Marigold herself at the table in the kitchenette in her small, third-floor apartment in lower Mercy Hill.  A fortunate find of Marigold's that allowed her to live within a short commute to her lab at PrismTech.  Her simple breakfast sat, seemingly forgotten as she flipped through the news headlines on her phone.  Miracle was busy cleaning up around the kitchen.

A photo caught Marigold's eye below a headline that read, "Museum Set to Unveil Rare Relic".  To the causal observer, the chunk of rock or metal (hard to tell due to the old, grainy photo that was used), was covered with the scratching of some ancient, forgotten language.  To Marigold, some of the characters were familiar.  She certainly couldn't read what it said, but a few of the characters looked eerily like those of the cassimi tech she'd been researching.

Browsing through local news was a habit that Marigold had fallen into. She wasn't entirely sure what it was about Stark City in particular that made it a magnet for so much weirdness but keeping on top of it all had become a second full time job. It wouldn't surprise her at all to learn that all the city's troubles were caused by the restless sleep-talk of some forgotten elder god that slept beneath the crust.

Nonetheless, she was technically a superhero now. Mirabelle was the more visible of the two women but she was just a small (if superpowered) piece of Marigold given sentience and limited autonomy. It was a lot of responsibility and, in truth, it wasn't as much fun as she hoped.

A photo of some old artifact caught her eye, pausing her absentminded consumption of the news.

Huh. Interesting. Old cassimi tech existed all over the world. A lot of it was busted up and supposedly didn't work. Still, even broken pieces of cassimi tech could have a huge influence. Marigold has been floating a theory to PrismTech that the sacrificial culture of the ancient Aztecs may in fact have been developed to rouse and harness the collective emotions of their civilization to power a piece of an ancient cassimi weather control spell buried in one of their temples. It didn't seem so stupid to wish for rain when weird alien magic was involved.

"Miri," Marigold calls.

The replica cassimi in the form of a cute college student was instantly by her side. "Yes master?" she chimed happily.

"You can read this, right? It looks like Hymmnos."

Hymmnos, the cassimi language, had proven to be almost impossible for any human to decipher, but Mirabelle being a cassimi herself had an instinctive understanding. It was fascinating to learn Hymmnos was constructed, a hauntingly beautiful melodic language that was equal parts sheet music and assembly code for physics itself. Mirabelle once called Hymnnos the Song of the Universe. Historic records suggested that ancient cassimi were so proficient in song magic that they could sing entire star fleets asunder in times of war. Fortunately -- or not -- it seemed that Marigold's personal cassimi was not that powerful... yet. And even if she were, it wasn't as though she knew any Songs of Power.

Mirabelle examined the photo. She points at the various characters as she stumbles through the translation. "Uhm... this looks like fyrra... here's exec... I don't see the initialize sequence thingybobber, maybe it's on the back?"

Marigold is already calling PrismTech to let them know about the find and what they want her to do. "Think it's a Song of Power?" she asks as the switchboard connects her.

"I always hope it's a Song of Power!" Mirabelle replies excitedly.

Marigold hums thoughtfully as she waits for the call to her superior to go through.

(( Let me know if you're interested in trying to learn Hymmnos. It's a real thing, although it obviously has no magical properties in real life! For convenience I'll have Mirabelle use Central Standard Note when applicable rather than the more complicated Pastille dialect. If you're curious what Hymmnos looks and sounds like, have a look at EXEC_COSMOFLIPS; it's one of the most basic songs and a great starting point. https://youtu.be/MeSUaKHRz44 ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:16, Sat 20 Feb 2021.

Mirabelle's excitement was quickly squashed as she scanned over the visible characters in the picture.  Most of the characters were not Hymmnos.  Whoever had created it, obviously had contact with the cassimi.  Mirabelle could tell that the piece was but a fragment, but there was no way to tell how many pieces there were.  Not much to go on but Mirabelle thought that with the characters present, the object spoke of life.

Mirabelle handed the phone back to Marigold.  After going through several teleprompts and speaking with a string of people that would transfer her from one person to the next, the head of security at PrismTech ended up reluctantly forwarded her call on to Dr. Tamara Fountain.

