thinly veiled xenogears memes

[01:45:41] <Ratty_GM> When Liese arrived, and reported for duty, she was met with Francesca, who wanted to talk in person.
[01:46:33] <Ratty_GM> That is, presumably after Vivian's Soul Gem had been handed over to the creepy-looking Librarian with seams in her skin.
[01:48:43] <Ratty_GM> The talk was prety brief - Francesca said that Mitsuko's remnants are no longer in their holding place, and the Incubator seems to think this is all well and good, not that Francesca knows what happened to her. She's only sharing the information because it's worrying, and Liese is probably not supposed to properly know this yet.
[01:49:34] <Ratty_GM> Secondly, that Debbie is no longer in her holding cell either. Apparently, she was let to go on good conduct, but you will not find her on Officio grounds.
[01:51:00] <Ratty_GM> Francesca handed over an envelope from Debbie to you, in a display of the apparently former prisoner properly executing Officio customs.
[01:52:28] <Ratty_GM> The envelop had a phone card in it, with the message "Meet me at Tiger's Pub two days before christmas. If something happens, call me from this number or I won't pick it up."
[01:53:18] <Ratty_GM> After a bit of confusion, you fortunately find that this country celebrates Christmas at the 24th, making the date of this meeting the 22th.
[01:53:25] Liese_Brandt was slightly surprised, but pleasantly so at the news about being released, although being unable to find the person whom she considered her closest friend outside of her 'squad' was unpleasant... She had a number of things to discuss, but she filed them for later, accepting the envelope with curiosity.
[01:53:38] <Ratty_GM> Until then, Juunibey had no shortage of work for you to do, either.
[01:54:29] Liese_Brandt rose an eyebrow, slightly confused at the sudden secrecy and distance, but she was able to put 2 and 2 together that something was going on, likely relevant to their previous discussion, or perhaps the vision she could never hear about.
[01:55:22] <Ratty_GM> It would probably be helpful to know WHEN, at the date, the meeting would happen, but it being a pub, it's probably safe to assume afternoon or evening.
[01:55:34] <Ratty_GM> Besides, you have work on that day, and won't be free any sooner.

[02:12:20] <Ratty_GM> ...

[02:13:47] <Ratty_GM> Finally they day came. Upon, once again, trying to perform a gathering in a cell within the country, and preserve the result, you are slightly tired. At least the train ride back alleviates it.
[02:14:09] <Ratty_GM> Despite it only being five o'clock, it's already dark out. Time flies.
[02:14:59] <Ratty_GM> You remember what you found out about the Tiger's Pub - it's a place with long political history, where presidents and ambassadors come to waste themselves mute and take photos.
[02:16:19] Liese_Brandt makes the most of the train ride to rest a little bit, it wouldn't do to be too fatigued now. She doesn't mind the dim evening light - or lack thereof - of the city, finding it further relaxing.
[02:16:19] <Ratty_GM> At least the place is fairly expansive, so Debbie could hide well in a corner that wouldn't be visible from the outside, or by any visitors either. She looks her usual self, drinking a big beer (who knows if for appetite or for custom points), but not yet having ordered anything.
[02:16:56] <Ratty_GM> "Why, hello there." she greets you, looking similarly tired. "I've got a lot of things to explain."
[02:19:08] Liese_Brandt takes a seat casually, offering one of her trademarked warm smile and a nod in acknowledgment. "Hey, I'm curious to hear it, things have been interesting on my end too. Probably not as much as on yours, but still interesting."
[02:21:10] <Ratty_GM> She scratches her head, as if unsure about something. Eventually, she says "Let's get this out of the way first", pulling out a badge out of her pocket. On it is engraved a black rose.
[02:21:26] <Ratty_GM> "Basically, the reason why I am out is this."
[02:21:45] <Ratty_GM> "Remember Bětka? The psychologist I told you about?"
[02:22:43] <Ratty_GM> "She was apparently a big fan of Witches too." she look into the table, sipping beer.
[02:23:19] <Ratty_GM> "They recruited me on the premise that they don't have someone actually adherent to Itzli yet. They think the tatoo was cool and all. It's scary."
[02:23:30] Liese_Brandt tilted her head, her expression giving way to one of slight surprise, but she remains calm. "Well that's not what I expected to see. You're making a lot of-- oh, was, I see."
