Namco High: The Chuubo's Game

Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

Meowkie bit into the inside of her cheek, as she vigorously swept at her corner. Detention today too! Well... She supposed that's what she got for messing around! The important thing was that they stopped that robot from causing further damage. And if she just worked hard enough, she'd be out of detention eventually!

She cranes her head to speak to someone, when someone says: "sUspected trUancy. i keep missing days for...Um...medical reasons."

She looks back at the figure in the white hood. Odd... She seemed strangely familiar... "H-Hey! Don't I know ya from somewhere?"

5/8 Will 2/3 Miraculous Will 5/5 MP

"i don't think so. but if yoU do get any Useful advice from someone who looks like me, i woUld follow it if i were yoU."

She seems to remember something.

"yoU gUys can call me fionnUla, if yoU like."

Al B Tross (Facepalm)

Ah hah! She could only be talking about one thing! "So you say you've got a superintelligent clone, Ms. Fionnula?" Al asked, notebook and pen in hand by, apparently, teleportation.

6/8 Will
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Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

Meowkie blinks, with a look of slight concern. "Um... Al? I'm not so sure that's... that's..." Her paw touches on the skin between her eyes. "Aw jeez."

Handing you a Face Palm XP! I probably should've done this sooner!

5/8 Will
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edited 9th Oct '14 9:29:59 PM by Inari2600

"...yes. a sUperintelligent clone. that is exactly it."

There may just be the teensiest hint of sarcasm.

Al B Tross (Facepalm)

"Excellent. What can you tell us about this clone? Any information you can provide could be vital for science, and other such things." Al's very notebook seems to be tensing with anticipation.

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There is a very long pause.

"...okay. this clone is exceedingly wise and trUstworthy. i'm going to go over here now."

Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

Meowkie trades Al a slight look of concern before turning back to Fionnula. "Ah, well, i-it was real nice to meetcha, Boss! I guess I should be gettin' over my duty too... heheh..." Quickly, she swivels her body back to her corner. Hands gripping the broom tightly, she went at fixing up her little corner of the room.

"Hey, uh, Nidia?" She asks, trying to make small talk as she tidies around. "Are ya holdin' up there?"

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Al B Tross (Facepalm)

Al's keen investigative instincts suggested to him that perhaps he should leave Fionnula alone for a bit. He'd learned it was important to trust those wild instincts. Very well then, one down two to go. He repeated the sidling-and-asking-what-they-were-in-for strategy on Tat. Hey, if it ain't broke.

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Nidia (Facepalm)

"Are ya holdin' up there?"

Nidia was dragged from her dreams back to the real world. Not prophetic dreams; only the common and average daydreams the common and average people have. She wouldn't tell anyone, but she couldn't decide which kind of dream was the most cruel.

"Nothing, nothing." The dragoness said, biting her lips. Well, she was no dragon as of yet - Not in body, anyways. But in spirit. That counts, right? Right?

"I was just thinking about earlier. One moment you're fighting a crazy robot, the other you're in detention." She laughed, unsure if that laugh was for real or simply fake. "Crazy, right?" Noticing she wasn't sure if she remembered the cat's name, Nidia kept laughing nervously. "Was it Meowkie? Or am I only thinking that because she's a cat?"

Her eyes shifted from her companion to her broom, and swept the floor furiously. Seeing the faces not only of all the new people she had met, but also those of her prophetic dreams on the floor only made her sweep even harder.

7/8 Will
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Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

Sweep, sweep, dust. "Heh. Nah, I don't think it's too crazy. Just... the way it is at this school! Er, the crazy part and the detention part. Seems like we get both of 'em back to back every day, lately!" She stops for a second to arch out her back. She's surprised by the practical drum roll of cracks as she stretches out her spine, but soon settles herself back into work, arms moving tirelessly and meticulously. "Though, and I dunno if this really makes any sense at all to you, but... it's kinda not so different to me? Long as I get to be a Hall Monitor, y'know!" Meowkie smiles, but for only a second before it settles away. "Um, actually, and I know it sounds totally crazy, but I think I kinda like it a little better when something weird's goin' on... I don't really know why, but I feel a little bit more up-and-about these days than usual!"

Suddenly, her paws stop, as she makes a grim realization. "Oh... Oh no..." She points to her corner of the floor. "It's spotless! Aw geez, what's a cat like me gonna do now..." Worried expressions stretch themselves out on her face. "Hey! Um, sorry to bother any of you guys, but anybody got a spot that still needs cleanin'?"

Her face grimaces with an entirely genuine distress.

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Nidia (Facepalm)

Focusing on the task at hand, Nidia took a few moments before answering. "I still have some dirt over in my area, but with all the help you've given me today I should be the one offering you help, really." She blinked, and stopped sweeping to look at the cat. "In fact, uh... Thank you." She blushed as she said that. "I couldn't have done it without you... You two, actually," - she said that louder, hoping to attract Al's attention. "Thank you. I should have said that earlier, sorry."

She returned to sweeping the floor, her mind somewhere else.

7/8 Will
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Al B Tross (Facepalm)

Al sprang to an attention that would have made a drill sergeant momentarily struggle to think of an insult. "Only doing my duty, ma'am!" he barked. "Er, my duty as a perfectly ordinary student who definitely isn't here on any sort of official capacity. That would be absurd."

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Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

"Heh," Meowkie says, as she attacks at the remaining dust and grime in the room. "Just doin' my job, Boss!"

She hopes no one notices how excited she is to say that.