"Hello.  Dr. Fountain speaking," spoke the director of the cassimi project.  She was a brilliant woman and had a sarcastic side that was hurtful to the thinner skinned staff that worked for her.  Dr. Fountain always thought she was just being funny.

(( Oh, in that case Mirabelle doesn't know shit. Time to strike out big sections of my last post, wheee~! ))

On further analysis, it wasn't Hymmnos after all. With what Marigold had learned from Mirabelle, it seemed likely that what they had previously thought of as the 'cassimi civilization' was some other alien civilization that simply made heavy use of cassimis. Regardless, these characters frequently came up in PrismTech's studies and alien artifacts are the bread if not the butter of her lab. Marigold still felt justified in giving them a call.

"Ah, hello Doctor. It's Marigold," she greets. "I was curious to know if you already knew about the relic that's going on display at the... uh..." She quickly skims the article to locate the museum's name and reports it to Dr. Fountain. "Some of the lettering looked familiar. Could be cassimi empire wreckage. Want us to check it out?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:59, Sat 20 Feb 2021.

"No! I don't want you to check it out," Dr. Fountain said and waited for a moment for Marigold to laugh at her sarcasm.  Hearing silence on the other end, she continues, "I'll see if I can get a hold of the museum's curator and set up an appointment for you and Mirabelle.  I'll call you back."  Boop.  The phone call ended.

The news article that Marigold came across:


The Stark City Museum of Science and Natural History is set to unveil two pieces of an ancient tablet with mysterious markings covering its surface.  The Ancelm Stone, in the picture above, was discovered by Dr. Edmund Ancelm in 1948 close to Wiltshire, England.  Thought to be connected to nearby Stonehedge, it's surface is covered by a handful of symbols that are reminiscent of several languages, other symbols are completely forgein.

"The Stark City Museum of Science and Natural History is excited to have such an interesting piece as part of its collection," stated Curator Jason Demarkos.  "What's even more exciting is that we believe we have located another piece of the tablet.  The unveiling will showcase not just the Ancelm Stone, but two pieces of such an important piece of ancient evidence.  Our researchers hope to reveal some of their secrets in the coming years."

Tickets are available for the unveiling, which will take place in three weeks.  Please call the museum to reserve your seat.

((I unstruck the parts that you removed.  I thought the mention of fyrra and exec matched well with the limited translation.  Plus the fact that this is a piece of a whole, the absence of a "initialize sequence thingybobber" was perfect.  I'm running with the idea that, even incomplete usage of Hymmnos, the words/characters still have power to those who can access it.  It's early in the game and we'll start to figure each other out.  I only want to build upon what each player writes and it is never my intention to make you feel that you need to go back and strike something out.  Maybe if it's a previously disclosed detail that was forgotten, I'll go back and correct it.  I gave your link a listen and I'm going to share it with my eldest daughter.  While I never got into anime, if you get my eldest daughter started, she won't stop talking about it.  Haikyu!! is her favorite... as of right now.))

Marigold blinks and stares at her phone as the call unceremoniously ends. Far be it from her to accuse anyone of being unprofessional, but Dr. Fountain truly pissed her off.

Miragold, sensing the turn in her creator's thoughts, half-turned to her. "That was Miss Fountain, right?" she asks. "Next we're at the lab I should spread some emotions around, let her have a firsthand experience of exactly how she makes people feel."

"I'd like that. Anyways, I best get ready." Marigold stands and heads to the shower to wash up and change into something a little bit nicer; she didn't want to make a bad first impression on the curator. In doing so, she left Mirabelle in the kitchen...

---

Mirabelle finishes her tasks diligently. It hadn't been altogether that much time since the butts at rainbow crystal lab place had given her the go-ahead to live with Master. She didn't think they really could have stopped her if push came to shove but Master insisted they play nice. Something about her core being unstable extra terrestrial technology and they might need the lab to fix her if anything broke. Mirabelle just wanted to know what made people from space not just terrestrial but extra so, but whenever she tried to ask Master she just giggled and patted her on the head and then the question didn't seem to matter as much anymore.