[02:23:37] <Ratty_GM> "But I get some freedom and work now, I guess. And some goals to work toward."
[02:25:06] <Ratty_GM> "The way that their entire institution is organized - hell, I think she runs the entire thing, unless there are other people higher than her - made me reconsider some things about what I've been through in Brazil, and..."
[02:25:14] <Ratty_GM> "I don't want to say, how to do it better."
[02:25:22] <Ratty_GM> "Rather, this presents me a loophole."
[02:25:43] Liese_Brandt immediately assumed the use of the past tense to mean that said psychologist was 'no longer around', probably to her own pleasure, considering the tenets of the cult. "That's.. interesting.. At the very least we shouldn't have to deal with bugged rooms anymore."
[02:26:54] <Ratty_GM> "I can't stop thinking about how we could be all through with the Emerald Sage's shit, if I could just convince everyone in the cult to convert into the Black Rose. I mean, it's more dangerous, but it seems like a safer model."
[02:27:23] Liese_Brandt just as quickly notes her first hypothesis was wrong. No harm done."I'm not entirely sure I'm following.. though granted everything I know about 'them' is mostly rumors and some talk with a friend."
[02:28:06] <Ratty_GM> "Now, I won't lie, it's easy to die in both. But for the damned, well, if they have no other option... it feels like this is a good thing I can do. For once." she takes a deep sip from the tall glas.
[02:28:09] <Ratty_GM> s
[02:29:02] <Ratty_GM> A waiter stops by, soon after your arrival and perhaps too soon for his own good, asking if you're ordering anything.
[02:29:50] <Ratty_GM> "That schnitzel I had last time was good," your companion tells him, "so that again."
[02:30:51] Liese_Brandt leaned back, taking a few seconds to let this sudden bombshell of an objective sink in. She probably needs some alcohol too, now. She lets out a heavy sigh. "I'd like to contribute to this talk, but I don't really have any first-hand experience with either." She pauses, ordering an equally large glass of läger
[02:31:22] <Ratty_GM> "Well, enough about me, that's not what you are here for, right?" she makes eyes at you.
[02:31:42] Liese_Brandt awaits for the waiter's departure before continuing. "Like I was about to say, I had been wanting to try to find more about Itzli's first hand, going to Brazil myself or something, but I never had the chance to."
[02:32:08] <Ratty_GM> "I actually have something in that direction too, but that's probably for the later."
[02:32:27] <Ratty_GM> "What's important to get out of the way is the vision I had the last time, let's see..."
[02:32:42] <Ratty_GM> "The proper way to remove the Lance of Ophelia."
[02:33:09] Liese_Brandt rose an eyebrow and leaned back in her seat. "Well, kind of, actually, that mystery envelope really struck my curiosity." She countered with a slightly teasing expression. "But I guess there's other stuff too."
[02:33:19] <Liese_Brandt> "Such as that, yes."
[02:36:14] <Ratty_GM> She focuses a lot for the moment. "The incantation is 'My fist is divine breath. Bloom, fallen seed, and reveal your true powers. Be granted the power of glorious mother of the mortal world.' "
[02:37:00] <Ratty_GM> "I'll write it down for you. The words can be switched around, you can see "Blossom" for example. The important thing is the intent."
[02:37:19] <Ratty_GM> "But, where do I begin with this... does the 'mortal world' ring a bell?"
[02:37:19] Liese_Brandt nods and notes it down in rune-code in her new journal.
[02:38:32] <Liese_Brandt> "I would assume it refers to ours, as opposed to theirs."
[02:39:26] <Ratty_GM> "It's more complicated than that. This is a minefield of classified stuff and I am still under SOME liability to punishment over it, let me think about it for a moment."
[02:42:22] <Ratty_GM> "This term is cult stuff. It's not something you would find in the lecticio. A fairly widespread, and non canonic interpretation of certain lines in the last book."
[02:42:46] <Ratty_GM> "Do you know what eternal return is? You're from the Twelfth after all."
[02:43:18] <Ratty_GM> "The philosophical theory, that's what I mean."
[02:48:31] <Ratty_GM> "It's the idea that the world is looping. All of it. That everything that happens happens infinite times and does not happen infinite times. It's not about it being supported by physics or not. Just a thought experiment."
[02:48:43] <Ratty_GM> "What would that mean for existentialism? And the weight of our actions?"
