Charles Patricius

[Bloodedge]

The one Habakiri claimed owed her for this ordeal was one Soma actually knew in a roundabout way. He supposed it would have been easy to reach the boss through that man, but there were added complications to that due to everyone else's issues with telling people necessary information. Whatever the case, Habakiri claimed she was no robot... anymore. Some mysteries worth solving remained, but not for now. As for the grossness of being barefoot in a car, Soma had commentary to offer while starting the vehicle. "Is it? So if you were being railed in the back, you'd keep your shoes on? Noted," he mused. If nothing else, Soma thought it worthwhile to see how much of the others' "language" this woman spoke. Moving right along, she thought he had the wrong idea about her efforts. Soma's mind was not to be questioned by the likes of some human. "Don't even think your assumptions about my ideas are the same as my actual ideas. You're a little too submissive to be on my wavelength," he stated. With that, Soma would be driving off with a relatively inconsistent speed, and similar steering. This driving thing was a bit stranger than he anticipated. . .

Speaking of strange things, it had to be a little odd for anyone at this point in Sakura's life to see so much jizz on her person for so long. It was yet another turning point that she may find useful in her future. In the moment, however, she probably found it a bit overwhelming, while 'Childe' as he was often called seemed only more pleased by the moment. "Oh, it's still there? I should have kept a camera ready," he said even while knowing there were other methods at his disposal for revisiting visuals. The slight discomfort Sakura felt as he plunged into her was about what he expected... but so were the visual cues of her mind working overtime. The body Sakura inhabited wasn't doing much to help her at present. Excellent. "Nothing to say?" he wondered. Without halting for an answer or ending that constant spew of fluids, Childe pulled back until he was just within the entrance of her canal. Overflow was no concern for him, and in fact... he considered it a bonus in any situation. Better still would be the outright spewing that came as a result of his next decision: a backwards folding of her legs using each of his hands, followed immediately by a quick, rough thrust meant to breach her cervix and slam against the opposite end of her womb.

[Apollymi]

Habakiri was an assassin by trade and birth but by her own understanding still managed to at least seem to be a normal 22 year old individual. So upon mentioning that she thought the idea of driving barefoot, or even being in a car without shoes on was gross she didn't expect the immediate response to be something sexual. "Is there something in the water I don't know about? Can we at least wait until after lunch and preferably after dark for this?" she pondered to the world at large. That being said she'd not said yes or not to anything. She also didn't know what to make of his man with his overly girly face. Maybe there was something to the whole group and that was part of their appeal. A group of hypersexual teenage assassins luring people in with sex and then murdering them didn't seem that farfetched. She'd heard of worse. What was more, his other pieces of conversation were something to be considered. He thought her too submissive to be on the same wavelength, the grin that crossed her face was a tiny bit murderous but still she noted the unsteady speed of the vehicle. "Uh-huh," she mentioned with a roll of her eyes. "Even pressure against that pedal, just the big toe, or so the teachers say... Mr. Dom," she mused as if unbothered. Though she did wonder if it'd be in violation of her rules if she came back with blood all over her dress and it was from a car accident instead of a murder. "Merge onto the highway. Also that button on the steering wheel well make the pedal stay at the right speed if you hit it to set it," she explained of the nature of driving the little things that were obviously missing. Thinking it was good that this wasn't a getaway. "And then take the exit near the Nakano Rose Gardens~" she gave the directions least likely to get them into a traffic accident with the constant starts and stops.

