crowspace | call me out v. 15.0

[Local Teen Too Gay To Be Constrained By Laws Of Space-Time Or Common Sense.]

I guess that's the sort of thing that's hard to see about yourself, objectively...

[Snapping out of her reverie, she perks up again.] Speaking of seeing things, I promised to show you around the city, right?

[Gently depositing Pathos onto the floor, she stands up and begins rummaging through a nearby drawer.] If I wear this, then even if you're in spirit form we should still be able to talk without problems!

[Some Masters maintain secrecy through sticking purely to telepathy, or through an elaborate magical illusion. Others, apparently, use a $20 set of cat-ear headphones with a bluetooth attachment.]

[Modern technology is so convenient.]

Stylish and practical. I approve.

[The cat ears are an especially nice touch. Everything is cuter with cat ears.]

[Mercy would certainly agree. Just look at Logos- he has three whole sets of cat ears and he's adorable.]

[Since she doesn't have any modern clothes that would fit an adult man, Merlin is probably going to have to either stay in spirit form or risk being mistaken for a hardcore cosplayer, but true to her word she does keep up a cheerful stream of commentary into the headset, looking like any other chatty teen rambling on the phone in public.]

[From the outside, Mercy's apartment is in an unremarkable run-down building in a less well-off part of town- small and not much in the way of easily available resources, but on the other hand it's probably likely to get overlooked at first glance by anyone seeking out the great and powerful. So it's got that going for it.]

[Her tour is equal parts "potential strategic advantage" and "showing him nice scenery or particularly interesting landmarks". He is a visitor, after all. It's only fair to let him have some of the tourist experience.]

[If he's keeping a close eye on his surroundings, magically-speaking, he might distantly be able to sense three potential Masters at various points throughout the city, although none of them ever get particularly close.]

[One is impossible to determine the source of- the feeling slips by in passing while they're out on the street, there and gone again in a moment, presumably the result of a fellow Master also out and about, on their way to some other destination.]

[One, oddly enough, seems to be located in a building Mercy identifies as the local police station.]

[And one is right in the middle of Estrella Academy, the school she attends.]

[The tour is much appreciated, especially its digressions from the strategic. He's here to have a good time, he might as well enjoy the scenery.

Merlin makes a mental note of the sources of the magical signatures he feels. The one at school is particularly concerning, because...]

I assume you still want to attend class while the war is on?

Yep! [This is, after all, a girl who loves learning and knowledge to a frankly alarming degree. The only acceptable reason to miss class, for her, is if you found something really scientifically fascinating that just couldn't wait.]

[Or being dead, she guesses.]

From what I heard, it's traditionally conducted at night away from witnesses, right? Since school only happens in the middle of the day, I figured it'd leave me with plenty of time for other stuff!

[The idea that going to school all day and then having magical life or death combat late into the night might be a little tiring doesn't appear to occur to her because she has vast reserves of energy and, more importantly, is a teenager. At sixteen, the idea that she wouldn't immediately bounce back from being out all night is still a foreign glimmer on a distant horizon.]

Hard to argue with that logic. But I think I'd better come with you to class just to be on the safe side.

[Technically, nobody should try an attack at school. All magecraft should be kept secret and draw no attention to itself.

Technically, a lot of people break that rule when they think it's to their advantage.]

Okay! [No objection from her, at least. Why not bring the disembodied spirit of King Arthur's infamous court mage with you to math class? Seems legit.]

We might have needed to bring you there at least once anyway- the Second Owner of Verdette City is the principal here. She's... [Mercy pauses, politeness visibly struggling against honesty to come up with something to say that isn't "kind of scary sometimes".] Very serious about her work!

[There, that's respectable. She does respect her, at least.]

A formidable woman, hm? I'd like to meet her.

[he's gonna hit on her I'm sorry]

[It's probably unavoidable. We're just going to have to resign ourselves now.]

You'll probably get the chance, if you're coming with me tomorrow! ...Well, you'll get to see her, at least. You probably shouldn't manifest physically in the middle of the school.

[Although, she has to admit, it would be pretty educational.]

As fun as it would be to see the looks on your classmates' faces, I think I'll stay invisible.

[Unless he has to defend her or something, in which case he's not responsible for whatever happens.]

[Mercy giggles.] That would be pretty great!

[Listen, sometimes you just have to beat up people for threatening your tiny goth buddy in the middle of a public school. Things happen. It's fine.]

I think our class president would still try to make you get a visitor's pass, even though you're magic. Miss Zuri is really determined! ...She is the principal's daughter, though, so she probably already knows about mage stuff.

[So, a Master currently hanging out after hours in a school that just so happens to be run by a mage. A mage who cares at least enough about her position to have officially claimed this land and produced an heir, and now has a Holy Grail War happening on said land.]

[...Who is noted for being very dedicated to her job, and might plausibly be working in her office on campus, even late at night on a Sunday. Hm.]

[That's probably fine.]

[That's probably fine, but...]

Mercy. I should ask you this now before we get ahead of ourselves: what do you want to do with enemy Masters when we find them?

[He can't picture her cheerfully saying 'let's kill them!', but just leaving them alone is... potentially a problem.]

Hm. [To her credit, she does appear to be giving due consideration to the question instead of just brushing it off with an airy 'oh it'll be fine'.] I think it would depend on what they're trying to do to us at the time?