[02:49:21] Liese_Brandt rose an eyebrow, somewhat skeptical that 'classified' stuff was now a concern when it seemed not to be before. Oh well. "Can't say I've had time to get into those. Unlike what people think of us, Woland and Francesca have been working me dead busy."
[02:49:56] <Ratty_GM> "Nietzsche argues that a world that is finite is pointless. If everything is ony done once, with no chance for retrial and no chance for reconfirmation, left to chance, then it gives infinite lightness to our actions."
[02:50:06] <Liese_Brandt> "It's a kind of nihilistic way of seeing it, I guess, since it would imply nothing actually matters."
[02:50:27] <Ratty_GM> "On the flipside, if everything is infinite, then it gives our actions weight that we ourselves, as we are as humans, cannot possibly ever bear."
[02:50:47] <Ratty_GM> "Especially if we do have free will. And the same option is picked every time. That is insanity."
[02:51:23] <Ratty_GM> "As a seer, I just happen to know a lot about that. When I speak of fate, that is the idea I operate with."
[02:51:29] Liese_Brandt scoffed lightly, seemed like she interpreted it in the exact opposite way than it was meant to be interpreted.
[02:52:34] <Liese_Brandt> "Well not necessarily, if you keep picking an option because it's objectively better than the others, picking it over and over isn't insane. IT would be picking a worse option for the sake of variety which would be kind of arguably insane."
[02:52:43] <Ratty_GM> "So. Back to the lecticio. The idea is that, if you take certain passages that way, the world in which the Holy Quintet existed had been infinite."
[02:53:37] <Ratty_GM> "Timeless, if you will. Compare to nordic myths, where the idea is that Asgard is timeless, and all the events of the mythology, the entire war in heaven, happen all at once again and again constantly, because these events are what the world is made of."
[02:54:29] <Ratty_GM> "So, these are passages from the last book, which should let you in onto something. It's interpreted in the way that the Shieldmaiden has disliked this state."
[02:54:41] <Ratty_GM> "And so... she is the mother of the mortal world."
[02:54:48] Liese_Brandt takes a long but slow sip of her läger as she listens, considering the ideas.
[02:54:56] <Ratty_GM> "She would rise in order to create a world in which there is no fate."
[02:55:12] <Ratty_GM> "To do so, she had to break the Law of Cycles."
[02:55:24] <Ratty_GM> "And now back to your incantation."
[02:55:51] <Ratty_GM> "What I am saying is," she sighs deeply, "that pulling out the spear in this way invokes the power of the Shieldmaiden."
[02:56:16] <Ratty_GM> The food is brought into the silence.
[02:56:26] Liese_Brandt chuckles softly, a faint smirk lighting up her features. "That's always been a thing she did, yeah, and the incatation, thus, refers to her. Interesting"
[03:00:14] <Liese_Brandt> "Hm, In Britain I encountered a Witch who claimed to have been sent by Oktavia to prevent that. Considering the relationship between the Shieldmaiden and the First Knight, it's interesting.
[03:00:31] <Ratty_GM> "Well, I suppose it refers to what she has become. If you ever see a magical girl speak of the devil, she means what the Shieldmaiden damned herself to be."
[03:00:37] <Ratty_GM> "I see..."
[03:02:51] Liese_Brandt nodded once, taking another sip. "The Shieldmaiden is probably the figure I'm most familiar with in the Quintet, yeah... but you probably already guessed that." She chuckled softly.
[03:03:04] <Ratty_GM> "Well, that would make sense... one more thing I am thinking about. The devil is associated with feathers and birds."
[03:03:22] <Ratty_GM> "Who does this remind you of?"
[03:06:26] Liese_Brandt chuckled once more, putting her glass back down. "If I were more self-centered, I might think you're talking about my ravens." She smiled. "But I would say it reminds me of Alcyone, the one who conveniently brought the lance here, and was associated with feathers and birds."
[03:08:38] <Ratty_GM> Debbie bites into the juicy meat with delight, then gets more serious. "I wonder if she herself knows the chant. I wonder if Mitsuko Tomoe knows she is the devil's pawn."
[03:09:43] <Ratty_GM> "Anyway, about that chant."
[03:10:19] Liese_Brandt is tempted to bring up how the Vanus had been complicit in said chess play by trying to retrieve it as well, but she abstains.
