Post-Apocalypse Magical Girl Quest, Part 23

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Twitter: @echogarrote

Opening Theme: youtube.com/watch?v=r3FKgL7YVFg

Last Episode: You explored Joy-In-Unity's base of operations and confirmed that she was the cause of the Event. You also discovered the corpse of your ancestor, Joy-In-Zephyr. She's now considering taking over your body.

“So…” Zephyr sits on the summit table and drums the fingers of one hand on the wood. “Do I go for it?”

“I suppose you couldn’t foul up her life worse than she did.” Civility says.

Meadows continues to attempt, and fail, to desecrate Unity’s perfect corpse.

Zephyr rolls her eyes. “Enough from the peanut gallery.” She sighs. “It isn’t like I haven’t broken the law before, and I’m guessing that normal social contacts that I’m familiar with don’t really apply. However, I did try to be moral, or at the very least non-violent.”

“That’s because you tricked other people into doing your killing for you.” Civility says.

(cont)

“Well, that’s the best way to do your killing…and shut up.” Zephyr says. She leans back. “And I suppose if you let these two bundles of laughs hitch along with you…no sense that I couldn’t do the same.” She rolls her eyes up and tilts her head back and forth. “Maybe I could live with that…although I don’t think you’re the type to go quietly. Also, if those two are disgusted with you like that,” she grins. “Then that means you fight dirty, I am very proud of that by the by, and I know enough about fights to know that they can’t be predicted. Not when two Joys go at it.

“So…the question is: Am I willing to risk a fight, in order to do a very bad thing?

Gotta admit it, Joy-of-my-Own, it’s really tempting. There’s no comparison between being dead and being alive. So…any arguments of your own?”

> Start with how Zephyr will be unable to survive
> Start with how Zephyr's plan just wont work
> Start with the fact that there's no point, due to the Global Cooling.
> Other

Made it on time for this! Today is a great day!

>I am very proud of that by the by

Best Granny!

Now for the real vote.

[x] Start with asking her how she would have dealt with some of the encounters we came across and point out how her methods no longer work so well in a brutal era of kill or be killed, but how it can be used to hone our ways of doing things.

And call her best granny.

This world is kill or be killed, the people of joy hunt me, and when I tired talking to them I nearly died for my efforts. They are extant everywhere, and will track me down eventually.

For the other anons, how will Granny react to knife time and how happy we get from it?

Will granny like the bear?

"So, you did a lot of tricking, spy work, and subtle moves to succeed in your world?" You ask.

Zephyr nods.

"That kind of stuff won't work. Not as well, not any more." You say. "People don't argue or plot over who gets the last can of cat food. They just pull weapons, and someone either backs down, or people end up dead. That's just the normal stuff, there's the Hubris as well. You've never seen them, never seen what these things can do, what they turn into, and how they can mess with your mind.

"You're obviously the best grandmother I could have hoped for...and you have so much you can teach me. But...I don't think your mindset is ready for what's out there.

"You see the fact that I don't feel things like Despair is a sorrow. It's not, it's a survival tactic." You say. "Ask them," you gesture to the other two. "If they've been watching me, like they claim, then they know all about this."

"Ugh, it's true. We’ve seen it. There are dangers out there, and Joy doesn’t work the same way it used to…not completely.” Civility says.

“If we keep her with us, I can use her knowledge of the world.” Zephyr says. “If I’m clever enough that I was only caught thanks to a mind reader, I think I can survive long enough to learn the lay of the land.”

“That’s a large risk.” Meadows says.

“Well…first, I’m willing to risk it for a chance to breathe again, but I’m also thinking she’ll want to help because it would still be her body and consciousness dying.” Zephyr says. “Am I right?” She looks at you.

> I'm not afraid of death. (Lie)
> I'm not afraid of death. (Truth)
> You're not wrong.
> Other

> I'm not afraid of death. (Truth)
>And if I go I will make sure to do as much as i can to take whoever/whatever got me to the grave.

[x] Other

I will let you drive once in a while.

Also,
[x] I'm not afraid of death. (Truth)

[x] And if I go I will make sure to do as much as i can to take whoever/whatever got me to the grave.

As the other good user said.

>> I'm not afraid of death. (Truth)

Man I gave up hope on this coming back, this is really nice.