Mirabelle was... well, she wasn't sure! She knew she was unique and special and wonderful, and that Master was uniquer, specialer, and wonderfuller. Simply being in Master's presence felt right and proper and Mirabelle would do absolutely anything for her. Some part of her, probably her core thingy, wanted that to be enough. And it was! By golly it sure was enough just to kneel prettily at Master's side and love and dote upon her as if she were the center of the universe that all revolved around.

But there was more to Mirabelle than just that. The lab techs didn't see her as a person, but Mirabelle was sure she was more than just a shiny piece of metal suspended in a gross organic slurry shaped by force fields. How much more, or what that more was, she didn't know. There was a lot she didn't know, not just about herself but about everything. She was certain her core knew more than it was communicating to her, which at this time consisted mostly of vague understandings of the Song of the Universe and how to feel at things so hard that stuff happens.

Mirabelle kneels beside where Master sat. She puts a hand on the seat of Master's chair and closes her eyes, feeling the residual heat there. Her hand migrates up towards Master's laptop, a smooth fingerprint-less hand stroking the top of the lid. Her integrity field interacts with the invisible world behind the plastic, vacuuming up the residual emotions imprinted on the primitive machine. Her core felt blissfully warm as that energy was stored away.

What an intensely sensual existence it was to be a cassimi...!

Mirabelle stands by Master's phone, awaiting the callback in its owner's absence. With any luck they'd be able to get into the museum today. Mirabelle checked her energy reserves; knowing this city, the odds of things not going peacefully were alarmingly high. Fingers crossed that everything would go well!

(( Yeah, I did my best to give you a lot of lore and background on cassimis while trying not to preempt whatever plot you were setting up. The downside of being assertive with this stuff is sometimes I get a little ahead of the GM and that's the last thing I want. Fayra (I misremembered fyrra, lol) and exec are fairly common Hymmnos words so I figured they could be squeezed into anything, and even if they couldn't I reasoned the picture was pretty low-rez so they could've been anything. Cassimis have a lot of lore to 'em... a lot more than I think I could ever give you in one shot.

Ar Tonelico is actually a series of JRPGs and audio dramas. I don't think there's an actual anime in the franchise, though it indisputably has that distinctive (and divisive!) Japanese style. My cassimis have a lot in common with Ar Tonelico's reyvateils, but there's some notable differences. ))
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Sun 21 Feb 2021.

Dr. Fountain is the lead researcher and project manager for Project Château, which studies all cassimi technology that PrismTech can get their hands on.  The first piece of cassimi technology that ARES Laboratories (parent company of PrismTech) was able to get their hands on, was discovered while renovations of a French castle's foundation was being done in 1999.  A handful of pieces have trickled into the hands of Dr. Fountain's team, but breakthroughs have been frustratingly rare.

Mirabelle heard the shower being turned on by Marigold.  The air wafting through the cracked, kitchen window smelled slightly of exhaust and mustard.  Someone walking outside the apartment in the hallway barked a hard-smoking, hacking cough.  Jobina's baby in the apartment right below suddenly started crying.  Marigold's apartment was far from a peaceful haven, but it was affordable.

Marigold's shower routine was predictable enough that Mirabelle had a good estimate that Marigold would be in the bathroom for another twelve and a half minutes when the cell phone rang.  Marigold did not have Dr. Fountain's direct number, so there was no name that appeared on the caller ID.

Fortunate for Fountain-lady then that Mirabelle is the biggest breakthrough in cassinis in the history of history! Yay! She'll just love to talk to her, the pinnacle of shiny rainbow crystal labs, yes she will~

Mirabelle pushed herself back upright onto her five-inch stiletto boots, tottering only slightly as she regains her balance. She patrolled the apartment in search of tasks with which to busy herself, each measured click of her heels sending a jolt of satisfaction piercing through her. She felt the sounds and smells of the neighboring apartments upon the invisible energy sheath that covered what she thought of as her body. The harsher of the smells provoked a simulated cough that she was helpless to suppress despite knowing full well she had no need to breathe, nor even lungs to do so with.