Meanwhile, Sakura was suffering a problem she wasn't sure she ever had before. A body covered in spunk for longer than a couple of minutes was far from normal. Childe as he apparently preferred to be called in this form seemed quite entertained by it and claimed to have needed a camera. It was very normal by her own perspective for demons to want to see their handiwork. Maybe this moment was giving her the hands on experience of why? In her own mind being completely overloaded like this was a good way to force the body's evolution still she couldn't just sit idly by. Her mind understood but there were so many questions to answer... perhaps she should just focus n her thoughts and leave everything else to do what it would. A gentle murmur more like a gurgle would occur as she tired to speak. "Iguh...have...." she couldn't finish the sentence. Why? Well her body was being moved. Her toes were curling it was trying to process but it couldn't do that, no spillage was happening and she could feel the overflow down her stomach and ass as her legs were lifted. "HYUUUUUCK!~" it went so deep it went so far. Her mind had to do all it could to process that sensation while she tried to think and she plunged plummeted into nothingness soon after. Well that was wrong, it wasn't nothingness she saw, but stars dotting her vision likely a hallucination given by her body to warn her mind. But... that didn't help because now it felt like she was seeing something else... some other her. With a look on her face she'd enver observed and a hair color that wasn't quite right. She'd reach for her, to get a feel for it, and when she touched it that iamge shattered like broken glass. All the while, her body seemed content to clamp to try to resist, but that wouldn't be happeing either, it was... swirling losing sensation as it was overloaded by foreign mana.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed Habakiri's ability to speak the same language as the others was limited, or at least... restricted. When presented with another sexual notion, she quickly addressed the topic of time while complaining about the frequency of such deviant comments. "No, we can't. Why? You haven't been too engrossed in killing to still be a virgin, have you?" he chattered further. "Or have you just never thought about how many uses something like a van could have? Shoes on, or shoes off?" he pressured. The snippy retort of Habakiri to his driving methods, Soma decided to use one of those knives he'd acquired. Surely if she was willing to give him driving advice while not being willing to take the wheel herself, she wouldn't mind having her seatbelt cut loose just above the clip. "Don't start talking about toes now, Ms. Doll," he responded. Soma wouldn't be using the cruise control setting at all. He intended to keep this vehicle, so he'd have to adjust properly or risk putting his life in one of the others' hands at random. "So, cooperation or death?" he wondered, seeming to drive a bit more recklessly than before even as slightly more skilled adjustments were made.

Sakura's body remained reactive. On the other hand, her mind seemed to be operating on a different wavelength entirely. Questions asked weren't receiving answers in the form of words ─ not proper ones anyway. Childe kept pumping the lass to overflow nonetheless, or rather... in keeping with the plan. Her body would continue being pummeled, now from above. In reality, they could no longer be considered passengers of that tour boat, but more importantly... Sakura's consciousness was no longer attached exclusively to this realm. In time, she'd see a path branching off an infinite number of times. After she shattered that first image of herself, she'd see... Childe, standing right in front of her on that main path. He was looking out to the many branches ─ most of which had various other versions of Sakura along it. "Here already, huh? That was quick. I thought you'd survive a few seconds longer than that," he said somewhat cryptically.

[Apollymi]

An extreme conversation was now happening in this car, and that the boy in the driver's seat was content to continue on the subject of deviance as if it was his sole goal in life to get under Habakiri's skin. "If I was a virgin with a body like this... there wouldn't just be something wrong with me. There'd be something wrong with the male population," an indirect answer, but also not one which fed one way or another into the goading process. Now he aimed to poke at what she may or may not have thought about vans. "I'm not taking off my shoes unless I am at home, that's weird..." she expressed earnestly. Well that wasn't it completely. No, she wouldn't take off her shoes for a few reasons but random sex in the back of a work fan definitely wasn't reason enough to get completely undressed. Ah, but it was better than that, it appeared that simply giving a few driving tips would have this particular boy having a strange reaction. He not only didn't follow those instructions but went on to cut her seatbelt and drive a bit more recklessly. With her seatbelt cut and a question presented she casually turned to the side. That mask of hers had been crumbling moment by moment and now there was an eerie calm which left her staring at the side of Soma's face seemingly without care about the potential for her life to be lost today. "Hoh? Is that threat for me? Do you think that works?" she asked rhetorically. "See, even if you wreck this van you can't actually be planning to kill yourself. And even if your aim is just to kill me... that won't get you what you want. You're too set on your meeting to get rid of your entry ticket. And even if I'm not the only one, you're too impatient to wait on the ones who already have an in..." she calmly explained, with a sadistic grin spread across her face. "You're also too much of a control freak to not learn how to drive properly. It'd only benefit you to take the advice," she finished the entire time she spoke and he drove like a madman her heartbeat remained steady and her pupils equal and reactive. It was as if nothing was going on right now but a Sunday morning drive. "Oh and in case you are one of those I asked a question sticklers... the answer is neither."

Meanwhile, Sakura was finding herself in a strange place. Well, she had to be in some sort of liminal space, by her own logic. She'd been thinking really hard, and she was pretty sure her body had shut down. Her thoughts were much clearer now... so perhaps this was something soul related. "No balance to be achieved the other way. My body wasn't ready and my soul was a single step below my mind at the time. I assume this space is soul related by that logic, and by your appearance here. Unless of course this is just some special power you possess... that's also likely. Even so, it's directly connected to me and all of my... instances," she mentioned seemingly amused to feel something more close to normal. "Oh, konbanwa, Onii-chan~" she offered a proper greeting as she began to walk what looked to be a long and linear path but there was much to see along this path, and much of it was her. "I should say that I am also willing to take any extra information you have. That was just what I've figured out in the last few seconds. Since my mind finally caught up to the rest of my thoughts." she mused.