[03:11:00] <Ratty_GM> "Even saying it, only a Witch will be able to pull it out. Or a Maerorus. You need presence in the immaterium strong enough to shape it. Stronger than a human soul. A Magical Girl soul can do it a bit, but isn't focused enough to hold something that does not exist."
[03:12:00] <Ratty_GM> "You know how Witches cannot exist outside of Barriers unless they are Alphas or something? It's very well possible that your spear can't either. Well, in its true form, maybe it will create a material reflection."
[03:12:41] <Ratty_GM> "But it will be far stronger if you use it in the Warp. The lance is an idea, after all."
[03:13:03] <Ratty_GM> "And in regards to ending the world, well... I did not see anything about that."
[03:13:16] <Ratty_GM> "But you should find the quip about the devil worying."
[03:14:12] Liese_Brandt crosses her arms as she listens to this. How convenient that her employer has been indirectly helping her progress her research on exactly that specific field... "Or if it's wielded by one, I suppose..." She mused at the mention of Alphas and existence.
[03:15:13] Liese_Brandt then let a small sigh of relief. "Well that's a damn good thing, I was worried about the collaterals." she then gave an apologetic expression. "Maybe I should, but I have faith in the Shieldmaiden and the virtues she represent."
[03:49:34] <Rattyball> After some time eating, Debbie speaks up again.
[03:50:17] <Rattyball> "I have a contact in Mexico. Will be going there in January, not alone of course. We're looking to get som girls from the cult over. What I said when you came, basically."
[03:51:10] <Rattyball> This note, while at the time, it did not seem to mean anything, would produce a great scare in you roughly around the time of the new year.
[03:52:40] Liese_Brandt brought one hand to her chin thoughtfully. "When you say 'from the cult', do you mean Itzli's, or the Black Rose, you kind of seem to be playing on... many boards at once, right now."
[03:53:41] <Rattyball> "From Itzli's, to the Black Rose. They... don't like me anymore, I suppose, but this girl seemed like I could still talk to her pretty well. I've got to try.""
[03:54:05] <Rattyball> "This city, and this country, aren't stellar, but they're better than what they do over in the Amazon."
[03:54:30] <Rattyball> "See, the Black Rose doesn't have people looking up to Itzli yet. That's why they recruited me. Thought it was interesting."
[03:55:52] Liese_Brandt rubbed the back of her head, her expression turning a bit sour. "Hm, sorry to hear things went South." Her expression then suddenly brightened up. "By the way, I might have been able to save two more from execution."
[03:56:19] <Rattyball> "Oh?" she brightens up herself. "How did that happen?"
[03:58:52] <Liese_Brandt> "Long story short, my squad got invited to be witness at the trial of the survivors of a cell we had to fight against, stood up to the defense, managed to avoid them the worst. One of them is on penal duty, the other got transferred here."
[03:59:26] <Rattyball> "I see... who were they? Maybe I know them."
[04:01:25] Liese_Brandt perks up, trying to remember the full names. "An Eversor by the name of Laura Roncevaux, 2nd, A Vindicare whose last name I don't recall, a 'Vivian, 11th."
[04:04:11] <Rattyball> "Vivian? That's a Neophyte, isn't it... wait, she got legit taken up by the Officio? Not sent over to us?"
[04:04:29] <Rattyball> Her eyes widen slightly. "That's REALLY lucky."
[04:04:38] <Rattyball> "Don't know this Laura though."
[04:05:49] Liese_Brandt nodded lightly. "Well, her body was destroyed, and I figured even if I managed to win the case, nobody would want to take her because of that, so I phone Juunibey, and now she should be here."
[04:07:28] <Rattyball> Debbie spends a while munching it over.
[04:09:11] Liese_Brandt grins while she does. "Hey, can't have you be the only one helping the other, right. I don't like executions anyway."
[04:36:27] Attarou [~Attarou@Rizon-FFFD6988.omah.qwest.net] has quit IRC: Ping timeout: 240 seconds
[04:46:02] <Rattyball> After that, the dinner goes by leisurely. It seems Debbie has some work to do yet, so she says goodbye to you, reminding you you can still call her from the phone, and arrange another meeting.
[04:46:32] <Rattyball> Two weeks ago, in early January, you are told that apparently, Eightball has requested your assistance over something in Mexico.
[04:46:37] <Rattyball> Who would have thought.
[04:46:43] Rattyball pulls the curtains down.