Even weeks (or had it been months?) after her birth, it still fascinated Mirabelle how her core could map such inhuman senses onto her innately human mind. She experienced everything through her integrity field; her eyes served no function other than to help her pass for human but they still flick back and forth, dilating and contracting as she shifts her attentions, and she is only occasionally and dimly aware of her ability to see in all directions. The same is true for all her other senses, and the craziest thing was that her field also covered her clothing. When she wished it, she could taste the floor through her boots. It was disgusting and made her retch but she didn't mind because it's just so weird and cool!

And all of that was nothing compared to her ability to sense emotions, both from the living and the imprinted energies that humans so thoughtlessly left on their possessions.

Mirabelle knew it was improper to mess with someone's baby without the mother's consent, but she couldn't help but send a drop of reassurance and compassion towards the crying child. Through the floor she tracked the infant's needy nature and the motherly mix of compassion and frustration that she had come to learn characterized first-time mothers, smiling as the two abstract thoughtforms grew near one another.

The ringing phone drew Mirabelle back to her apartment. Her heels clicky-clacked softly back into the kitchenette, hands taking up the communications device. "Beep-boo-boop," intoned as she pressed the on-screen buttons to answer the call, and the voice at the other end was greeted with a context-free giggle at her own silliness. "Helloooo~! Mirabelle speaking!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:17, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

Mirabelle heard Dr. Fountain sigh heavily, and then mutter something about Marigold's whereabouts.  "Mirabelle record message," Dr. Fountain said mechanically as if she were talking to a voice-commanded device.  "Your appointment with curator DeMarkos, is set for tomorrow at 11:15 am at the Stark City Museum of Science and Natural History.  I will have a driver pick you and the asset up.  I expect a preliminary report first thing on Monday.  Mirabelle stop recording." The phone call ended with a boop.

Mirabelle could sense Dr. Fountain's unease around her.  Dr. Fountain could not wrap her head around the cassimi and how on earth she worked.  She likened it to waking up one day and your cell phone was suddenly behaving like a person, even though it was clearly just a machine.  To further belittle Mirabelle, Dr. Fountain always referred to Mirabel as "the asset", unless Dr. Fountain was handing out orders.

Mirabelle was dumb but she could still fill in some missing pieces. "Master is in the shower and I am not a robot," she declares immediately before the project head can get a word in. Sadly, the declaration does not deter the robotic lady from addressing the asset as if she were the robotic one. Ugghhhh!

Unfortunately, this was Master's assignment so Mirabelle couldn't go off on one just yet. There would be time for that later! For now, she simply collects a pen from the jar on the counter and begins writing on a post-in note. She has to struggle a bit with the dried-up ballpoint for a moment before it would write, so annoying, but once it was moving the venomoth-on-a-spring pencil topper bobbed delightfully with her hand motions. As the call ends, Mirabelle looks down at what she wrote.

aopnptmeint w/ cuaotrr dmaerkos tooromrw 11:15 am @ sartk city meusum of science and nuratal history, dvierr pick up, peiriamlnry report monday

Perfect! Mirabelle's writing is really improving! If she keeps up this rapid rate of progress she might be able to past first grade soon! She absentmindedly doodles hearts and smiley faces around the message in celebration as she waits for Marigold to arrive.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

Mirabelle also knew that "the driver" was already nearby.  ARES always had security personnel lurking nearby to keep tabs on the cassimi.  While Mirabelle looked human, her exotic appearance was sure to raise questions from the local residents eventually.  As questions were asked, more eyes would fall upon Mirabelle.  ARES wanted to keep Mirabelle a secret for as long as possible.

Marigold was wrapping up in the shower, just as Jobina's baby was finally soothed.