> I'm not afraid of death. (Truth)

>And if I go I will make sure to do as much as i can to take whoever/whatever got me to the grave.

BUMP

"I've been surrounded by death since I was 4." You say. "People dying is the rule, not the exception. I'm not scared of it. I don't even care about it."

You say that with such calm, and you dead eyes look right into your grandmother's ghost and you can tell that she believes you and is incredibly disturbed by that.

"Also, there's one thing that we've learned to do." You say. "That's to ensure with all our power that if there's a person or critter that takes US out, it's considered...good manners...to take IT out as well. In that regard, I have been VERY polite."

"I told you." Civility says. "It's a waste. They've all gone savage at best, religious zealots, and military dictatorships are the only forms of stability that they have. There's no community, no sense of belonging."

"She was rejected by her Sisters." Meadows says.

"Seriously?" Zephyr says. "Then she looks at you. Is that true? That's...how do you manage to do that? Even if you oppose your sister-in-Joy...there's supposed to be a link, a shared bond between us all." She look thoughtful. "True, that's probably what killed them...but still...is it true? Were you rejected by your sisters?"

> It's true.
> It's more complicated than that. (And Zephyr will want you to provide further explanation.)
> Old social norms no longer matter, remember?

> It's true.
> Old social norms no longer matter, remember?

[x] It's more complicated than that. (And Zephyr will want you to provide further explanation.)

Not sure if this is in character or not though.

You lot killed that link with this mind meld stunt

> Old social norms no longer matter, remember?
> But even now people hate monsters.

> It's true.
> Old social norms no longer matter, remember?
>There are 3 Other "Natural" Joys besides me. Joy in Embers who is terrified of me, because she was raised in place where she was shielded from how the world works. Joy in Ruin who was infected by a Hubris, who still bears the scars after I brought her back, and Joy in Thought, who persists because she is more Machine than woman. All the others are dead, or puppets. No joy can exist with this disconnect, otherwise they die. If they are lucky they die before the go insane and go on a bloody rampage. The dolls the people of joys make out of lesser joys are puppets under their control, used as their mouth pieces. Connecting now is death, and doing so for even the smallest second is dancing on the ragged edge of disaster. Bearing that in mind I have gone into your mind, the mind of a bear, and purified Joy-in-Ruin. What does that say about my resolve?

[x]

I am for this user. Excellent work.

That's rich given that you trained and bred cannon fodder and another who just fucked around in her mansion while the world burned

"Old social norms no longer matter, remember?" You say.

Zephyr nods, with a 'point' expression on her face.

"But it's true, and the reason for that is that link, thanks to HER," You point to Unity. "Is toxic. There are 3 Other "Natural" Joys besides me. Joy in Embers who is terrified of me, because she was raised in place where she was shielded from how the world works. Joy in Ruin who was infected by a Hubris, who still bears the scars after I brought her back, and Joy in Thought, who persists because she is more Machine than woman. All the others are dead, or puppets. No normal Joy can exist with this disconnect, otherwise they die. If they are lucky they die before the go insane and go on a bloody rampage. The People of Joys make dolls out of lesser Joys. Puppets under their control, used as their mouth pieces. Connecting now is death, and doing so for even the smallest second is dancing on the ragged edge of disaster.

"Now, I have gone into your mind, the mind of a bear, and purified Joy-in-Ruin. What does that say about my resolve?"

Zephyr sits there for a while, thinking. Then she nods. "Never fight against someone who's willing to die. I've seen people do suicide runs. Granted, yours is a little longer term than most...but I recognize the look."

"We might be able to help." Meadows says. "We could take her."

"No...no, we'd end up brain dead, and if she got control back for a second she'd slash her own throat." Zephyr says.

"Alright, new argument." Zephyr says. "So...I can see some of your thoughts, and I know why you came here. You want to use Joy-In-Time to fix this...all of this. Correct?

(cont)

"You know that's a suicide mission of its own. No Event, no you. If anything, I have a heavier investment, as it would give me a second chance at life." Zephyr says. "Now, you're good at surviving, but face it kiddo, when you hit OLYMPUS, that's going to take something more. I know how tech works. I know how to infiltrate places. I've dealt with AIs and how to work around them. I can't help you if I'm just a hazy voice in the back of your mind."

"You want to fix this so bad? Let me take over, and I'll make sure that this world doesn't happen. You'll be gone, and victorious...and I get my life back. Sound good?"