[Bloodedge]

Habakiri was no virgin. He didn't truly think she was, but another look into her mind via that answer was useful. She truly was something more than the 'robot' she claimed to be at some earlier point in life. She proved herself to possess a form of self-confidence that went beyond skills of the trade, stabilizing the value of her own opinion with an additional qualifier. "Sou ka," he said, still calculating. A quick shift of his gaze in Habakiri's direction occurred when she spoke of the specific situation that would see her shoes removed. That sort of thing didn't come from nowhere. Soma had another missing piece of information to find out. First, his little 'threat' was addressed in a way that answered more questions than he expected. In the mental war that involved holding life hostage, someone wouldn't get an easy interrogation from this target. She saw through the rouse Soma presented and directly called his bluff. Overall, he could say she was missing only one point. Regardless, her answer to the question was a firm... neither. "I was right," was all Soma said after a few moments of silence and a broken visage. He wore the widest, most twisted grin while taking the final exit Habakiri mentioned. From there, even with a bit of swerving, he seemed to be making all the right moves toward a mansion. He'd already worked out the identity of Habakiri's boss, and a few ways to get through without her. Would he make use of the latter, though? No. As for what he was right about, Soma shared that information while stopping across the street from that mansion. "I like you. Let's go."

While Sakura resided within an unknown realm, Childe joined her. Being the clever girl she was, Sakura had no issues understanding what happened to her. She knew the hierarchy of her own soul, body and mind, and further assumed the place they now inhabited was connected to the soul. "Sort of," he replied while looking around almost aimlessly. There were so many versions of Sakura along those infinite branching paths, even though some paths were broken at various points. "This isn't something people are going to understand for a while. It's not a soul chamber or a mind... thing, and your body is dead by now on the outside. This place is... you. Everything you are, everything you could have been... and everything you stopped being. Alive, dead or anything else, everything that identifies as you ends up here. The bigger the path, the bigger the you in most cases. I did do a little trick to make it more digestible," he explained. Regarding her mind finally catching up to her own thoughts, Childe placed a finger to the side of his own head. "On that topic, where are we at mentally right now? Can you tell me what's happening outside as we speak?"

[Apollymi]

Dangerous driving was one thing but it seemed that it meant very little to Habakiri as she continued her very casual look into the side of this man's face. If you were going to gamble with life, an assassin by trade wasn't a good target for it. As a person she held no fear of death. Beyond that she had the ability to observe and knew when she was being interrogated, regardless of the method chosen. At the very least her directions were followed and it seemed he was taking the information he was being fed for whatever purpose he had use for it. Outside of the mansion in question they'd end up with him parked across the street. He was obviously planning to keep that van... not on her list of problems. Still the idea that this man liked her was oddly familiar. "I've heard that before... hai hai," she mused, finding that smile on his face to be more normal than anything else she'd seen so far. The truth of that statement put a bit more perspective on this man from her end. She picked up her box of knives and hopped out of the van, taking special care not to land on her heels and avoid both tripping over her dress and breaking her shoes. Only after this did she begin walking towards the front gate. Another message would be received as she arrived. "3658. Come to the second tea room." With that information a code could be punched into the front gate and the pair of them would be allowed to walk through. And with that, up the walkway they could go, into the front door and surprisingly enough upon entry this one would actually take off her shoes choosing the carry the heels in one hand as she walked through the house, leading towards a southwestern facing room. Upon reaching the door to this room a single voice would be heard. "Enter." and there behind seated behind a desk with perfectly arranged pieces on it was a woman with red hair and golden eyes which contained several rings. She sat with her hands interlaced under her chin looking at the door. On her desk beside her a phone she'd been using to send text messages.

Meanwhile, Sakura was suffering an out of body experience. Or rather, a spiritual awakening of some sort. This was about what she thought, but not really by Childe's explanation. It wasn't a soul chamber, or her mind space. Her body was 'dead' but this space was her. "I am not surprised. That explanation isn't really substantial. Still if this is the more digestible version then... the complexity is the thing that sets it apart," she concluded rather easily. "Sou ka, I have a theory then..." she decided. Well, there was only one thing to do when a theory was active and that was to test it. As for where she was at mentally, that was easy... "My body is done, trying to digest. Rather it couldn't and couldn't reach for any other part of me to help. But I can tell I am outside on that table being turned into soup. Legs up full plunge. Is such a dangerous thing..." she said calmly. Though I also know I am here... I thought maybe my mind would split to accommodate both sides, but it seems something else occurred as well," she mused as the biggest path was the one she walked along. "A liminal space that is all of me, bigger than the body, bigger than the Core, bigger than my Source... hmm another dimension of understanding was added. Or several I assume given this is a simplified view. What would a person call such a thing? And then there is the matter of looking for the me that solves the problem in a sea of me. I mean there have to be plenty who do it, but which is right for this particular situation and for the long term growth potential?" she wondered almost curiously. WAs the point of her being here to pick a piece of herself which she'd need tog et past this point of physical death? Or was it to encounter what she'd become and build off that? The possibilities were almost as infinite as the number of herself that she saw, splayed across the horizon.