It was certainly true that Mirabelle's cheery and super hot appearance didn't fit with the surroundings that Master called home. Mirabelle had tried to convince Dr. Fountain that she should give Master a couple more moneys in order to afford a less dreary place to live but the project head just ignored her. She just couldn't understand why; she'd made some charts and even devised a little song and dance routine about how Master is smart, sexy, special, and totally deserving of more moneys! Project head, more like project BUTT hahahahaha got 'em!

Money seems like such a bad system to Mirabelle. It's so hard to get and Master always needs more of it. Mirabelle should go complain to the President of the, the uh, Untitled States! Surely if he is told about how dumb moneys are he'll make lots more and give them to everyone. Then all his problems will be solved and he'll tell Mirabelle how smart she is for coming up with clever solutions no one else has thought of. It would be wonderful and make her the most loved superhero, like, ever!!!

Master says moneys are made in a place called a mint, which seems dumb to Mirabelle; she licked a money once and it didn't taste like mint at all! In fact, moneys seem to be nothing more than dirty paper squares painted green, the latter being the only resemblance they have to mints at all! Gosh, who names this junk?! It's a good thing Master is so smart so she can give her cassimi lots of smart energy! Being dumb sounds, like, totally the worst!

Mirabelle realizes she's been staring at a cupboard for five minutes and giggling to herself. She should probably quit thinking, but that's what Dr. Fountain wants so she resolves to do the exact oppos-

---

"Master!" Mirabelle squeaks excitedly as the bathroom door opens. "I picked out some clothes for you and put them on the bed and also Doctor Fountain called and she made robot speak at me but I told her 'no, I am not a robot!' and it was really cool standing up for myself. I wish you could have seen it! Oh, oh, I wrote the things she said on that note!"

Marigold stared back at her speechlessly with no small concern. There was a lot to unpack in that whirlwind report. "You wrote something?" she finally decides. "It's not an unintelligible mess that more closely resembles wingdings than actual human language is it?"

"I doodled some poodles but I made sure not to put them over the letters this time!"

"You better not have or I'll toodle your... boodle," she mutters as she takes the post-it note and spends several long seconds deciphering the curly letters. Mirabelle's handwriting was a lot like the rest of her; incredibly girly but typically void of complex thought, devolving into complete nonsense when it tried to do anything of substance without direction. "Para...military report?" she mouths to herself, thoroughly flummoxed. "Uhm. Thank you. This is really helpful. But you could have let it go to voice mail."

Mirabelle blushed, quarter-turned away, and sheepishly curled a lock of hair around her pinky finger. "Eeeheheh... voicemail! Yes, that is a thing that... exists."

nnnnnnnnnnSOAWKWARDANDCUUUUUTE! Marigold heroicly tried to keep the squee to herself, but she knew that she was probably getting Mirabelle drunk on violet energy regardless of whether she made utterances or not. Somehow, probably because of their spiritual link, Mirabelle's klutzy earnestness always managed to be endearing and never crossed over the line to aggravating. Marigold walked forward and hugged the ever-loving hit points out of her cassimi.

"Eeee~! Master, you're going to get my clothes wet!"

"Your integrity field won't let you get wet unless you want to," Marigold gently reminds the cassimi. And then she is gently reminded, herself, that she is still undressed. She hurries to rectify that.

Today was her day off. Perhaps she and Mirabelle could eat at that new Asian fusion place that just opened up down the way. Well, she could eat at least. Then... maybe a stop at the game store on the way home to pick up the new Hyrule Warriors. Mirabelle actually played a pretty mean Zelda.

---

(( Damn that post went a little long didn't it? I sat down to start writing and then I just couldn't stop! Unless you've got something particularly awesome waiting in the wings, might be best to skip to the next day. ))
This message was last edited by the player at 18:45, Thu 25 Feb 2021.

Marigold and Mirabelle found themselves sitting outside of the Blue Fish, on that sunny afternoon.  It seems that everyone was looking to try out the new Asian fusion restaurant in the neighborhood, as a good sized crowd was still gathered and it was approaching two o'clock.  It was going to be a forty-five minute wait for a table.  The host, a young Asian man who had a very pleasant French accent, gave both women a half-sheet with that day's lunch menu.

