2261/Mahou 101:Curse Hunters

Mahou 101:Curse Hunters
Date of Scene:	22 January 2025
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	Curse Hunters (the Accursed) are checked for rabies. No, not really, but a very nice wolf girl takes some time to talk to Entrapta! It's a calmer scene, but an informative one!
Cast of Characters:	281, Ikiko Hisakata
Tinyplot:	Mahou 101

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Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta is arguing with her celphone.

"I know you have it all scheduled, but I don't want to go to it." She's speaking to someone on the speaker, from across the room. "I have other things to deal with."

The person on the other end replies with, "Well why did you schedule it then? I can only input what data you give me, Miss."

Sighing, Entrapta continues what she's doing, which seems to be tidying. "At the time, it seemed important. Other factors have taken priority. Just move it forward to the next available slot. You can delete sleep where necessary."

"Rashmi says not to do that anymore," the phone begins to say, but Entrapta sighs and says, "Yes. But I've got to set up the equipment in that dragon's lair, and it's a lot of travel time. Have to cut someplace."

They talk for a bit longer, before the phone interrupts. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've got possible footfalls." the speakerphone says. "There might be someone coming." Which makes Entrapta perk up.

"Oh? I do hope it's food. I'm actually hungry!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
The afternoon had been a little hectic for Cute Wolf Tsukiko: she had been doing the usual feeding of some of strays around Tokyo as Ikiko, but that had been interrupted by a small group of youma. Nothing that couldn't be handled by a single magical girl, but the last one was evasive enough that having backup would've made it go much faster... but trying to fumble with a cellphone while chasing a darting youma isn't particularly effective.

On the way back to RHA afterwards, Ikiko stopped by a conbini to pick up some snacks (all that chasing had worked up her appetite), when she remembered the message in the Shed about communications research. So, with a large box of variety snack crackers (small crackers, at that!) to share, she headed for the Shed, makign sure to henshin out of sight along the way.

"Hi!" the wolfgirl calls as she walks into the Shed. "I understand you're interested in learning how various powers work, in order to make communicators?"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
As the door opens, a purple-haired girl in pigtails leans around to look at who's there. She calls back into the room, "I don't know who it is!" Then she wanders around the table, coming more into view. Overalls and grease, she looks like a mechanic of some sort. But otherwise, human.

"At least, I don't think I do. Do I know you yet?" she asks, wiping her hands on a cloth. If you could be said to wipe your hands merrily, she'd be doing so now. "Not important, come in! You're here for the research, and I'm here to do it so that works out!"

She pauses, looking the new arrival over fully, then says, "And you seem to be a new type, that's incredible! Would you like to sit? Or stand? Or hang from the ceiling? Seriously I have no idea what to offer you, and I hate to make assumptions."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Sitting will be just fine, thanks," Tsukiko giggles with a cheerful smile. "Although I might sit a bit sideways in the chair; my tail is not in a curl-up mood at the moment."

Finding an available seat near an unused desk, the wolfgirl sits down and opens the box of snack crackers. "I'm known as Cute Wolf Tsukiko; nice to meet you!" she remarks, taking a modest handful of crackers from the box and making an offering motion with the box towards Entrapta. "I'm pretty sure I haven't met you outside of henshin, although I do know that some people get significant hair changes when they henshin."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Leaning in, Entrapta looks at what's being offered. The fact that it was by a wolf girl doesn't seem to be putting her out, maybe she's seen a lot in her time doing research. "Oh yay, tiny food!" she exclaims, happy to have something she can eat with her dietary preferences.

She noms a couple, then settles back in. "I've had a lot of people come, but none with fur so far. That's fascinating, and I want to know all about it..."

The phone says, "Focus on the research, Miss," which makes the human actually jerk.

"Right! Focus! Please, tell me about your group? That's a good place to start. What are you called, as a general rule? I find that people tend to have categories that they use to define themselves and their abilities in general."

She leans over, poking at her laptop, which activates a crystal array to start humming. "I'm recording," she says, not saying exactly what she's recording but one assumes..sound? It is not sound, but one might assume that it was.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko nibbles on a cracker as she contemplates how to answer the questions. "I'll start by noting that, as far as I can tell from those that I've met in comparison to other magical folks, those with magical sources that are even vaguely similar to mine are... rather ungrouped, for lack of a better term," she sighs. "Not as innately linked as the Sailor Senshi, nor quite as categorically recognizable as Device Mages. About the only commonality I can think of is that there's a curse involved in how we got our powers -- and as far as I know, the curses aren't related to each other -- so I guess you could call us 'Accursed' as a catch-all term."