[Bloodedge]

Somewhere in life, Habakiri knew someone that was enough like Soma to appreciate her particular brand of madness. He'd have to make some discoveries about that person as well. That would be added to the backburner just as other things had been. To Soma, it was far more important to meet the boss of this operation. The pair exited that van, and Soma ensured Habakiri was ahead of him the entire way up. A gate with a code was par for the course, he thought; maybe he'd invest in something along those lines. Ah, but his investments presently were of a totally different nature. Following into the mansion without bothering to remove his own shoes, Soma eventually found himself taking the lead upon reaching the door Habakiri seemed to be targeting. A demand to enter was given, so Soma took the initiative and burst through to the tea room without a care in the world. Once there, he stared directly into the face of a redhead he'd been expecting to see for quite some minutes now. "Shido Chiji. Finally..." he mused. Calm, collected and ever so dismissive was Soma as he sauntered over to the chair in front of that woman, dropping his rear into it and kicking his feet up onto the desk. "Did you like our selfie? I thought it was a great angle."

All the while, Sakura and Childe were having a nice little chat within a space none had discovered thus far. The space itself was her in every possible meaning, but its true form had a few too many dimensions for someone going through her current process. She did come up with a theory, though. This space was indeed greater than any concept held by mortal and divine alike in her timeline. As for what to call it... "It has a name. You'll have to take the long way around for that," he said with a finger to his lips. "Some words can't be spoken until the time is right. Ripples are an epidemic," he added. There was one more thing worth noting: whether Sakura's goal was to find a version of herself that solved this issue or not. As he meandered about and looked the lass up and down, Childe shook his head. "Nope. All versions are equally capable, but none of you have reached the answer yet. That's not your fault; that information is in a very specific place in the future. What you see here is just the versions of you spanning out for... about the next two years?" he chattered. "Right just now, you're the closest to an answer... but you're getting cold. The answer is in this conversation. Think about it."

[Apollymi]

Habakiri did indeed know someone who made the mannerisms of Soma palatable, in fact it could be said that she knew no one better than that particular individual. Oh well, that wasn't a matter of extreme importance in the moment. The lead was taken by Soma which was rather ballsy as a move, by Habakiri's own stance. He could have been shot, poisoned, or even had his head cut off on entry walking into a room with such reckless abandon. Still, she'd enter afterwards, placing her shoes and that case down by the door. "A couple light..." Makima mentioned seeming to have a unique knowledge of what should have been present in that case. "I wonder where they ended up~" was all Habakiri said in response before she headed over to a small sink area. She'd begin washing her hands while going on about her duties as she knew she should. "Three cups." that was interesting as a directive, but her hands would be completely cleaned while this lad made his entrance and conversation. "It was cute." that was it, three words were spoken. Still she didn't move and instead seemed nothing but amused by this lad's antics. It'd been quite a while since something so loud had entered her space for seemingly unknown reasons. Even his lax and dismissive demeanor didn't seem to bother her at all, those feet up on her desk she didn't even seem to notice. After an appropriate amount of time, three cups of tea were made and poured and brought over, by Habakiri. A sugar container was brought over as well and three sugar cubes exactly ere dropped into Makima's cup. The dish would be left where it was, while Habakiri picked up a cube for herself only to saunter over to a nearby couch and sit, with her legs tucked beneath her person.

While a standoff of sorts started a journey of understanding started elsewhere. Apparently the thing beyond the forms of evolution she understood already was named but not in a way that could presently be spoken. That much made sense. "The long way around... huh?" that sounded like something she'd heard before, but here in a space occupied by the her of the current two year span of her life, she supposed, it was normal to radiate a bit. Ripple, as he said. What was more according to this man, it wasn't her fault that she couldn't quite get the answer. Any of her could be used for this purpose, but he claimed she was the closest to the answer, but getting colder. Hm, she needed to think then. What about this conversation she'd been having held the answer? "This conversation started out with some questions both asked and answered. If I am the closest to the answer right now, then something said, mentioned or questioned holds the key," she started think, going through her mental processes aloud if only because she wasn't the type to cut off anyone from learning even if they didn't take the same things she did from her words. "You thought I would last longer before ending up here... but I did. I know that because I could tell you what we are both doing outside of this place. Unless..." a pause took place in her thought patterns. "No, that doesn't make sense, does it?" she questioned her eyes alight with spare thoughts.