I'd be happy to find allies, so I don't want to be the first one to start a fight- but you should definitely fight back if you get attacked... You don't need to worry about protecting me, though! I can heal myself really well, so as long as I don't die instantly, even a potentially fatal injury won't take me down for good!

Strategically... you've probably been in a lot more fights than I have. Do you think your powers would be better suited to getting around another Servant to attack their Master, or fighting that Servant directly?

I'm more of a support mage than an offensive one, so it'd be easier to go for the Master, but I'll defer to your call.

[If he needs to fight other Servants, he will.]

There's also... maybe another option. I don't like to make definitive statements about things until I've tested them, but it's potentially a very exciting possibility!

So, in the records I've managed to find, it's definitely been possible for people to transfer command seals from one Master to another, right? And there's also been mentions of people losing access to command seals by having the body part they're on chopped off, right?

[She's looking more and more, uh. Yeah, that's definitely her mad science face. It's adorably enthusiastic, but also slightly alarming considering the context.]

We don't actually need a Master to die to take them out of the War, do we? We just need them to not be a Master anymore. And I'm very good with surgery.

Plus, then I'd have a whole extra hand's worth of command seals to run tests on!

Ohhh, that's a great idea.

[it really is not, merlin, why are you like this]

[Mercy sees nothing alarming with having a fun little collection of severed limbs in her apartment. It's always nice to have some spare parts around in case you need them for anything.]

[Besides, if she wants to make it up to them after the War, then all she has to do is grow them a replacement hand, right? Cloning one little body part shouldn't be too much trouble, especially if she already has a nice hefty tissue sample...]

[As increasingly worrying as this partnership is, maybe we should still be glad she didn't summon Nightingale.]

It is pretty hard to operate on a moving body, though- do you have anything that could stop someone moving? Putting them to sleep somehow would be ideal! Most people have a surprisingly low pain tolerance, so it would be a lot better if they weren't awake to experience the operation.

Edited 2022-01-15 23:36 (UTC)

Oh, that's my best subject! I could put this whole city to sleep if I had enough mana, but that wouldn't be any fun.

[Because those are important priorities.]

Plus, it'd be really hard to time it right! You'd have to avoid knocking too many people out while they're driving or operating heavy machinery, otherwise the collateral damage could get pretty severe.

[Listen, she's not going to judge. If he wants to reenact Sleeping Beauty as a hobby, that's his personal business. ...She could possibly stand to be a little more judgemental, actually. This girl has no frame of reference for what is and isn't a threat.]

[...Maybe it's fair to cut him some slack on the car thing, though. Grail knowledge or not, he did come from an era where horses were the main mode of transportation. Heck, you could pass out drunk on a horse and it'd just keep walking home without you.]

I do have another project I'm working on that could give us a big advantage, if it turns out right... but I think it's too early to say anything about that one for sure! It's still in the preliminary testing phases. [She winks.] If it passes the safety checks, it can be a fun surprise!

[Everybody likes surprises, right?]

...Ooh, there's that Indian takeout place with the really good curry! Do you want me to get extra for you? [Look, she needs to eat, okay. She's a growing girl. Priorities.]

Ooh, I'm looking forward to it.

[Merlin loves surprises! They're pretty rare for people with Clairvoyance, after all.]

Absolutely! No one in Britain can cook decently, I swear.

So British food was like that back then, too... I promise, we have real flavors now!

[No offense, it's just she's seen what the English think counts as "spicy" and it's frankly sad.]

One good meal alone would make being summoned plenty worth it.

[Not that he doesn't think it'll be worth it otherwise! Just... yeah. Bland.]

[She ends up getting enough for several good meals, on the grounds that he's inhuman and she is a teenager. They can always put the leftovers in the fridge for later.]

[The lady behind the counter seems to recognize Mercy as a regular, although she doesn't seem particularly emotionally invested in the fact. Then again, it's a service industry job and this is the evening shift. At this point, counter lady is probably too tired to give a shit about anything less than something bursting into actual, literal flames.]

[Mercy is polite, and tips well.]

[Opening the takeout containers back at the apartment reveals that she wasn't kidding about an appreciation for actual flavor. Also apparently an appreciation for chicken. She needs the protein for brain fuel.]

[She grabs Logos by the collar with one hand to block his attempt at shoving all three of his heads directly into her styrofoam container of curry rice and picks up a plastic fork with the other. In between bites, she asks:]

So, what do you think of the city?

It's beautiful. If we have another day off, I'd like to spend more time in the parks.

[He may be called the Mage of Flowers less often recently, but he does still like seeing them.]

I sensed three magi on our trip, although I was only able to narrow down the locations of two. One at your school and one at the police station.

That does sound fun! They're really nice, I've been trying to see if I can train the local pigeons by feeding them when I visit.

[Train them to do what, exactly? ...Listen. Don't worry about it. It's fine.]

Hmm... the one in the school would probably be the principal, I guess? Ms. Eskender does work pretty late sometimes! As for the police station... hm. [She frowns thoughtfully.] I don't know of any mages working in law enforcement here... [She trails off, suddenly growing solemn as a thought occurs to her.]

But I guess it would make sense for someone there to know about magic, since they didn't do much of an investigation after the- [She breaks off.]

After. [Just "after".]

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cw: discussion of involuntary surgery

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