1897/Dust Entertainment and Tomoe LifeScience partnership

Dust Entertainment and Tomoe LifeScience partnership
Date of Scene:	28 August 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Dark Laboratory
Synopsis:	Ryoko is called by Eudial of Tomoe LifeScience's to discuss a... co-operative venture between the two divisions. This will totally not spell trouble for anyone and everyone.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Ryoko Gushiken

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
And so it was that Dust Entertainment was invited into a new undertaking with Tomoe LifeScience. Eudial was standing in front of what looked like one of the small towers of the Eclipse Zones. A strange pair of staffs, one with a blue star and another with a black star were resting up against it.

She had a clipboard in hand and was taking readings, besides what looked like a... strange terminal. "Uh huh... Hmmmmm..." she mumbled, checking a few things off.

A strange, circular portal had opened into what looked like a baren, empty wasteland, everything somewhat offcolor and... distorted. The dusk zone.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Usually when The Grim Queen told her to go to a meeting with another division it was boring administrative tedium. But this time, it promised to be something interesting. Hokori-sama had said Tomoe LifeScience had a project for them to collaborate on, and she made it abundantly clear that Ember needed to do well on this project after what had happened in Juuban.

The only problem was that the meeting was in some laboratory in a sub-sub-basement in the non-euclidian part of the building. She hated going down there. It was dank and it always left a nasty film on the bottom of her shoes. Fortunately, she was going in her henshin, and so her Louboutins were safe. These boots were made for crushing her enemies. They could get some weird sub-basement gunk on them.

The laboratory door swung open and Ember strode in like she owned the place. "I've got another meeting after this," she said, walking across the room. "So let's get down to it. What have you got for me?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Eudial didn't glance up from her clipboard. "Well, then don't let me hold you up, I can handle this without outside help," she snapped, obviously already testy about this whole thing. Well, it wasn't her who had wanted help... it was Kaolinite determining they had made no progress, so it was time to find it.

"What we have is a way to access the dusk zone through portals such as these, creating a wide area energy drain. From there, we can then direct that energy into our stations and send out a... ping of sorts."

"This should, in theory, allow us to locate certain magical signatures, like the one your Grim Queen has been searching for."

Also, to hopefully track down a certain missing child of theirs, who was playing host to certain... important research subjects.

"However, the moment we start the device, it is bound to draw in every one of the sparkling idiots to try and take it down before the ping can go off. So Kaolinite wants us to... work... with your division. Since, apparently, she thinks it'll be better we both benefit. As if we can't handle this on our own..."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ember held her tongue while she listened to the full description of what this project was. She circled around the tower, inspecting it, and she peered through the portal nodding. Finally she stopped in front of Eudial again, her arms folded across her chest.

"Let me confirm my understanding," she said. "This device here can find magical signatures by way of sending a ping using energy drained through the portal, but it has to run out in the open to work. You can't hold the field long enough to succeed, and that's where I come in."

Her arms unfurl and she brings her hands together tapping her fingertips against one another like the villain she is. "I have definitely got you covered." She hadn't yet played defense with the Grimm. She had several tricks up her sleeve.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Eudial gave a small nod. "Something like that. We're setting up the station in the dusk zone now. Once it's setup, we'll need to go out and play defense on it while it charges up until it emits a ping. We'll need information on what you're searching for in order to get the ping aligned correctly, of course. Otherwise it'll just ping off every magical thing in the city and, in this city, that will be far too useless."

"... Also, we need to make sure the device isn't destroyed in the process. We only have so many of these towers and if we run out of them, we'll have to make the entire thing from scratch."

"... So, are there more of you, or does the Grim Queen think you'll be able to handle this on your own?" There was, perhaps, almost, a tiny bit of respect in that tone. Just a smidge when she looked at Ember.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
"The Grim Queen expects I will succeed," Ember answered, which did not really answer Eudial's question at all. It was the truth, though. The Grim Queen did expect she would succeed, and The Grim Queen did not like it when her expectations were not met. "And her faith is not misplaced."

She smirked, and then in a slightly conspiratorial tone, said, "I have very persuasive recruitment techniques. I never fight on my own." Except when she does, but Eudial doesn't need to know that.

Turning to the portal again she gestured. "So, is this how big it's going to be when we're doing this for real? Where are you setting things up?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Eudial cocked an eye, a small smile on her lips. "I hope they're better than the idiots I'm straddled with," Eudial muttered. "But that's good to hear. And no. We'll have a youma to summon it. Hold on." She then tapped a few buttons and it... made a light chiming music sound. She then pounded a fist on it. "Work you stupid piece of--"

Then it began to shrink down, retracting into a bag-sized cylinder. "Perfect. Then just have a youma carry and drag it somewhere with a lot of people. Once it's done, it'll retract again, then just have the youma carry it off or dusk port off with it. Either or, really. Don't let them get a hold of it."

Them being, most likely, the sparkles.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ember watched as the tower shrunk down to something manageable. She knew a thing or two about magic and matter and she was certain that even though it looked like a duffel bag, it probably weighed just as much as it did when it was bigger than her. "So I'll have to have the youma carry it off," she observes. She can't dusk port.

Her brow furrows slightly and her lips turn into a frown as she looks down at the compact device. It was going to be difficult to pull this off. She really disliked the idea of relying on a youma to haul off the device she'd be entrusted with. But a Grimm? She had ideas. So far all the Grimm she'd made were hunting mammals: bears, wolves, and cats. It was time she branched out.

"Okay, so how long does it need to run before it's done?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
"Anywhere from ten minutes to a few minutes. Depends on how large the energy drain on the local area is, how many people are drained. I'll leave that to you to find a good location."

It shouldn't be too difficult. Once the ping goes off, bring the device to us and we'll be able to use the information to, hopefully, get a better idea of where the location is. If you can't dusk port, you can retreat through the portal it opens. Though... you may want to learn to duskport. If it closed and you were trapped on the other side that could go quite poorly for you."

Eudial, admittedly, probably wouldn't mind if that happened to her... on the other hand, this new girl might be more competent than her colleagues. And she seemed... dedicated. Determined. There were always uses for people like that. And who knew? Maybe she'd be a good candidate for a daimon...

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ember was not going to retreat through the portal she wasn't going to duskport. She was going to start breaking out the big Grimm. The kind that took more than just a few well-placed blows to defeat. The kind that could easily carry off one of those towers whether it was shrunk down or not. That frown slowly turned back into her tight little smile and she said, "Well then, I won't get trapped on the other side."

She looks at the device for a moment longer, then looks up to Eudial. "We have an entire file on the magical signature we're tracking down. I will send it over so that you can calibrate the sensors. I am assuming that it'll be obvious when the ping has been sent and I should pack up. Does the tower need to collapse before it's transported?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
"No, it doesn't need to compress. It'll be fairly obvious once the ping has gone out, then comes back. The device will start to compress as well, after, so fairly noticeable. Just make sure it gets back to us then. If it doesn't, then the information will be little more than useless to us."

"You can take this one. Oh, and if you see Mimette on the way out? Tell her that her assistance on this project will *not* be necessary."