> It does...it really does...
> No. It has to be me.
> I'm not doing what Wren says because I want to fix this.
> Who says I'm going to use Joy-In-Time to fix this?

> No. It has to be me.
> Who says I'm going to use Joy-In-Time to fix this?

> No. It has to be me.

[x] Can we not share, Grandmother?

>sharing is caring

> No. It has to be me.
>If you want more lee-way just ask, I mean none of the others have even tried. I am keeping my body and mind, but I won't turn down help when offered.

Sadly, due to how it works, not an option. If you tried, both of your minds would be...altered and it's unlikely you'd come out the other side sane. Also, swapping back and forth isn't an option as well, for the same reasons.

Fuck that we got our own life and Family and friends remember?

[x] I am for this user.

"No...no, it has to be me." You say. "Anyway, why didn't you two tell me you wanted more lee-way? I won't turn down help, but I am keeping my body and mind."

"You don't think we've been trying?" Meadows says. "We scream, and bang on the 'walls,' use any kind of power or Expression that we think might work. You never hear us. Not unless we're doing something like this."

"And we don't feel anything either." Civility says. "Nothing but looking at eyes we can't control."

"So...if I shoved her back...that would happen to her? I wouldn't be able to get her assistance?" Zephyr asks.

"You're different Zephyr." Meadows says. "We still have the Sisterhood link."

"Hmm." Zephyr says. "I don't...like the idea of being stuck like that."

It's clear that she's wavering on the idea. She's obviously tempted, but the downsides are heavy enough to throw her some doubt.

It's clear that Zephyr isn't going to accept a 'backseat' role. So, you have to either be not here, or get her to drop the link.

> Bid your grandmother good day, and walk away.
> Bolt for the door and run for it.
> Tell Zephyr that you're dropping the link.
> Forcibly drop the link.

> Bid your grandmother good day, and walk away.
> Tell Zephyr that you're dropping the link.

>> Bid your grandmother good day, and walk away.
> Tell Zephyr that you're dropping the link.

> Bid your grandmother good day, and walk away.
> Tell Zephyr that you're dropping the link.

"Love ya Grams, but you had your shot."

"Well...I have to say that it has been pleasant to know you." You say. "But I have people waiting for me, and this building isn't going to hold for much longer. I'm dropping the link."

Zephyr just stands there looking at the ground.

"Do you promise?" She asks.

"What?" You say.

"Do you promise to fix things? Use Time to make it so that this cold nightmare doesn't exist?" Zephyr says, not looking up from the floor.

>Zephyr's too smart, and not willing to hear long 'I'll do my best' and 'I'll try' answers. She wants a one word answer, or else she'll attack.

> Yes (Lie)
> Yes (Truth)
> No
> Don't answer
> Attack

> Yes (Truth)

> Yes (Truth)

> No

>Don't Answer

If we can, say something like "You already know the answer" and leave it at that.

> Yes (Truth)

>> Yes (Truth)

Believe in your grand daughter.

>Yes (Truth)
If the world is doomed and this is the best way to fix it, we should be the one to do it.

"Yes." You say.

"Alright." Zephyr says.

"Pfft. You can't trust a word she says." Civility says.

"She's a child of the air, they flit from one promise to another. Something will come up, or change." Meadows says. "The sick part is, right now? She isn't lying."

"Enough." Zephyr says.

And suddenly, all three of them are gone.

You're alone in the room again.

The building rumbles, and you can feel the floor tremble underneath you.

Time to leave. Hang on...you check Zephyr's corpse.

> Roll 1d20

Rolled 4 (1d20)

Rolled 17 (1d20)

HWG

Rolled 5 (1d20)

Dammit gramma, don't be a miser now

Can we communicate with them at any time?

Grandma is great.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

rolling to see what was

Slightly less of a bitch than I though she would be from last thread.

So, does dropping the link mean we'll never see her again then? Or is she somwhere in our head with the rest?
I'm sorry, i'm too tired to fully comprehend everything right now.

Underneath her Peacekeeper glove, you find that Zephyr's wearing a white hoop bracelet around her wrist. It's subtle and matches the uniform, but you Feel its different. It Belongs to someone like you, or her.

