feet with her attention riveted on the little Mercury Computer she has in hand. "Setsuna-san, I was going over some of the data we collected the other day after our confrontation with Riventon, and I think--"

Blue eyes finally glance up to take in the presence of the two here. One for certain was the woman she expected. The other? Ami pauses with a little squeak of air escaping her as recognition slaps her in the face.

"Hannah-chan? Ah... am I... I'm interrupting aren't I," she reasons out without really needing an answer. "I'm so sorry."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah's free hand suddenly finds its' way to Blauer Greif. The Device is gently warming, powered down to the bare minimum.

A ping goes directly to the Mercury Computer.

Device Designation Blauer Greif requesting communication link to unknown node.

<Akzeptieren?>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Hannah starts eating, Setsuna starts looking over the various proposals, and after a moment, she snags her phone and starts a quick text conversation that she fires back and forth as she reads.

At several points, she snorts at something said, then briefly her expression turns to a bit of a scowl before switching to what is clearly mock aggrievement before she taps one last thing out and puts her phone back away with a shake of her head.

The taller woman hrms, quickly dismissing the ones Hannah had already nixed, only giving them the most cursory of glances before going on.

From there, she skims a few, quickly adding them to the 'dismissed' pile...then she hrms and with a flare of her fingers, a pen appears between them with which she begins making notes in the margins here and there.

While she's doing this, she doesn't even look up as she hears the front door open and someone come in...and she is therefore mildly surprised when she hears Ami speak.

Not that the younger Senshi has dropped by, as that's become a common and welcome occurence, but rather that she has dropped by at exactly THIS moment.

She can see the Mercury computer in Ami's hand, and...well, the eldest Senshi simply doesn't know that the two roommates haven't managed to let each other in on their little respective secrets, "Ami-chan! Come in. Have a seat. I can get you some food if you want. Hannah-chan just came by to ask my advice on leveraging her skills for a business. After we're done with that, you can help me with what I was going to ask her about in regards to what we recovered that night."

She then turns two proposals around to Hannah, "The way I see it, the two best proposals you have here are these. The first one is doing some bespoke fancy electronics for the ultra-wealthy. It will have the advantage of only needing to do a job or two a quarter to keep you in decent capital...but these people are generally kind of annoying about wanting to meet 'the artiste' in person, and given that type of person's general lack of tact, there will likely be issues."

She snorts, then shakes her head, "Frankly, I think this one is your better choice. Setting up a tech company. Several advantages here. For one, you'll not have to deal with annoying clients. For another, you probably won't have to do much to make sure you're flush with capital. Finally, you can make big purchases of bleeding edge Earth tech to help bootstrap yourself and nobody will blink an eye. For an example moneymaker, if you can produce a phone antennae that's, say, twenty or so percent better than anything on the market? You can easily license the patent to, say, Samsung for big money, which will easily set you up to work your Meister skills."

Setsuna then waggles her phone, I've already checked with Chrono-kun, and he's let me know the forms you'll need to fill out to keep that paperwork neat and tidy, so minimal problems there, as well."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah has the good grace to not /immediately/ call her out, thanks to her Device, Ami's startlingly powerful computer. But the addition of /Riventon's/ name has the young woman to turn her head vaguely towards the sound of Ami's voice.

Tokyo just loves its' mysteries. She struggles to not laugh.

"Ami!" Her warmth and delight at her room mate's presence is genuine as ever! "Given that you roam the halls of frau Meiou's abode so freely, it's clear that you are most certainly freunds. Und I for one am ever glad for your presence whenever I have it. Freunds are to be relished, no matter the circumstances!" She offers.

As the senshi gets down to brass tacks? "Mmm. Yes, so much as half our advisors back home were such persons, those without peerage are so...draining...at times." Siiigh.

Ahh, blessed Pluto, having already saved her the pain of running down Chrono and the lecture she would have no doubt received. She does a sitting bow of thanks towards Setsu!