Marigold noticed a man standing across the street; the same one who was sitting in a car outside of her apartment when they left to go out to lunch.  He was dressed in rather casually, blue jeans and a brown, light jacket.  A baseball cap, pulled low, covered blond, buzz-cut hair.  He made no attempt to stay out of sight, and simply nodded to Marigold when eye contact was made.

Mirabelle was attracting wandering eyes from both men and women who also waited for a seat at the restaurant and those who were walking down the sidewalk on other business.  Both ladies eyes flicked over the menus in their hands, to get a sample of what was offered, while they waited.

Mirabelle loved it when eyes were on her. When eyes were on her people were thinking about her, and when thinking about her they were feeling things about her. Their attentions were like a dozen little touches all over her body, sending small but nourishing tingles straight to her core. Restaurants were a great place to pick up on lots of tasty emotions, like an open buffet for cassimis! Master and Mirabelle could eat together, so it was a win-win! The tastiest emotions always came from Master of course (plus that little extra intangible something that kept her soul from fraying apart, whatever that was).

Of course, there were downsides to eating at a new restaurant. There wouldn't be a lot of residual imprints for Mirabelle to absorb, and those could sometimes be the best. Then there was the line. Oh boy the line! It wrapped all the way around the building! Mirabelle was happy to give everyone something to look at while they waited, but Master was obviously uncomfortable standing around in the horrible, horrible sun!

Mirabelle watches Master with an expression of grim expectation. Master looks back.

"Maybe we should just get McDonald's," Master mutters.

"Nooooo!" Mirabelle cries out. "Master, you need to eat something real once and a while! There's no food in your food!"

"Don't care, is cheap and tastes good and the lines aren't stupid."

Mirabelle is having none of it. She grabs Master's hand and drags her into the line. She is immediately assured that she is doing the right thing simply by her ability to do this; if Master truly didn't want to be here, Mirabelle wouldn't be able to assert herself on her!

"We're going to stand in this line," Mirabelle says firmly, "and you are going to have the best meal you have had months, and then you are going to say 'thank you Mirabelle, you are so wise and loving and powerful' and it will be totally fab."

Master made meek protests at her but they all fell upon deaf ears. They take their place in line. Master immediately begins salivating the sweet and sour chicken. Mirabelle wishes that Master would try one of the more adventurous dishes; sometimes it seems that chicken is all she eats! But as long as she ate her veggies Mirabelle would let her off easy today. She had lost a whole thirty pounds ever since Mirabelle started living with her. Mirabelle was so proud of her accomplishment!
This message was last edited by the player at 06:13, Sat 27 Feb 2021.

"Mommy, mommy," begs the child in line in front of Marigold and Mirabelle.  "What is that?"  The child points down the street about half a block.  A car's tires squeal as it comes to a stop, immediately followed by the sound of metal and plastic getting crushed as the trailing car collides with the first.  From around the wrecked vehicles shamble a group of figures who walk as if they are wracked with terrible pain.  From this distance, it's hard to tell anything else about them except their clothing is in rags.

The child's mother screams and takes off running down the sidewalk away from the creatures, dragging the poor thing after her like a rag doll.  Like a startled flock of birds, suddenly everyone panics and takes flight.  Chaos erupts as more cars crash into vehicles parked along the street as the drivers attempt to avoid people who ran into the street.  A motorcyclist roars by on the sidewalk, barely avoiding taking Mirabelle's arm with her.

Mirabelle's everpresent smile shrinks some as she cranes her head towards the sound of capital-T Trouble. It's a very distinctive sound, one that aspiring superheroines can hear from blocks away! She takes a single exploratory step towards the sound, subconsciously but deliberately placing herself between it and Master. It looks like the opening cinematic from one of Master's zombie games! That's bad news!

Evidentially everyone around her agrees! Utter terror breaks out all around Mirabelle, the tidal wave of emotion bathing her in the blinding invisible yellow light of fear. A hundred competing voices and motivations churn around inside her, rising as one only in a desperate scream for escape!