(Admittedly, there's only one other mahou that Tsukiko has talked with that has told her about their curse, but there's a few that she has some suspicions about, either from their behavior or old folklore about things relating to their specific powers. Hard to tell without being able to actually sense curses, which Tsukiko is pretty sure she can't do.)

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Hm. "Curses, haven't come across that before," Entrapta says thoughtfully. She shifts, pulling out her laptop, and types some quick notes. "I want to ask what those are, but I haven't encountered any group that didn't get something out of whatever deal was made."

She shifts, again in her seat, then rubs her head. "Would you mind if I asked you some specific questions then, assuming that it isn't viable answers for all? I hope I'll meet others someday of course."

She smiles, then says, "I was hoping to hear about the history. What happened to you?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"The short answer, in my case, is that it's a bloodline curse," Tsukiko notes. "Family lore says he fought a werewolf with the help of a soul-amplifying item to try protecting him from catching lycanthropy; the item sort of worked. As in, he didn't get a full-blown case of lycanthropy, but wearing the locket made the fractional wolf soul visible."

She muses for a moment as the context of the interview gives her an opportunity to look at the old story through a new light. "Come to think of it, I guess this means he was a magical boy when he was a teenager," the wolfgirl blinks. "At least for a little time; he stopped using the Lycan Locket when he thought that it had been cursed by the fight with the werewolf." Her eyes widen a bit at a secondary realization involving the locket, but that bit of info isn't relevant to the story of her powers.

"Anyway, one day a couple of years ago, I was looking through some old items in the family storeroom, and I found a neat locket. I decided to wear it, and I didn't notice anything... at first. That night, during a full moon, I had what I thought was a vivid dream, leaping over houses, talking with dogs -- including understanding what they were saying and speaking back in their language -- and fighting some weird creature that I now know was some sort of minor youma."

The wolfgirl chuckles. "When I got back home in my 'dream', I was startled by my reflection, so I tripped backwards and landed painfully on my rear. And since you don't feel pain in a dream, it meant that it wasn't a dream. Really spooked me that I had inadvertently put on the 'cursed' Lycan Locket, although since then I've realized that the Locket itself isn't cursed; technically, I am."

She munches on a cracker as she thinks something over, then gives a slight nod. "I will note that I know of one Accursed who got their powers due to a cursed item, and given what I've seen as a magical girl, I could understand there being those who are tasked to break curses," Tsukiko adds. "As well as those who wield curses -- those who use dark energy might have an easier time with that, but given that some curses are just blessings that didn't work right, or have a downside that outweighs the upside, it's probably not a definite requirement."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta makes a note to research lycanthropy at a later time. Knowing what it is would likely help her with this type of research, but for now she'll keep it in back of her thoughts. Much more important things to handle right this moment.

"I should mention, I'm not a local. Concepts like weir wolves don't make sense yet. But I'll get there, don't worry about it!" She doesn't look up from her notes, trying to get everything down. Every important thing. Most things. "So your magical system is, at least in your case, marginally hereditary. I think that's a first! Or is it just due to the ownership of the locket?"

She pauses, tapping her lips with her pencil. "What would happen if I held onto it? Or do you think that it would take time for the tool to activate? So, others have items, but they vary wildly. So yes, the curse is the repeating factor. I wish I could see one."

Sounding almost as if she's losing track of her own conversation, Entrapta pauses. Then she says, "Oh I'm sorry, I was rambling. Can you control your change? I assume that you change. Most people seem to change, somehow or other. It's actually quite fascinating, I love to see them shift. Very fun!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I'm pretty sure the physical potential is the hereditary part, while the locket amplifies the soul enough to tap into it," Tsukiko shrugs. "And those are just the factors I'm aware of -- magic is quirky enough that there's probably more to it than just those two."

She thinks for a moment about the theoreticals posed. "Having only secondhand information from a source who wasn't trying to remember that specific aspect at the time, I'm not sure what other effect the Lycan Locket would have on someone who doesn't have an extra soul in them," the wolfgirl admits. "And from what I can tell, you'd have to use the henshin phrase in order to get it to work -- assuming that you're able to convince it to work; family lore suggests that the magic of the locket was set up with a way of limiting who can use it. Probably something like sympathetic magic attuned to my great-grandfather, and being a direct descendant is similar enough to work as it currently is."

Another shrug. "But that's mostly just guessing based on what info I know; all I know for certain is, it works, and how I get it to work. I'm not exactly a crafter of magical items, and, uh... I wouldn't want to mess with it without some sort of backup or the like, y'know?"

The henshin question causes Tsukiko to furrow her brow as she contemplates what to say. "I can control my change; there's a small phrase involved, and it does require a certain amount of intent behind saying it in order for it to work," she finally says. "The ears and tail get added, the outfit swaps, and the color of my eyes and my hair change. Oddly enough, my hair gets shorter in henshin; I've seen several magical girls of other types whose hair gets longer, so I'm kind of an outlier there."