"Ja. Ja! That one rather did catch mein attention. Und as someone I know has quite the aptitude for the local technologies..." Does Ami really need Hannah turning to her to know she's grinning like a shark right about now and beaming the full force of Steiner brand attention? Because she doesn't, but she may as well be an inch away from the girl's face.

"Well. Keeping the innovations within parameters is /so/ very difficult, so delicate! Therefore, the rush to see a new dawn upon this pitiable, joyous dirtball of a cosmic backwater is such a thrill! Und one I am glad to share with two of mein greatest freunds!" She laughs, ambition and greed and the sheer /love/ for creation a Meister is known for ringing true!

"It has been far too long since I have been at a design screen." Nostalgia floats through her voice now.

It's only then that she suddenly whips around to consider Ami again.

"You know, I find secrets between freunds to be best kept to the realm of things sworn to solemn oath. Particularly when it comes to ones that are not fools. Shall we dispense with them? I should like to greet you properly, und that freund you have there, Ami. Though, you must know, doing so shall come with dangers." Comes Hannah, formal and blunt suddenly.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Of course the smartest of the Inner Senshi would go to lengths to protect her identity from someone she was uncertain about! Though in reality it was just how things worked out, really. Hannah had done her best to keep her identity in the dorms, and so had Ami.

The sudden tinkling chime from her computer alerts her to the request for linking up to Blauer Greif. It was a sound she had never heard from her computer before. Typically hers was the most high-tech device in the area, after all, and she'd never used the Mercury Computer while in her dorm room else this may have happened far sooner.

Ami looks honestly surprised to say the least.

It's Setsuna's smooth continuation of her conversation that helps to put the last bit of uncertainty from her as it's clear the two know one another rather well. A little smile is offered toward Setsuna along with a shake of her head in thanks to the offer of food. "I've already eaten, thank you. Though perhaps a drink."

Her fingers hover over the Silver Millenia computer a moment longer. At least until Hannah turns directly toward her speaking of secrets, and proper introductions. It only takes a quick tap to accept the connection to Blaur Greif. Unfortunately while very high tech, the Mercury Computer was not sentient in it's own right. Just very different than Earth technology. Very old.

Softly chuckling Ami approches the table to pull a seat out which she sinks down into as she joins the pair. "I suppose we are rather overdue for this then. I'm Sailor Mercury," she informs Hannah. "And this is the Mercury Computer."

A little bit of an embarassed look is cast toward Setsuna as she explains, "I had my suspicions but I never really confirmed them. Hannah-chan's German is different than Earth versions." A pause comes, before she looks between the two starting to pick up on her current favored theory, "I've been looking into the history of linguistics on the off chance that perhaps the languages are so similar because of past visitations ages ago. I don't have any proof but it would explain quite a bit." It's all explained breifly with a certain gusto as she was glad to finally be able to air such contemplations aloud. It wasn't the topic they'd been on though.

"This is about the business you were considering? Technology is a good field to get into."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles and covers a giggle with her hand first at Hannah's exasperation about wealthy boors, then again at her growing excitement about flexing her technical skills.

Still, she shakes her head, "While I can understand the impulse, I'd suggest keeping things modest for two reasons."

She holds up a finger, "For one, because if you get too out of hand, Chrono-kun will get all Grumpy Enforcer Chrono on us and be all '...technical development...interference...waugh, waugh, waugh...', and I'm sure you don't want to put up with that."

She then raises a second finger, "And for two, if you upset the cart TOO hard, you're going to end up with major world powers sniffing around, and keeping THEM from causing problems will end up being a full-time job in and of itself. Best to put a thumb on the tech scales in a way that doesn't cause too much alarm while still being exceedingly profitable."

And then she blinks at the comments from Hannah to Ami...and she absently blinks and remarks, "...oh. This is going to be one of THOSE afternoons, I see."

She quickly refills Hannah's tea, then gets Ami's usual and sets it in front of her to steep, "Ah, I see. Yes, Hannah-chan here stopped by the infirmary rather early on in the year. I helped her get her paperwork and cover documents far more in order than she'd been able to manage without access."