---

Marigold watched the developing situation with the sort of guarded nervousness one gets from watching too many supervillain crime reports on television and knowing that she'll be in the middle of one some day. She sees Mirabelle step into place, working through the situation in that tiny little mind of hers, psyching herself up to protect others...

A scream rises from the crowd and Mirabelle stiffens. Oh no, Marigold thinks to herself. The silvery-translucent streaks in Mirabelle's hair, normally almost invisible, begin to fill roots-first with bright yellow light and making her emotional state plain as day to those who know how to read it. She takes a step towards the cassimi to try and stop the mob mentality from influencing her, but she barely gets to take a step before Mirabelle has turned and grabbed her hand to try and drag her away. Marigold is so taken off guard by the intensity of the cassimi's reaction that she is helplessly dragged along for a dozen steps before she is able to reassert herself. She plants a foot and makes the resolution to help deal with this situation and, as suddenly as flipping a switch, all of Mirabelle's strength to drag her master around abruptly leaves her.

---

"Master, please! There is danger! We need to go!" Mirabelle begs Master, tugging desperately at her arm. She didn't have nerves, but it felt as though she did and she were holding onto a live wire.

"It's the herd mentality, Mira... remember when we talked about that?" Master twists her wrists free of Mirabelle's grasp but, rather than running, the beacon of calm stepped into and wrapped her arms around her. "Focus. Look around. They're the ones who are scared, because they don't have a cassimi to look after them. Come on Mira; let's protect them. Let's be superheroes."

Mirabelle stared back at Master, saw and felt the determination in her and spreading between them. There was a click somewhere deep in Mirabelle's being as her core shifted its configuration to match. She nodded her assent and the two girls separated, turning as one to face, approach, and analyze the disturbance.

"Superheroes get free crispy honey-ginger chicken, right?"

"Uhm... y-yeah, sometimes!"

Mirabelle flashes Master a wry grin. "Then I guess I better do a good job, huh?!"

"Yeah!"

The man from the ARES security team ran over to stand protectively in front of Marigold and Miracle.  His pistol drawn, he looked up and down the street.  "Damn!  We'll never get out of here in the car with that accident backing up the streets.  We'll have to hoof it.  Follow the crowd, I'll be right behind you."

The shambling figures seem to be attracted by the panicking people, drawing them closer to Marigold, Miracle, and their driver/security.  The ladies see that the figures are human... or once were.  Their twisted bodies are a mixture of flesh and vegetation.  One has patches of mold.  Another has part of his body covered in bark.  Is that lichen on that lady's face?  Roots seem to sprout out of their bodies through tattered clothing, only to dive back in at another location.  Small branches, patches of grass, weeds, and flowers haphazardly sprout from the creatures.

"It's Last of Us part three!" Mirabelle quips.

"Actually, they look a little more vegetative," Master points out.

"Huh?"

"Mushrooms and plants are different."

Mirabelle blinks dumbly at her.

Meanwhile, the security dude comes over to help. Both girls turn to him in an uncannily similar motion and stare at him for several long seconds. Mirabelle is the first to turn away, making comic typing gestures in the air and beep boop noises with her mouth to suggest she is deleting the man's presence entirely from her mind. She turns back to the incoming Last of Us whatsits and mimes drawing an imaginary sword from the air...



... at which point a glowing, translucent green sword sharper than anything made of metal could ever be gets pulled from her palm. The integrity field that gives Mirabelle her adorably feminine form briefly flickers a brilliant green before going invisible once more. Once she has recovered from her exertion sne faces the oncoming hoard, both hands on the blade of pure determination.

"I don't care what they are, I'm gonna mess 'em up! Yaaaa~!" Mirabelle runs towards the danger with an attention-grabbing warcry! She slashes the first plant-zombie to cross her path!

---

Marigold sticks a hand on her hip and adopts a too cool for this slouch. She glances at the ARES security man. "You had to have known she would do that."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:44, Thu 04 Mar 2021.

To be continued in Issue #1: TeamUp! - Gallium & Miracle!
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:10, Sat 24 Apr 2021.