You carefully take it off Zephyr and put it on your own wrist. And you feel it, all the little eddies and flow, the churning of the little dust spirals, and the vibrations of the rumbling building. The air is mapped for you...and...you close your eyes, turn yourself into a mostly solid cloud, and fly.

You soar through the rooms, sliding down the currents, and weaving around the building. Then you pass through the cracks in the door, and solidify, standing outside. Looking at Musor, who was sitting there, patiently waiting.

You're smiling. That felt...marvelous.

The bracelet is in near perfect condition, and working at peak capacity. It's probably useless in combat, but there's a lot of juice in this thing, or it's designed to feed and boost your own Joy. So, it's not impossible that you could take maybe one more person with you on these rides.

So...not a useless trip at all.

You head back to the RV, the Bike, and the others.

You see that Pytor, Ray, and Amelia are arguing.

"-an't just run away!" Ray says. "Lupa says we need to go back and get that wise-woman! Otherwise this was for nothing."

"We don't have TIME for detours!" Amelia says. "We need to get back and HELP!"

"We do not go into danger." Pytor says. "We canno...she's back!"

"Lupa!" Ray comes up to you, and hugs you. You stand there, a little startled. Thankfully Ray ends the hug swiftly. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"What's going on?" You ask.

"There's a wide band morse signal coming out over the radio." Amelia says. "Standard emergency protocol. It's a distress call. Genesis is under major attack."

(cont)

"I'm saying we need to go back to your friend in the college. You said it was important." Ray says. "Amelia says that we need to go to Genesis immediately, and Pytor...he just wants to run."

> Side with Ray, you may need to tell them more details as to why you need to talk to Wren.
> Side with Amelia, this can't be a coincidence, and you can contact Wren over the radio.
> Side with Pytor, you've had enough of this nonsense. Also...if you side against him, there's a good chance he'll just leave. For good.

> Side with Ray, you may need to tell them more details as to why you need to talk to Wren.

> Side with Amelia, this can't be a coincidence, and you can contact Wren over the radio.


From a coldly analytical perspective, the survival of Genesis is less material if we reset the world. And we don't have the manpower to contribute to what Genesis has already defending her, including Ember. But it could get on Ember's good side.

Therefore, I trust in side quests. Pytor will come back to his dear daughter in time.

>Stick with Amelia, this can't be a coincedence, and you can contact Wren over the radio.

They know Emmy is In On It by now, and this is probably taking a chance to kill her by having us out of position, because she's still got E-rank luck, transformed or not. She may not WANT our help, but she has to know it's coming.

>> Side with Amelia, this can't be a coincidence, and you can contact Wren over the radio.
Question can we fly ahead with Ray, have him snipe from a distance while we wreck face?

>Side with Amelia, this can't be a coincidence, and you can contact Wren over the radio.
Embers is a real magnet for disaster, huh?

>Side with Ray, you may need to tell them more details as to why you need to talk to Wren.
We have a mission to fulfill, can't take too many detours when time is not on our side.

> Side with Ray, you may need to tell them more details as to why you need to talk to Wren.

This might be a distraction so they can try and breach Wren's compound without interference.

We have several years to beat the ice age, and frankly if we fuck up the mass assault we'll slow the PoJ down too.

I was just watching entwined trailer and thinking of buying it, so the flying segment seemed more magical to me.

I am with this user.

The ice age isn't the clock, it's the PoJ getting access to joy in time and getting her sacrifice off - and damning us all since there'll no longer be a way to turn back time.

Do they know were Wrex is? Can we ask her to evacuate?

Well, my reasoning is more that compared to those we work against, we have a less number of actions we can to compared to them in terms of speed, which means they may be able to do two things, while we only have time for one.

Just got here, mildly annoyed I'm not reading Zephyr Quest despite not expecting this to end any other way after the last thread.

> Side with Ray, you may need to tell them more details as to why you need to talk to Wren.

> Side with Amelia, this can't be a coincidence, and you can contact Wren over the radio.

Zephyr is old and busted. Ashes the new hotness. I want her to give me a gritty, ashy hand job with Small Joy blood as lube.

It would have been a fun change of pace for a while. Maybe have ashes be grumpy in our mind while we're at it.

Ew.


That said Ray might go for that.

That's a weird thing to say fampai.

But if we sacrifice our ally, we will be worse off.