She politely fails to mention that she'd seen through Hannah's cover story very nearly immediately.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah stands to her full height, grips her cane, one arm across her waist and she bows forward with a sweep to her leg.

"Mein name in full, is Countess Palatine-Apparent Hannah Emilia-Lina Araki-Steiner the XIVth, rightful ruler of the planet of Tharkad, head of the Ancient Belkan Great Noble House of Steiner, und Sanctified Knight of the Church of the Holy Saint King. When upon the field of battle, dear Ami, you may refer to me as Trager des Blauer Greif." She should have /known/ she'd be another Senshi, given her orbit with Pluto!

A snap of her fingers, and the guise hiding Lyra's true form melts away. Lyra hisses rather than barks, but is eager to get that feathery body into cuddlin' range with both Hannah and Ami!

"You already know Lyra. Und mein other partner is the eponymous Blauer Greif, whom I believe is going to enjoy having another marvel of technology around." She raises her cane briefly.

Back to Setsuna. "Acht, yes, treaties, treaties und spooks! Difficult enough back home to have to worry about other Houses' spying und back room dealings. ...Or our own!" Comes Hannah cheerfully.

"In all seriousness, I am a ruler of mein word. Und one that has a copy of every single TSAB treaty und regulation that we may run things juuuust up to the line that fits our needs, if not our wants!" Oh yeah. It's good she's come to Setsuna for this, because holding Hannah back from leaping off that very, very shiney cliff is gonna be hard.

"Und it will be SO WUNDERBAR to finally have proper clothing again!" Siiiiigh!

Ahhh, tea! Siiiiip!

When the Infirmary Incident is mentioned, Hannah is strangely silent.

Wow, her ears sure can turn red!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I believe I really need to catch up more with the rest of the 'community' so to speak." Ami had been hanging around her friends of course but there was clearly so much more she'd yet to learn. People to meet. This Enforcer and TSAB Agent for instance.

Her attention focuses on Hannah as the very lengthy introduction is made. A far cry from the short one she had just given. There wasn't much she knew to say otherwise though. Besides that, Lyra's sudden shift in appearance but still similar personality as the do--creature sidles up between them is a sure-fire way to steal her attention.

"A pleasure to officially meet you, Countess Steiner, and Blauer Greif" she opts for hoping she got it at least somewhat correct. Royalty wasn't really a situation she'd studied for in the past. Her hand descends to Lyra to give a pet to the friendly critter along with a chuckle, "And you again as well, Lyra."

The hefty amount of information is accepted without question. Hannah was already her friend, and Setsuna was clearly fond of her as well if she were here. This was as 'safe' a place as she could ever imagine.

When Setsuna sets the tea down her hands move to wrap around the cup so that the warmth can seep into her fingers with a small sigh, and murmer of, "Thank you, mom," as her gaze returns to Hannah.

"I'm quite curious about your technology as well! We can most certainly exchange information from now on," she agrees readily. "I'm not the most enthusiastic shopper, but if you'd like we could go sometime and I could help get you some things, Hannah-chan, if it would help out any. Especially if you need to look the part for setting up a business," she reasons as this seems a suitable investment into the future. "Please let me know if there's anything else I can help with," she adds only to look toward Setsuna again with a smile. "For either of you."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles broadly as Hannah unmasks to Ami...then smiles knowingly as the blonde's ears pink from embarrassment, but she keeps silent and just sips her tea.

When Ami thanks her, however...there's an ever so subtle flicker...

Long, LONG ago, a geas was laid upon Sailor Pluto to never stop time...as that power laid within the Senshi who carried the blood of Chronos, God of Time (No relation to overly-serious TSAB Enforcers)...but as with SO many things, during her many many years of boredom, the greenhaired woman discovered that it was quite possible to play around in the margins without breaking any particular rule.

In this case, she long ago learned how to alter her personal *perception* of time...allowing her to slow it down until the outside world SEEMS to come to a halt to her perceptions...allowing her THOUGHTS that race while the world crawls.

Sometimes she uses it for frivolous things...like maintaining utter dominance at the top of the scoreboard of the DDR machine at the Crown Arcade.

