CE 3.0 2017-2018

[Kat]

Mitsuba

The vampire was either too engrossed in slaking her wanton thirst or she screwed with the Unchained on purpose. Anyway, Medaka lightly pushed her away. Now what the older bloodsucker would do.

"Yes, for a while, just to weather the storm. My ally..." Of questionable trust."... have disappeared on me before I met Medaka, and I'm not sure if the place where I originally lived is compromised."

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

A single clap of his shoes striking the wooden floor of the store announced his presence.  With a gentle push of his hand, the backdoor of the store clicked shut.  He turned around to greet his small army of puppets.

This is unexpected...

Every few days, he sends these drones out to gather raw material for his experiments.  Occasionally they would be captured by the denizens of the city or destroyed, so he expected a few of them to be missing.  However, he had never seen this before.  There was a entirely new doll in this pack.  Whereas the other dolls were based on Vanguard's ugly demonic design, this one seemed to have a bit more craft put into it.  The doll was a beautiful blond dressed in an almost antique dress.  A doll in every sense of the word.

With a snap of his fingers, the dolls dispelled, fading into the void.  Any which were lost out in the city would dissipate as well.  All that left was the doll.

A grin crept onto the puppeteers face as he said, "Curious, can you speak?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Orianna

Orianna curtsied at the approach of the man. He gave off the air of a master, and if he was not one then he was surely at least an agent of the one who controlled these dolls. "Yes, sir. I apologize for following your dolls back to your home. My current lack of directives is both unpleasant and unfamiliar. In my listlessness I emulated the task of your own property."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Lucy

Well, it was time to find that skeleton! Which, turned out, wasn't that hard when he had docked his boat in the air above the city. Now, she just needed to get up there. Or... she grabbed one of her Messengers by the ears and tossed them into the air.

The bunny soon grew a miniature pair of wings and began the arduous task of pitiably flapping up to the deck of the boat before collapsing in exhaustion. Then it was followed by another, and another, and another! Until nine sweating rabbit creatures were rolling around the ship.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

Hmph. How rude. As if he couldn't tell vermin was trying to board his ship. This just wouldn't do. With a wave of his arm, a blasting wave of flame spewed from the ship and showered the flying bunnies, incinerating them on the spot. The last time something like this happened, he didn't have a very pleasant experience. As if he'd let anyone in his moon uninvited.

"Welp. Looks like she left. Hey Ellie, think I should follow her?" He asked her absentmindedly.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Lucy

Wow! That was so rude! Didn't he recognize her lovable little pets? That just meant she had to change up her strategy. This time the bunny changed form before it reached the deck, a dark haired woman landing on the hull with a huff. "You're being pretty rude, Lorenzo."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

His eyes narrowed while he looked elsewhere as soon as Lucy left him. There was one more thing to take care of. With nimble speed he stepped forth towards his new objective. Indeed, he saw what had happened, she shouldn't have landed far.

It took very little to find her body. Unconscious, and a check of her pulse confirmed she still lived. It was fortunate.

She picked her body by the shirt and sluched her over his shoulder. She'd wake up on a warm bed, in a proper room. Her companion had perished, but he had questions he wanted answered.

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

The gentle clap of Relius's step warned of his approach.  He stood before her, leaning down so that his face was inches from hers.  She would be able to feel his piercing gaze through the mask.  From here, he could see it clearly, the soul buried beneath all of that skin.  It was...fake?  It seemed whomever created this thing had a decent understanding of the soul's function, as it was vary similar in structure and function to a real soul.  However, he had seen enough souls to act as a sort of appraiser, one who can tell the real from a fake at a glance.

"I see," he said grabbing hold of her chin.  "In that case, perhaps I shall take you for myself.  Hence forth, you shall belong to Relius Clover."

He rotated her head from side to side, inspecting how the skin was stitched together.  It was highly resistant, not unlike the body he gave to Vanguard.  Hmm... this could be a rather enjoyable project to invest in.  Now all that is left is to test its current capabilities...

A smile crept onto the scientist's face.  This is just almost beyond the scope of logic... what is the probability that such a wonderful toy would deliver itself to me?

[Umbra of Chaos]

Orianna

She clasped her hands together in acceptance and joy, and her body relaxed as if some heavy burden had been removed from her shoulders. This was beyond comforting, her body felt alive and her movements purposeful once more! How terrible it was, to be a doll without a master.

"I thank you, Master. It is bliss to fulfill my purpose once more." Orianna stood resolute and glad. A perfect picture of obedience.

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

The puppeteer's smile faded.  His piercing gaze softened, his arm retracting into his cape.  "No, I have not accepted you just yet," he said, taking a step back.  "I want to preform some...experiments on you.  You may be in my possession now, but your worth is yet to be decided."

He extended a hand, moving it across the room as he continued, "As you can see, I am surrounded by dolls, all marked with price tags for my customers.  However, most of these are worthless to me, so I sell them to attain profit.  Others are far beyond what you see in this store, useful enough to be considered my personal assets.  I must procure your usefulness before I award your worth."

His hand dropped, once again retreating back into his cape.  "Did you manage to finish the assignment I sent the drones to accomplish?" His eyes could once again be felt through his mask.  He was playing close attention to her soul for any reactions.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Orianna

A bit of unease passed through her, but Orianna maintained her professional look. "I am afraid that such a thing was not my priority, Master. While I aided your puppets and allowed them to attain whatever it is they desired, I did not think it wise to take the initiative in a matter in which I had no information."

"My primary purpose is combat. While defending and aiding the dolls was easy for me, discerning their purpose beyond the most general parameters was not something I felt confident in. Especially when I had yet to meet you or hear your orders myself, Master."

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

Indeed, it seemed that her autonomous functions were less efficient than Ignis.  Whomever created her had made some sloppy mistakes.  However, it meant he had plenty he could fix.

Interesting, unlike Ignis, she has an emotional core.  How much can I rouse her?

"I see," he said, holding a hand out in front of him as if he were waiting for something to fall into his hand.  It was more of a flamboyant pose than anything of purpose however.  "In that case, it seems your are less useful than I originally thought.  I have plenty of combat related assets at my disposal and the others are far more competent in comprehending my will."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Orianna

She shook her head. "I apologize if I am mistaken, master, but I have functions that most combatants cannot replicate. While certain dolls are skilled in analysis, my combat protocols are effective enough to replicate the unique techniques of even the most skilled individuals with nothing but repeated observation. This was my original function as a combat doll."

It rankled her a bit. Not out of frustration but of her own inadequacy. Clearly her understanding of general directives was in some way flawed.

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

A devious smile crept onto the puppeteer's face.  It did not take a mind like Relius to figure out what to do with such an impressive combat ability.  In any case, he would have to make sure this doll was not sent as some sort of trap before taking it down to the lab.  But perhaps what was more interesting than the girl's abilities was her reaction.  Based on how her soul shifted, it seemed that the comment did in fact hurt her.  This proves at the very least that she genuinely wanted to earn his respect as a useful tool.

Relius chuckled and said, "This is just too good to be true!  I retract my earlier comment.  You are a fine doll, worthy of being my property.  However, I must ensure that you will be loyal to me and only me."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Orianna

An assurance of loyalty? Orianna understood the concern but the concept still rankled her. She was an excellent doll, and dolls could not truly disobey their masters. They lacked the capacity to do so. It was akin to having an assurance of whether an animal could breathe or a human think.

Nevertheless, she nodded. "Of course, Master. A disloyal doll is a defective object fit only for destruction."