[Bloodedge]

The first thing Makima took note of was a lack of weight in the box Habakiri brought home. That gave Soma some assumptions to make regarding expectations of this woman. Perfect posture, a well-organized room just to meet some random troublemaker in, pickiness over the state of her underling and notice of the smallest detail in what she returned with. The only thing that could have been added was notice of Soma wearing the green-haired woman's glasses... but surely that was just something she hadn't thought, or didn't care, to mention. This one seemed refined to a fault. He'd call her an obsessive compulsive perfectionist, a control freak the likes of which this world shouldn't have produced naturally, but also... someone who held herself on a very high podium that was getting higher with time. So then, what did such a woman think of the picture she saw? Apparently, she found it cute. Habakiri moved by with a tray of tea, one cup clearly meant for Soma. Perhaps he should have been skeptical of it? It could have been poisoned or otherwise drugged, but... there was a reason he stepped into the room so haphazardly, and it was the same reason he snatched that teacup and gulped it down, black as tar. "You're cute. Let's talk business," he said plainly. There wasn't much beating around the bush to be done between people like them, Soma thought. He had every reason to believe they already had use for each other, so he very quickly produced his first demand while pointing at Habakiri. "As it stands, I want that one."

The long way around was a method of approach Sakura would be hearing a lot more of ─ just as others in her group would. Sakura's path wasn't as long as many others, though. A few things were to be held back as necessity to preserve this reality, but then... how important this reality was to Sakura, depended on Sakura. Her mental processes started aloud, not that Childe minded her vocal musings at all. In fact, he found this state endearing for her type. He remained silent to let her think through it all, mentally acknowledging that she was on the right track. The key to advancement was all in one question, one answer... and one eventual conclusion when those things were connected to reality. Her thoughts about knowing what was going on in reality prompted another thought, it seemed. Something didn't make sense... or did it? "Who knows? I wasn't paying attention~" he lied. "I was just wondering if you'd ever been made a pet before. I think you'd make a fun one~"

[Apollymi]

Makima was sitting across from a troublemaker with enough sense to work out what she was up to, her connections to the underground and her general motivations. She might have assumed he was a different individual, if he'd not barged into her workplace to talk business. She had it under good authority that, that particular boy was still living in Tokyo with his younger sister. So what of the young man in front of her, who barged in without any skepticism. Who took items belonging to assassins as if they were free and who drank an entire cup of tea, no sugar at all like he worried for nothing? He said she was cute and and wanted to talk business. "I would assume so..." she commented almost absently as she took a sip of tea. A deal? A trade? Free roam of her city? What did this boy want that led him to sitting in front of her in such a way? Ah, he wanted Habakiri. That girl managed to only sigh, she figured that was where this was going at least a little, "Oh? you don't seem surprised, Ki-hi~" she mentioned of the girl's lack of real reaction first. "He's been interrogating me since we met. Was awful pushy about it. Even threatened me..." she explained. "Oh, but then he said he liked me," she offered over her own tea cup. "Sou ka, that does explain it. And here I was wondering why he had your sunglasses..." Makima said without too much more thought. "Still you can't honestly think I'd give her to you, especially not as permanently as you make that sound. She's a part of a matched pair," Makima said as she turned her attention back tot he boy across from her. "I'm very particular about things like that, as I am sure you've already realized." Makima said. But what did a man like this think to get from her when he wasn't allowed what he wanted. Habakiri was quite the individual and prolific killer, and if the one called Kusanagi was a masterful interrogator and torturer. Then Habakiri was a masterful infiltrator and scout. They truly were a well matched pair.