Other times, she uses it as now...to let her process rather startling things heard while managing to outwardly keep her apparent calm.

Thus, while Ami's slip doesn't pass her notice...she's able to take a good chunk of subjective time to process it...and therefore go on as if nothing was amiss.

She sits back down, then looks over at Hannah and says, "Which does remind me...a few nights ago, Mercury and Moon were in a fight with the one that calls herself Firefly...and...SOMETHING happened to her...that caused her to crush her Device. Mercury and I went back to the scene and with the help of her ability to scan, we were able to locate all the dropped pieces of said Device...but I think some of them may have been pulled along with Riventon when he teleported them out."

She sighs and shakes her head, "I was hoping you might be able to take a look at them and see if there was anything you can do."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah shakes her head, but seems more amused than anything else as Ami...well, who can blame proles for getting titles wrong? She did, too. Just another reason to see proper connections to galactic societies! Her heart burns a little harder!

A raised brow! "There are /so/ many to meet in this little piece of a world. Strangely so. All the universe's magic drawn /here/ for some reason!" Ponders Hannah after Ami's words, and then she gives a firm nod to her roomie.

No matter the form of Lyra? Yeah, there's domesticated animal behaviour, trending towards hound despite all the feathers and claws! And Ami is absolutely a beloved figure of the Razorhound!

Sensitive ears manage to catch Ami's words.

"...Treasure her." Comes the normally loud young woman just as much on a whisper for Ami herself. It helps they're both on the couch!

G R I N!!!!!

Hands raise up openly, and she leans back into the couch juuust a bit for emphasis!

"Und it seems I have another ambitious soul willing to see what one may well /create/ together upon this rock!" Alright, so, maybe she's not entirely taking in Ami's earnestness as it should be. The young merchant-royal-house maven is definitely in her own world right about now!

An offer of help very visibly makes her twitch, but well? She's in for the long haul right about now. An arm around Ami's shoulder, if she lets her!

"The mere experience of shopping with you would be worth it, mein freund." Talk about a deflection and acceptance both!

For all that she's been feeling rather happy on the whole, the news of Firefly's shattering of her Device and said involved fight quite nicely drags her into a world of horror. To hurt one's own Device, even one without proper intelligence? Suddenly, Hannah is gripping Blauer Greif with both hands, reflexively, protectively.

"You should have told me earlier. I would have brought mein tools!" She snaps out, suddenly, though there's no actual malice or annoyance in it. Her face is...disturbed. And like a Belkan, or perhaps mirroring her unblooded sister, it's open.

There's a brief flash, and lights flash up and down Hannah's Device as she transforms. She's not about to hold anything back given the seriousness of the situation.

"Show me." Her mouth is suddenly a line, and BG is fully in Focused Search mode.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Something was off. Something about the quiet way that Hannah speaks, that little flicker of not-frozen time that overcomes Setsuna, something that makes Ami pause and take careful assessment of what happened. It replays in her mind as she realizes... With a squeak of embarassment what she'd accidentally said, "Ah! I'm so sorry!"

Ducking her head Ami practically draws into herself, shoulders tight and squeezing her arms together while her hand still clutches at the teacup that she'd been given. It's easy enough for Hannah to wrap her arm around Ami's shoulder. Given the enthusiasm of the Belkan she tips in toward Hannah's side a little almost squishing Lyra's head between them though that might not bother the razor hound at all.

Ami quickly, busily chugs the tea in spite of it's warmth. It helped a bit feeling that heat run down through her instead of the heat that had risen to her face turning her a particularily pink shade which ought to be dubbed 'Needing to hide beneath the table.'

At least there's the more pressing matter of Firefly's device. A quick breath is taken as she tries to focus on that instead. "Before she broke it, it was giving warnings of a an uncontrolled spike in Dark Energy. I had my visor on at the time scanning. The readings are very different from before," she advises as she reaches for her Mercury Computer with one hand. The tea is set down with the other on the table in front of the couch so as to not risk spilling.

"I'll send the data over to Blauer Greif," she assures even as she's already cueing it up.