There's a slight giggle at that, then another thoughtful look. "Been a while since I last tried looking at myself in a mirror while transforming, but as far as I can tell it's just: start glowing with a bright silvery detail-obscuring light, shift in silhouette, stop glowing. The few magical girls that I've actually watch transform, they seem to have some sort of fast-forwarded sequence, but to the best of my knowledge mine isn't that."

There's a bit of apologetic fidgeting before she adds, "I usually wait on revealing my identity to people until I've worked with them a couple of times, so... if it's okay with you, I'd rather just stay in henshin for now."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta lets the wolfgirl finish, doing her best not to interrupt. She's excited to learn new things, excited to keep learning, but she's found that she doesn't respond well until she's got a full picture to work from. So she's as silent as possible, almost as if she's not listening.

She definitely is listening. "That makes so much sense! It absolutely leads to the possibility that the one who created this particular curse is at least intelligent, and possibly tactical about their work. I have to postulate what would happen if a poorly thought out curse would to happen."

She thinks, then shakes her head. "It likely has, but the ones who did curses in stupid fashions were in some way caught up in the consequences. Only curses with some level of planning put into them would survive, or at least the line of those who were doing them. Fascinating concepts here. Even if it is hypothetical."

A moment later, she reviews what was said mentally then says, "I don't actually want to mess with your magic. I'm fine doing research, it's my life! You're very helpful right now, don't worry about that."

She pulls one foot up into her lap, then smiles. "I don't mind at all! You barely know me! That makes complete sense. Ooh, do you do any magic though? I would love to see something explode!" She seems serious. "I'm making a contained target range outside, with some help! Soon we'll be able to test all kinds of things! Or if your abilities aren't like that, something less destructive is also good data!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Most of my combat magic is simply speed and agility," Tsukiko admits with an open-handed gesture. "I'm mostly a brawling skirmisher, and I've noticed that in bigger fights I tend to do better by forcing the opponent to split their attention, drawing their attention away from others -- and if they ignore me, I'll dart up and kick them!"

She munches on a cracker, sorting through her thoughts. "Even my 'big' attacks aren't as... flashy as what others can do," she notes. "If I get going fast enough, I can essentially tackle through the enemy, flowing like a bolt of silvery light. I'm pretty sure I don't, like, actually go through them, since there's no visible holes, but the visual line definitely lances them."

The wolfgirl tips one of her hands the other way. "The other 'big' thing I can do is a soothing musical howl. Excellent for purifying emotion-driven youma and tending to injuries of the heart and soul, but not particularly useful against physical threats. Still, a purification is a purification, so it's still going to hurt most youma, and I can usually manage it even in situations where I don't have the footing for the silvery wolf tackle. Still get better results if I build up some momentum first, though."

She taps her chin for a moment, then adds, "While I currently don't have much in terms of major magic, I have noticed that some magical girls develop additional abilities over time. Maybe that'll happen to me at some point, but it's not like I can plan for that type of thing, y'know?"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Mumbling. Scientists mumble? Seems so. "Auditory magic, repeating theme. There's a lot of auditory magic in mahou circles, you have no idea how often that comes up but the resonances are ...different." She grins then, looking up from her notes. "The light based motion is new though! I've no data on that at all, that's incredible! Maybe I can get some data on it someday, if I'm ever there."

She frowns. "But I'm never there, I'm always in here. It limits what I can gather information on. Still, secondhand accounts from firsthand witnesses, such as yourself, are still of value. I can do something with this information." She nods firmly, placing her pencil against her paper, not writing for a moment.

"Wait, magical abilities change over time?" She blinks, then looks toward her computer. "Right, the Senshi mentioned something about that, but in terms of traumatic events causing them to reveal themselves. Powerful impetus for powerful changes. That's different from simply developing over time, I can absolutely work on that theory."

Blink. More blinks, then she says, "You can plan for anything. Let me get back to you, I'll see what I can do to set something up. I mean, unless you have anything that you'd like to share, for the research?"

She beams! So happy! "If not, then I appreciate this. I have plenty to go forward with. Just have to actually experience a curse someday. That'll be the safest way to get data on this."

No, you are wrong, Entrapta.
But, data!
Don't make me slap you.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko blinks and stifles a giggle. "If I manage to find an errant low-power curse, I'll see what I can do," she states as solemnly as she can manage. "Not sure how useful it'd be, but something like guessing reasonable and fair coinflips wrong more than 50% of the time probably won't cause any major trouble. Maybe."

She stands up, taking the box of crackers. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around. Good luck with your research!"