Meanwhile, Sakura was working through this new space she was getting to know, and trying to work through the problem of her rapidly declining physical form. She'd been speaking aloud as one who generally allowed her thoughts the freedom to be absorbed and used by others, but it would seem that Childe wasn't using her words for such a purpose. Well, that was likely a lie, he seemed like he heard everything she'd been saying and followed along. But he was... menacingly misleading at every turn. Actually he'd been that way since they met... so what was he saying this time. In addition to the pieces she'd put together he was thinking she'd make a good pet, and wondering if she'd been one before. Her answer was quick... "Iia, I haven't been made a..." she paused. "No, I have... the me you're pounding is Hirrun's pet..." she paused. "Oh..." she said turning back to look at Childe with a large grin on her face. "Hehehe...hahahaha...HAHAHAHEHEHEHEAHAHAH!~" she laughed almost hysterically after figuring out the important points. "You were really going to let me think like that weren't you? You were going to let me think that the one outside is me and she might be, but she's not me... well, not the me who obviously no longer has a body because she was being pounded a bit too furiously into paste by the likes of you..." she said shaking her head. "Was being his pet really the difference maker in this case? Does the effect of his mana extend more by taking in that much more of it... a little slip? A minor miscalculation... really ended my own path? No, an accident, a coincidence? We were experiencing something similar at the same time, and my mind bridged hers when she was trying to think. And she connected to me... here... inside us," she said a small smile on her face. "Isn't that exciting, am I right... O-nii-chan?~"

[Bloodedge]

Soma wanted the one who went by the name Habakiri in his collection. It was a quickly growing group, but someone able to mercilessly take life and move on was sorely lacking for his end-game goals. Habakiri made herself a more than viable target, and didn't even seem surprised that he made such a demand. After the interrogation, he saw it as possible. Alas... "You still think I was threatening you? You've got room to grow after all~" he commented, never taking his eyes off the redhead across the desk. Of course he didn't think Habakiri would be handed over. After all, who would let go of such an asset? Soma already understood the key factors at play here. "I don't expect anything of the sort. She made it very clear how dedicated she is to working for you. Dedication like that goes beyond respect; it's become part of survival instinct at this point. I'm remiss to say I couldn't take her if I tried. Not that I would keep someone like that," he muttered. Makima called the other woman part of a matched pair. With that, Soma had a few more theories. A sibling? Those seemed common. There was something in Kaguya's memories before he was born... something very similar to Habakiri, and someone who... ah! "Kusanagi? That makes sense. I have no use for that one," he decided in the moment of realization. "And your OCD isn't going to split them up without good reason. So, we've reached the second part of negotiations. What is the hidden queen of the underworld missing? What's the price of a doll's life worth? And most importantly... why isn't the control freak in control of everything in Osaka?"

For the second time today, Childe was seeing Sakura enter a fit of hysteria. This one was no pet, but he'd also been at the receiving end of the opposite claim. The Sakura he spoke with was not the same one being pounded into oblivion as they spoke ─ her oblivion had already been met. The grin on Childe's face couldn't be peeled off; there was even the slightest hint of laughter underneath it. He barely managed to hold it in while Sakura vented her very excited thoughts. In the end, there was a question. Was she right? "Mostly, yes. It wasn't a miscalculation that ended your path, though. That was me. The one fucking you, was me. The other me is still on that side. Look behind you," he said, gesturing to the rear of Sakura where a path behind her had recently crumbled. He'd brought that one to an end with purpose, but... he'd also influenced that reality into existence to the same end. "Your minds bridged to each other at the same moment. You know what's happening there, she knows what's happening here. Parallel Thought... to Parallel Minds. It's the ultimate form of Deja Vu. Now that you're both conscious of each other, you'll stay magnetized to each other. The problem here is... I really did think you would last a bit longer. She's the one that's still going, and that version of me is in the future. My plan was to hold back on you a bit more, give myself enough time to make sure I could obliterate the second 'you' I visited. That one is still going to die, but I don't know how long it'll take for the full death. That means it's up to you now. Well... I probably already know it's fine if I'm still going out there, but... there's also a chance I've got no idea. It's always weird being the one that has to get there. . ."

[Apollymi]

Soma thought that Habakiri thought herself threatened. As she remained seated on the couch she kept up, drinking her tea seemingly just a little agitated. "A threat is a threat... even when uttered as a part of interrogation the threat still stands," she said simply. Whether she knew ahead of time this was part of his tactic or whether she'd really been calling his bluff in that van didn't really matter. She wasn't looking for a change of leadership, she was looking for threats to her leader. "You feel strongly about that, breathe Ki-hi..." Makima mentioned. A deep breath was taken and it seemed to calm her down quite a bit... Makima knew that girl was prone to showing her face once her emotions hit a certain level of disturbance. Meanwhile, there was something in Soma's speech which brought the lightest upturn to Makima's lips, "Not interested in poaching? Or is it simply a matter of not trusting a fickle heart? I don't blame you split loyalties are always best when grown and devotion is most easily kept when it belongs solely to you," she mentioned as if it was a perfectly normal thought. Still, the mention of Kusanagi by name even made Habakiri's brows raise, she didn't like that mention at all, but with Makima in the room she'd keep it to herself though she did sit down that tea cup to go on to clasping her hands in her lap. "Are you asking out of curiosity or do you think you can offer me something? The things I want I am already in the process of securing... " she said using the items aligned on her desk to demonstrate. "I am the governor of this region, so acts of government cross my desk for final approval." she explained. "I might also have control of a certain group of people who handle certain problems. And that connection branches me into several other places." she explained. and the last piece might have been two things... she said bringing two pencils together to complete her triangle. "One fled but left his influence, the other... hasn't finished consolidating yet... or so I hear. I have people on it, but the entire situation is the sort that needs more finesse and less force." she said.