"I've a bit of a theory that she may have a split personality which came out to protect her once her mind simply couldn't take what Sailor Moon was telling her at the time. She even changed form."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Hannah declares her desire, no her NEED to help if possible with this issue of a Device that may or may not have been damaged beyond all repair by seemingly it's own wielder, Seetsuna nods...and with a repeated series of gestures, begins to fish bag after bag out of her personal dimensional pocket.

The bags are of various sizes, and are all composed of that aluminized mylar material that anyone who's handled sensitive electrionic components will be well familiar with. Altogether, there's MAYBE enough components for a small polearm.

After setting them all on the table for Hannah, she sits back down, "As I recall, it did much the same back in early December when she lost control and killed that one Obsidian nutter...Cytosine? Cycline?"

She frowns and shrugs, "Frankly, I don't really remember what she said her name is. She was a stuck up..."

And here Pluto utters a series of words that apparently are nonsensical...well...maybe.

If Ami is paying attention, the Mercury Computer will definitely recognize them and may even helpfully display a translation of them.

...and in case one couldn't guess, they're from a language not spoken since the Silver Millenium and they're...VERY VERY derogatory.

After a moment, Setsuna sighs and shakes her head, then gestures at the pieces, "In any event, it started going on about 'Dark Energy Supression' then, too...and eventually had some kind of severe failure that caused her to pass out."

A look is given over to Ami and her...severe reaction...and a mental note is made to have a talk with the younger woman at a later time.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
That arm around Ami's shoulder? Squeeeeeezes harder all of a sudden as that adorable little squeak manifests from Ami! As it happens, Razorhounds are strong murdo-dinos, which probably has something to do with them being favorites among both Tharkadian nobles as well as Tharkadian gangers looking for feathery muscle.

And while Hannah doesn't seem nonplussed? Oh yes! It's time for Ami's punishment for such a breach of protocol!!!

Lyra's face leeeeeans up from between!

Sluuurrrpppppppp! Oh gods! That tongue is long and wet and enthusiastic.

Hannah is all smiles as Lyra subjects her dear roomie to the legendary, Lizard Licks!

Only to scritch Lyra at the tailbase, do a double pat, and the big ol' murder-lizarder is back down towards playing foot warmer for the pair of them!

BG happily accepts the data, already working it over through her ancient core, Hannah gripping the Device tighter as she offers her own neural pathways to help in the endeavor. The pair just seem to work together so closely, the bond of ancient lineage, and perhaps more importantly, shared trauma having them cling together.

Her free arm reluctantly pulls from Ami and Lyra, just to press onto her own temple.

'Split personality'.

'Murdered another Obsidian member'

'Dark Energy Suppression'

Every wince she makes as each single piece of Setsuna's gathered parts of the broken Device isn't so much at the /sound/, as a twitchy fury at someone shattering their own Device so callously. Or worse. Perhaps not. What if a far more dangerous personality decided the adorable thing she remembers encountering and being quite charmed by wanted to ensure their 'limiter' was crushed to dust.

"...Sankt Kaiser bless your attempts." It's not offered to either Setsuna or Ami. Hannah's entire attention is towards the poor, shattered pieces of the Device that tried to help Firefly. There's sorrow in her voice.

And anger lurking just behind it.

With an audible sniff and a rub of her eyes, she holds Blauer Greif horizontally above the pieces of the shattered Device, and uses gravity magic to have them lightly float. She then works on a mental map of what the Device /could/ have looked like. An effort to hold the remnants to form and fill in the blanks with a mixture of hardlight projection and pure gravity.

All the better to search for anything at all resembling a core!

"Come, dutiful Device. Awaken! Tell me there is aught left other than a mere casing..." Her jaw sets. If she can get /any/ kind of intelligence to awaken, and use her own magic to kickstart the regeneration process!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno was already partially distracted with uploading the data she'd obtained. The scan of Firefly with a certain energy signature, the information as much as could be gleaned from the Glaive that she had broken, and then the very different spike in energy. She pauses, about to speak when the tongue comes out lashing over her cheek earning another little squeak of surprise and a laugh at the gesture. A fond pat is given to Lyra though she is thankful that she finally lays down.