Taking an XP for my Basic Quest!

Nidia (Facepalm)

Nidia smirked. "You two sound very eager to jump into action. The next time I find trouble of any kind I'll be sure to call you two," she said, giggling.

7/8 Will
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Al B Tross (Facepalm)

Al grinned, despite himself. "I...think I'll return the favor." Technically he shouldn't drag civilians into trouble, but these two seemed like they could take care of themselves. Besides, it was...fun, hanging out with them. More fun than he could remember having in a long while. He wished he'd had something like that the first time he was in school.

And a basic quest XP for me. This bit also seems like it should be paying out Shared Action scene for someone, with the connecting and the simple and honest labor going on.

It feels weird to be angling for XP in such a crunch-light game.

6/8 Will
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As the new friends talk, Tat quietly makes her exit, meeting up with Leorina on the other side of the room.

"It's here somewhere; I just don't know where. We're gonna have to come back tonight. I hope there's gonna be less robots, that really messed with the plan."

They slip out the door, unnoticed.

I'm gonna end the chapter here. Currently, counting the XP Actions taken by the players who quit (which I'm letting you keep because why not), everyone gets 2XP from those.
All Will resets to 8, and anyone who spent MP gets one back.
Current XP from the scenes so far (plus any Emotion XP you've been given):
Meowkie has 1 to Cowboy Cop and 1 to her Basic Quest.
Al has 1 to Dossier, 1 to Gossip Sentinel, and 1 to his Basic Quest.
Nidia has 3 to I See Fire and 1 to Unprophetable.
As for Issues, I'm not going to hand them out this chapter, although I will certainly consider these events when deciding future Issue hand-outs.

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 2, Scene 1: Around The World In Four Estates, Or, De-Press-Ing

When you return to Namco High the next day, the entire school is buzzing about a strange burglary. Several buildings were broken into, but the only damage appears to be upstairs, meaning that the culprits either flew, or they climbed past several floors of windows to actually break into one. By a coincidence, all three of you arrive at the same door at more or less the same time...

...at which point Jane Crocker, with a PRESS tag sticking out of her headband, bursts out of the door brandishing a notebook like it's some kind of weapon. "You. Meowkie. You are a hallway monitor, are you not? What is the department's plan regarding these thefts? What do you intend to do about this?" She looks around. "Alternatively, if one of your deputies here has an answer, out with it; this is in the public interest!"

edited 25th Dec '14 12:20:45 PM by CountDorku

Al B Tross (Facepalm)

Ah, Crocker. Kid was green as the other side of the fence, but she had the right instincts. Forged in the fires of training and tempered in the water of experience, she could make a damn fine agent one day. An agent made of metal for some reason. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Al was no ferrophobic. Anyway, he thought he saw an opportunity here.

"Welll, I can't say too much for matters of security, but let's just say this shouldn't be an issue for too much longer." Part of being an effective agent was the ability to speak persuasively and at great length without actually saying anything of substance. It was like being a politician, except with integrity. Al painted a picture with suggestion and innuendo, a picture of a net drawing ever tighter around the culprit of the thefts, a picture for the newspaper to spread far and wide. Let the fox hear the baying of the hounds at its heels, and it would panic. Or possibly fight off a bear, if this were a Disney movie. But Al sure didn't see any talking animals hereabouts. Except Meowkie, of course. And Tat. And then there was that Blue Max kid Al'd seen around.

Okay, if this was a Disney movie the thief was clearly a villain so none of that even mattered.

Spending 2 will and using a Connection 2 to work well with Jane Crocker at the level 4 Intention "use the power of the press to scare the thief into making a mistake."

6/8 Will
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edited 3rd Jan '15 10:54:36 PM by rikalous

Jane nods and takes down notes. "And is there anything you'd like the ordinary citizens of Namco High to look out for, Hall Monitors?"

Nidia (Facepalm)

Nidia thought she'd rather have Meowkie answer Jane's question, but she was the one who could see the future, or glimpses of it. Although, honestly, she still hadn't figured out what her visions meant. Only that Evil Namco High was up to something? Yawning, she regreted staying up until late last night trying to understand her vision. She knew once she discovered its meaning she wouldn't regret that anymore, though.

On the other hand, Jane was still waiting for an answer, which Nidia tried to spit out in the most confident way she could manage. "Watch out for... Any suspicious activity, and maybe the stolen item or items?"

8/8 Will
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Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

Meowkie stares nervously for a second, but snaps out of it. "O-Oh! Right, stolen items! Uh, a new student here, Tat, she's lost some kinda ring on school premises! If anyone's got info... we'd love to hear it!"

edited 15th Jan '15 7:31:37 PM by Inari2600

Jane scribbles some notes. "Is it at all possible the thief was pursuing the ring in question?"

Al B Tross (Facepalm)

"You can put nothing past these criminal types. In any case, we'll be able to ask the thief in person sooner than they think."

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She scribbles some more notes. "Excellent. Any further comments?"

Meowkie (Offering You Comfort)

"I'd like to say..." Meowkie closes her eyes, counts, and opens them again. "Even if there's all this rule breakin' happening right now, I think... no one tryin' to break the rules at this school's gettin' away with it. Cause there are hall monitors 'round here, and even if we're not the fastest, or the strongest, or the best, we're gonna catch 'em, and we're gonna make sure they don't do this again! So... don't worry, everyone out there! Keep studyin'! Keep workin'! We're gonna get it all under control."

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