>[
"We can't let Genesis fall." You say to Ray. "I can give Wren the information that she needs over the radio. We need to go."

"Thank you." Amelia says.

"No." Pytor says.

"What?" Amelia says.

"I do not drive towards wars." Pytor says. He stares at the RV. He thinks for a bit and then he nods. "I will take some supplies, and I will take Lupa's bike. You may have the RV."

"How generous." Amelia says, with scorn.

Ray just scowls.

You are...kind of finding it hard to breathe. This is...this is different than Emmy and Ruin going back to Genesis. If you let Pytor go...he'll be gone. Gone for good, and you'll be alone. Well...not Alone alone, but...you...you don't think you can handle the idea of Pytor Leaving you.

You're also not sure if you have the words to make him stay.

Of course...although you've always seen Pytor as an endless source of strength and restrained violence...maybe you can MAKE him stay with you.

> Let Pytor go. (You will have to roll to fight through the panic attack, if you lose, Ashes loses one of her powers permanently.)
> Try to talk Pytor into staying. (This will end in another roll, modified on how strong your arguments are, and if you fail, Pytor leaves and you'll get a penalty to the Panic Attack roll.)
> MAKE Pytor stay. (You'll have to fight him.)

Maybe, it's hard to know for sure which option benefits most in the long run. For all we know, they still won't help us, or blame us for something stupid.
Or they will be greatful, who knows?

> Try to talk Pytor into staying. (This will end in another roll, modified on how strong your arguments are, and if you fail, Pytor leaves and you'll get a penalty to the Panic Attack roll.)

>> Try to talk Pytor into staying. (This will end in another roll, modified on how strong your arguments are, and if you fail, Pytor leaves and you'll get a penalty to the Panic Attack roll.)

I believe in you, diplo-anons!

>Try to convince Pytor to help guard Wren while we deal with Genesis. He can set trap and scavenge and we can deal with the attack.

> Try to talk Pytor into staying. (This will end in another roll, modified on how strong your arguments are, and if you fail, Pytor leaves and you'll get a penalty to the Panic Attack roll.)

Please remember that Wren is trapped in her Colloege because the rest of the campus is covered in Clean Energy Fallout, regular humans cannot survive so much as entering the area.

> Let Pytor go. (You will have to roll to fight through the panic attack, if you lose, Ashes loses one of her powers permanently.)
For some reason i want Lupa to suffer.

Pytor takes a few steps towards the RV.

"Pytor..." You say.

He pauses, but does not turn around.

> Your argument? NOTE: I won't be combining your statements into one cohesive hole, and I wont accept arguments that are combinations of two already posted statements. You have to come up with one plea, and agree on it.

Ashes is pretty edgy

What if I make it worth your while?

What if there are a few old world tech that can make you the king of a small kingdom or survive off hookers for life?

Also, ask Grandma how she would handle this.

Grandma is lying dead in a collapsing building user.

There is no going back

They will always hunt us till either were dead or they are dead

Easier to kill them while there attacking genesis then if their focused on us

I need you for this, you don't even have to get close to the city, just please don't leave me.

I thought she is with us in the same way Civility or Meadow is with us?

Not sure if appealing to emotion works for him, but he probably can see how much it is affecting our poor ash girl.

They have numbers on their side and siding with Genesis may be the only time we have numbers on ours

Thought tht response might be interesting since Lupa usually don't show emotions and he probbly knows it.

We can do it through our body language unconsciously leaking through. If this was granny she would have it perfected.

If we don't save Genesis, one of the few places we can sell our scrap will be gone. And then what? If they get rid of Genesis they might go take out *the place Ray is from I forgot the name of.* We can't just ignore them and drive off this time. We can't stop the PoJ all by ourselves, and if we help Genesis they'll probably be extra happy with us and give us free stuff.

Pytor they know you're one of my allies. Furthermore you killed many of theirs. Even if you flee they'd hunt you down to make you pay for it, or to catch you to use against me. They cannot abide someone like existing and wounding them. You can run now, and hope against hope they don't find you, alone and easy prey, or you can come with me, and we can break their backs while their gazes are turned. They want a fight, doesn't mean we have to play fair. Besides when we win you'll get a hero's welcome and a hero's reward.

I am for this user.

I am proud of you.

Either of those two is good.

Add Genesis will give us good stuff to this and I will take it.