"As soon as the device broke she grew in size, and aged. Her expression was completely different and as you see the energy readings were as well," she explains so that the differences in variables that were being fed over would have a point of reference.

"I believe the name was 'Cytosine' from what was said. Firefly actualy thought that Sailor Moon had killed her, while everyone else saw Firefly do it." Another little clue as to her guess of a split personality. Firefly didn't seem to remember things the same way as everyone else had. "I believe her mind may have created it's own 'truth' of the event."

The words that Setsuna had uttered weren't familiar to Ami Mizuno. To the Mercury Computer they caused another little overlay to appear translating for it's current user leaving her eyes opening wide.

Mental note: Do not upset Setsuna.

"Riventon claims to have built the glaive that she was using--" The words cut off as her eyes snap up to watch Hannah use her own device to negate gravity around the pieces that were floating up. Instinctively her hand lifts to tap the side of her temple. If only she were in henshin she could activate her visor to get real-time readings to observe instead of just glancing down toward the Mercury Computer again to see what was happening.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Hannah starts making the bits of the Device float out of their bags and into an approximation of their proper alignments, the taller woman scowls a bit, then shakes her head, "...yeah...seeing it now like that...I was kind of suspecting we didn't have all the pieces...but those were all that were there to be found. Which means that Riventon probably pulled some of them with them when he teleported the two of them away."

She flops down on her chair and waves her hand to indicate what's there, "...I don't know how those are properly constructed...but given the placement of the missing pieces, I'd imagine that at least one or two crucial bits are probably missing."

The greenhaired woman folds her arms, "...which means that you'll either have to try to rebuild the missing bits from scratch, since I doubt you'll be able to get them back from him."

She shakes her head, "...he's an arrogant ass...but he WAS able to survive taking a Dead Scream from me head on during that business on the Artha. Barely."

She pauses, then blows out a huffed breath, "...I'm pretty sure the only reason he made it past me after that was because he set the whole thing to blow up and got out in the chaos."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah suddenly wishes she had clashed with Firefly more often! She's remarkably quiet, but nods at several points as she and her Device painstakingly scan and try to recreate the Device in their mind, which then extends to gravitic hardlight tendrils trying to trace the thing's potential innards.

Which, of course, is the crux of the matter. Aside from the most basic of mass produced Devices? Those that can even deign to harbor such functions as holding back a potentially dangerous alter ego, and potentially alter events in its' users' mind - assuming it wasn't Firefly herself that reacted to pure trauma - are often bespoke and just follow patterns based on design.

And hearing that Riventon built the Glaive?

Sankt Kaiser, why does that feel relieving, almost? For all he's created an abomination to use for himself?

She'll take a seeming arrogant dreamer over a kinslayer any day. At least he vaguely seems to have a conceptual care for something other than himself.

A single finger very, very gently touches one of the pieces of the Glaive.

In her heart of hearts, she can't find it in herself to believe that the talented young man, no matter how deluded with Dark Energy, would build a Device for someone close to him, just to encourage her to shatter it and unleash some kind of monster that didn't further his goal.

Gently, she lets those pieces float down, then gently insert back into the electronics bag. Hannah taps another digit, and suddenly there's a very tiny little barrier around the whole thing.

Alright. She's grinning here as Setsuna huffs about Riventon!

"He is an /arrogant talented Dark Energy addicted/ fool. Und if you believe his claims? One who thinks only /He/ can make the world better. ...I hate him und I like him in equal measure, honestly. Were I to kick him of his Dark Energy habit? There are /several/ Tharkadian boards I should like to have him on!" Comes Hannah cheerily! If anything, the two may just be full of themselves as a trait they share.

Then her cheer dies.

"I cannot find a core easily repaired. At least, without my tools. Even then...acht, what is the term? 'Crapshoot?' We need herr Riventon's side."

Her brows narrows.

"Or the data. Hm. Hm." Oh gods, her gears are turning.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Or the data.