Meanwhile, the Sakura that was in the special space, was coming to the conclusion and she and the one outside were only parallel of each other and not precisely the same. She'd died this day at a certain moment and was standing on the crumbling road of her own branching timeline. "Sou ka, Parallel Minds, starting at Parallel Thought and becoming whole by reaching into parallel planes of existence," she made her understanding clear enough. What was more, Childe had planned this for the most part... the form of her self being pounded into paste was still going to die, but how long that took was up for debate. He'd not planned this as precisely as one would while running an experiment, not it seemed it was a bit more freeform as an idea. "Sou ka, so I have a limited amount of time to construct a form that both of us can settle into, before our minds fully settle in together?" she said carefully. Ah, she could do that... but which forms should she absorb to make it the best? Well... if it was up to her lines like her own would be easiest to concentrate. There was much potential to be found in the failures of her other selves. Yes, she'd work with that line of thought and begin her journey to pick up her otherselves and incorporate them into her next being. "A me, who didn't have Oyaji there the first time I tried something extreme, she blew herself up~" she said at the end of one road. She extended an arm and dark tendrils extraced her pulling her into her new form. Her next few steps there after would be trailed in starlight.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai hai, whatever you say Twinkle-toes~" was all Soma would say to Habakiri. His focus for now was Makima, even if he noted an unusual movement from the green-haired woman at mention of Kusanagi's name. There was a trauma there, Soma thought. Oh well; it was nothing he needed use of now. "My method of poaching would be different. I think I'd rather take out the head to take over the body... but you've got no need to worry about that either. I like your potential, so I'd rather not waste future connections by lopping this head off," Soma mused most casually. As for Makima's side of negotiations, she apparently had need of nothing. Everything she wanted, she was getting... or so she believed. On paper, Makima was right. She had a position of great political power, and one of even greater power in the underworld of this prefecture ─ and likely beyond. Soma listened to her little speech intently, knowing there were factors at play that couldn't even be explained and believed without concrete evidence. Alas, he also knew several truths at work that could easily make her every acquisition moot. "It must be nice to think you're at the top and no one is able to rip the floorboards from under you," he said just as calmly as everything else thus far. "So you think I've got nothing to offer you? Three cubes of sugar went into your cup. If you poured another cup, your entire regime could be taken down by a single teenager before you finished sweetening it. There are things at play that you and your people have no idea about, and I'm sure some of those things are what you're up against. You think controlling most of the underworld is enough to let you pound the rest of it into submission? You're going to wake up something that'll drag you into another dimension, rape everything you thought was near and dear, and leave it all behind while they rise to a podium you can't even see the bottom of from your little perch."

Childe never stopped meandering about, but he also never stopped looking at Sakura... even if there was the occasional glance at a variant or two nearby. She was under time constraints he didn't even know the limits of, all because this was his first time seeing things from this side of the equation as well. "A limited time before she dies and it stops mattering what happens with both of your minds, really. That's my bad. There's not really a way to test these things beforehand," he complained to the universe while rubbing his head. Sakura went on to start collecting fragments of herself, beginning with one at the end of a broken path. That one experienced self-destruction during one of her earlier experiments ─ a thing he could expect of a demon who didn't understand how much bigger they were. "Yikes," he muttered. With that first choice made, Childe became rather interested in Sakura's selections moving forward. Already, she was showing signs of a variant he knew very, very well. Would that be the end result, or would she be something even greater? Time would tell.