Ami purses her lips at this while listening to it all. She hadn't faced Riventon more than once or twice at most, and this was the most talkative he'd been to begin with out of those instances. As it's all taken in she can only shake her head slowly, sadly. "I didn't activate my visor to scan until it was close to a tipping point or else I'd likely have more data on the glaive before it was destroyed." Her fault. She's apologetic about it, almost.

"He was very concerned about keeping it functioning though. He also mentioned she can't travel through the Dusk Zone. I surmise that's why he had to set up such an intricate teleport which took some time to establish."

The Mercury Computer is clicked shut as it seems they've exchanged what information they could at the moment. It would be easy to just lose herself in the numbers trying to make sense of them and figure things out--but with partial information there was only so much she could do. Plus she'd already spent at least one mostly sleepless night doing that.

"...Tuxedo Kamen seemed to know him. Perhaps we should speak to him."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna gives a look at Hannah.

Truth be told, it's PROBABLY meant to be a glare...but there's no heat or effort behind it...and then she waves a finger in Hannah's general direction as if conceding the point, "...yeah, as much as the boy irritated the hell out of me...if he was able to tank a Dead Scream, I can grant that he has chops. AND the sense to know when to sacrifice a failing shield as a bit of reactive armor."

Finally, she sighs and grumps back in her chair a bit, "...and, yeah. We should probably use what sources we have to reach out to him. From what I understand, this...THING is something he most definitely DID NOT want to happen."

She reaches up to tap a finger to her lips, "...let us know if you need some backup to a meet...I'm sure we can be there for you."

She spends a few more moments staring...then blinks and snaps her fingers, "OH! Happier topics!"

She reaches out in front of her to a spot in space, and she starts making gestures with her hands that look like she's rummaging through some invisible objects. As she does, she absently asks, "...so if I recall, you work with gravitics, correct, Hannah-chan? If that's what you were just using, I can see you're pretty good with fine manipulation...but I'm curious what the upper limit of field strength you can produce is? How many Earth-standard gravities?"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
The young woman nods towards Ami, and takes it all in. Her apologies about not activating her advisor are utterly waved away, openly, with a hand.

It's not like she and BG haven't been /busy/ as far as the Core Cycling Units of a Device and her attendant User's bolstering of said in the middle of a fight. ...In fact a Belkan Device, Ancient or Modern, is all but purpose built to run hot that way, tilted towards melee combat as they are!

"Think of it as an opportunity to /learn/, mein dear roomie! If you fear your speed of analysis is lacking? Perhaps we should seek the battlefield togther, und thus grow together! ...Unless you desire a Duel!" Pause. A brow rises. She staaaares at Ami with sheer, Belkan, desire and encouragement!

At least until more pressing matters have her deflate.

"Und so we have a vaguely well-meaning madman with talent constructing a...considering the debris...more than competently created Device on a world with an utterly abysmal tech-base und less than ideal tools in the offering.

Hannah call feel that glare. She takes it on the chin, and only responds with the kind of smile only a royal child can produce! And a Belkan, at that, for she's already scanning with BG for any sign that Setsuna is wanting a Duel. After all, she doesn't yet understand the culture of the Royalty that Pluto represents. And how /dare/ a Belkan not turn down a good old fashioned Duel in good spirit!?

But eventually the standoff(s) end, and she raises her hands in pure embrace!

"I shall do mein utmost to draw his attention!" Pause.

"For works of neutrality." One can almost /hear/ her deflating yet being a bit happy about it? Mixed feelings go.

Setsuna also asks an interesting question! She's....never considered it!

"Acht, I...hm. Well. I have always measured by Tharkadian gravities..." There's an honest few moments of bewilderment!

Pause. Paauuuuuse.

She smiles.

And then she taps her way to the largest part of the room of the Casa del Outers, and a Barrier suddenly flares up!

She floats a good three feet off the ground.

<Fluss: Akkretion>

"I am the center of gravity!" Howls Hannah!