[Apollymi]

Habakiri's face scrunched up just a little, the thought of being called 'Twinkle Toes' gave her a flash of anger that needed to be suppressed. 'I have killed people for less...' she thought as she held her left temple with a very twitchy hand. "Breathe." that was the order given and the one followed. Calling her reliance on Makima a survival instinct wasn't necessarily wrong. "How very Machiavellian of you," Makima mentioned as if amused. In truth she might not have had more mentally stimulating conversation in years. This boy was so young and so sure of his ideations. He uttered threats that most wouldn't have dared thing in her presence and she found it... intriguing. She felt no need to worry about what he said about lopping her head off, because it seemed he wouldn't do it. Given the way he'd walked in here, she'd assumed his motivations were much more straight forward than that. Whatever the case, it would seem that this lad had the wrong idea, Makima continued to smile as she heard him out, and he did have much to say. The lines he drew seemed to contain insider information, references to those new people she was now hearing so much about with their special skills that put them on par with some of her best born and raised. "Do you really think I'd entertain talking to you if I thought myself safe or big enough? I have higher aims than this place and higher ones still, what I am looking for is trustworthy individuals who will follow orders and do what I need. You think too much to be a dog and your ambitions are wildly unfocused for what I need. So tell me, what exactly do you want and what are you willing to actually do for my benefit, to get it. Those are the only important points here..." she explained of her take on his information provided. A lot of things in the world were unexplained, like those murders that had been so recently performed which looked like others. She already had some information about oddities in the world, there was no harm in gaining a little more information to use in her own way.

Meanwhile, Sakura was having her time limit confirmed. Apparently, this wasn't the type of experiment that could have exactness as part of it, it wasn't something he'd seen all the way through yet. "Sou ka, so it's like an experiment for you too. Well, good thing I have at least a full mind to dedicate to this activity, right Jaxu~" she mused. And she moved along, an utterance of surprise was heard about that particular fragment she'd picked up. It was truly a sad end. And there were more yet to come, "Eww, a death to a well-fed Kakihara. That just makes me want to cuck him again..." she said as she picked up that version of herself as well. "Oh? A me that was kidnapped by the rapey Sea God..." she mused that one would be worth delving into. She kept moving along the road, not jsut to ones who died, but also to those whose paths came to an end a bit too swiftly. "I found my way to the broken island and ended up paired with their fake hero? I could have done better..." she said shaking her head but still reaching for the fragment. And with everyone consumed her body gained mass. "Oh, the one who followed the real hero and learned about soul flames~" she claimed as if that was actually something worth looking into. Her body was forming becoming larger. She was gathering pieces, growing air. Her feet were steadily becoming starlight, her hands too, were starting to be dusted by it. "Lives without Kazzun are always so boring... " she mumbled as she pulled in several such fragments with various endings. A gathering was taking place and as her body became more complete, well, extras started to fill in other places.

[Bloodedge]

The attitude of Habakiri was going to be an issue if he actually took her in at any point. Soma carried that knowledge with him as he ranted and ranted, still avoiding giving the redhead too much information. She seemed to understand there were greater forces at work, albeit with no sense of those forces' depth. "I think if you had any idea how out of your league you are, you would have had more people brought along than me. It's the kind of problem someone would think to throw caution to the wind for," he replied. Moving on, Makima wanted to know his desires and what he could do for her benefit. Obviously she wasn't listening hard enough. "Chess pieces are what I want. You," he said, pausing to look in Habakiri's direction. "Tell me your name," he demanded. "You won't get someone who will follow orders out of me. I'm going to be so much bigger than you. What you'll get instead... is a partnership. You don't want me to be the one tearing down your establishment, right? No one will ever know it was me. Turn on the news," he added, knowing that idiot from earlier should have been discovered in some obvious place by now. "Either you can work with me, or I can work by myself. I can open your eyes to things you can't even understand right now... and crazy as it might sound, that'll probably involve opening your legs first. Doesn't matter. A driver's license, a house, a gun... and a Knight for my chess collection. If you think that's ridiculous, then I welcome you to wait on the decision until you've met the other boy you're probably calling for by now. He's the three-second guy, in case you were wondering."

Childe was indeed performing an experiment of his own. It was a bit more of a mandatory success than he wanted it to be, but such was the way things happened at times. True to Sakura's words, it was favorable that her mind was at their disposal. "That makes a big difference. It's always annoying to have nothing but stupid people along to explain these things to. All that time talking just for them to be useless for execution. It's lose-lose," he complained openly. Moving on, Sakura was doing precisely what he wondered about. Her second choice was noteworthy as it involved a death by fault of her first terrible decision. Childe couldn't judge her for something done in ignorance, but he could chime in when she continued. "You want help with that? I cuck people as part of my vacations all the time," he offered. A third Sakura remnant had fallen due to the god Enki. Things didn't get much better when one of the variants died whilst connected to a false hero near her birthplace, though the one immediately afterwards was quite decent. Not all ended paths were deaths ─ some were cut short simply because they contained unnecessary spoilers. She went on to comment on how lives were boring when Kazuhiko wasn't involved. Obviously she hadn't seen some of the others yet, but Childe's response remained nonetheless. "Woah, ouch? They can't all be boring, right?"