Rather than /layer/ the gravity wells, she focuses on creating a single one. It grows dense. Then denser. The entire not-world of a Barrier seems to pull in. Then crunch. Everything is fisheyed towards Hannah! And again and again and again and...just before there's the vague sensation of losing one's neck?

POP

It's the worst kind of ear-drum pop of all time, only it's your whole body. And, it seems, Hannah herself isn't immune as that barrier fades and she's making /several/ new additions to Ami's database of Belkan words of displeasure.

"....Roughly eight or so times, at least without turning all involved into dust. Nein, am uncertain whether mein own body or mein Linker Core would break first, going past mein Device's limits." She offers, trying to limber herself up again!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It occurs to Ami that during her time being Hannah's roommate she may have been holding back significantly in her personality, even as boisterous as she already appeared. Because when the the barrier is errected she starts to feel that building of gravity in a way that made her head throb.

Right up until the end, and she reaches up to press thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose while squinting. "Oh my," she utters simply unsure of what else to say, if anything at this point.

"I think if you want to do any more testing of that, I ought to change first," she finally remarks lowering her hand to smile at Hannah a bit. "I certainly wouldn't mind going into the feild with you at some pont, Hannah-chan. Though I admit out of all the Sailors, I'm not the best fighter. Most of my abilities are more..." She trails off glancing down at her hands. She'd made similar remarks around Mamoru not so long ago and he had chided her for it.

"Assisting? Perhaps I should work on that. I won't always be around the others when I may need."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna pauses her rummaging and quickly pulls her hands out to the sides as she watches Hannah manipulate the local gravity fields.

She's not sure what would happen if there were a sudden gravity flux while she was interacting with her dimensional pocket...and frankly, she's not really all that keen on finding out.

This time Hannah DOES get a bit of a glare and a chiding tone as she says, "...Hannah-chan...not inside the house, please."

She shakes her head in good natured exasperation as she realizes how Chrono got his opinion of Belkans if Hannah is anything like an ur-example of that people.

After that, however, she goes back to making that rummaging gesture, then ahs! and starts pulling books out of her dimensional space.

The covers are fairly clearly of a science-fiction nature, featuring images of odd, long starships that seem to consist of a long tube with a bulge at either end and a woman more 'handsome' than 'pretty' in uniform along with what appears to be some kind of six legged cat, "I remembered reading a series of books a while ago...they're all what is regarded as 'science fiction' here...meaning, everything within is speculative and not ACTUALLY real...but I've often found that such imaginations can produce inspiration for ACTUAL innovation."

She then hands the books over, "In any event, I hope Blauer Grief can scan them so you can have him read them to you...I was even able to find them already translated into German, so that should be a bit easier...if he can't translate them for you, I'll see if I can track down the audiobook versions. They're a series titled after the main character whose name is 'Honor Harrington'...and while most of the combat within is long-range naval engagements...the tech base they use has some interesting usage of gravity...including using inclined planes of gravitic shear as not only propulsion but also as shielding and a weapon."

Here she gets a bit more animated...as physics IS one of her hobbies, after all, "I don't know how the spell math would work out...but it's something to look into. Even if you can only do eight or so gravities force, if you can set up a directional shear of that strength, imagine what might happen if someone were to attack you and hit a field of that you put around your weapon as you parry...they'd get their own weapon yanked far out of position by the acceleration imparted even if it didn't damage THEIR weapon."

Then as Ami downplays her abilities, Setsuna blinks and STARES at her.

Just outright.

STARES.

After a few moments of slience, she says in a confused tone, "...Ami-chan...you control WATER. The amount of nonsense you can pull off with phase change tricks ALONE is INCREDIBLE."

She shakes her head, "Even IF you decided to focus primarily on support, the amount of battlefield control you can exert is silly. Patches of black ice at will to ruin footing? Dense fog on command to foul sight and hearing? No lock on the planet would be able to stand up to you for more than moments. And that's not even getting in to if you start figuring out how to use phase changes to leech heat from a target. Please, don't sell yourself short. NONE of the Guardians were given weak powers...but I grant that some of them might require more control and work to get the most of."