DARK ALLIES FINALE LOG

[afterlifer]

WHO: Anyone and everyone!
WHAT: Dark Allies Finale
WHEN: March 22nd-24th
WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere in this afterlife
WARNINGS: Potential violence, loss of sense of self, fighting, cussing. If you have anything else let a mod know to add it!
SUMMARY: The Programmer and Fantoche have increased the number of shadows in order to pursue the NPC, Ai, who has been trying to hide but cannot continue to stand by and do nothing. Meanwhile, many of the afterlife's residents have been turned into NPCs.. is there a way to reason with them or get their memories back? There are 3 parts to this log!

MARCH 22: SHADOWS
Shadows are difficult to deal with, and you've just been surrounded. It seems like the number of shadows have raised up well beyond half of the NPC population. Team up, fight off the shadows, try to follow them to find the NPC first! Ai will be around throughout this log and will reveal her Guard Skill abilities in a comment here. Feel free to attempt to apprehend her.

MARCH 23: THE NORM
A few people have been turned into NPCs. The shadows seem not to bother them-- the shadows ignore them and those turned into NPCs don't even seem to see the shadows. They can see you, even if they can't remember. Try to talk some sense into them or take whatever measures you think are necessary? Try to keep them company or say goodbye because if Ai isn't turned in, there's no known way to turn them back?

MARCH 24: CAPTURED AI
Ai's identity has been revealed since the 22nd, but she's been avoiding capture up until now. Come up with a plan, decide what to do. It might be a good idea to have a meeting and talk to her. She's surprisingly cooperative. The OOC poll revealed that Ai will be kept away from Fantoche and the Programmer, so if any characters have the intent to do otherwise they will not be able to be the ones to find her. Of those who comment, on the 24th the mods will RNG one character to have successfully captured Ai and she will reply to that thread. Other characters or teams may jump in based on what you as the players have decided to do.

Comments

[extraordinarily]

Go ahead and text them right now then.

[ She nods in response, grinning wide. Her voice isn't as serious as it was earlier, having calmed down slightly. ]

But it's best to stay together. It's safer that way...

[losthersheep]

Of course..

[ Mami is quick to take out her cell phone, sending a message to al the other girls, asking them where they are...including Homura as well. As much as she is afraid of the insanity that girl has, she is still someone she feels like she has to worry about. ]

We have to find Ai-san as well. We should make sure she's safe.

[extraordinarily]

Of course.

[ Haruhi nods in response, placing her hands on her hips with a confident grin on her lips, looking relatively confident in her abilities. ]

[losthersheep]

Do you know where she is?

[ Mami clutches her phone strongly, knowing that her friends will be okay, but she isn't going ot be able to stop worrying anytime soon. ]

[extraordinarily]

No. But she shouldn't be difficult to find.

[losthersheep]

We have to protect her, she's done nothing wrong.

[ AI or not, Ai has become someone Mami wants to protect. ] We should send her a message, to tell her we want to help.

[extraordinarily]

All the messages sent to her simply get bounced back, so we'll have to simply find her the hard way.

[losthersheep]

That makes things a little more difficult.

[ Mami didn't want to go back out there. She wasn't afraid of the shadows, but she was afraid of someone getting hurt, specifically the girls she was missing right now. ]

Do you have a plan to find her?

[extraordinarily]

Well, I could always shoot a mass text first. See if anybody replies. She might reply to it as well if I do something like that.

[ What Haruhi doesn't know is that Ai's phone lines are more open now than they were the first time she tried. ]

She replied to my last post, after all, so it's not as if she doesn't notice the network. Other than that, the best thing to do right now is find everyone else, regroup and then work together to solve this. It might take time, but we have all the time in the world if we don't get caught.

[losthersheep]

That seems like the smartest idea. Even if she doesn't answer, someone else might have seen her last. We have to get to her before that other AI does. Who knows what will happen to her.

[ Even without her powers, Mami thinks she can protect people. Ai isn't Kyouko, or Sayaka or Madoka, but she's still someone she thinks she had to help. ]

We may have time, but we don't know if she does.

[extraordinarily]

That's true.

[ She nods in response, grinning wide as she spoke. ]

So let's get moving. If we stay in one place, we'll be in danger.

[losthersheep]

I can follow you, Suzumiya-san. At the moment I think I'm more useful as backup.

[ Without her ribbons or her rifles, she's not quite as handy in combat as she used to be. She definitely feels inadequate compared to Sayaka and Kyouko now. ]

[extraordinarily]

That's fine. Just watch my back and I'll watch yours.

[losthersheep]

Of course.

[ And so they headed off to go find Ai? ]

[extraordinarily]

[ And so they did; Haruhi's thinking that it's best to stay in the main building for now as they search - the only reason why she would need to go to the administration building was to check if anybody showed up in the SSS room. But she doesn't want to go through through the hassle the risks that might occur while heading over there.

She still has a few bullets left in her gun, and Haruhi knows that they might have to restock soon. This isn't good. Thankfully, she has Plan B wrapped in her knapsack. ]

SORRY YOU GUYS

[afterlifer]

[ One of the benefits to being an NPC in this world was that you didn't really get exhausted. She still had to eat, and occasionally 'sleep' (shut down to run data fixes and updates on herself) but otherwise she was pretty active without faltering.

It wouldn't be difficult for Haruhi and Mami to find her, particularly since she's right outside the admin building finishing off one of the shadows. ]

np! mami > haruhi > ai

[losthersheep]

There she is. [ She probably doesn't need to point out Ai to Haruhi, but it's honestly a relief to see her. Maybe not as much a relief to see the other girls she is close to, but it's still a step in the right direction. ]

Ai-san, are you alright? [ Mami has no weapon on her at the moment, so she's definitely worried that a shadow could come across them at any time. ]

[extraordinarily]

Yeah.

[ Haruhi stops momentarily, not only so they can actually talk, but also reload her gun. She needs to protect herself as much as she can, and she's very much aware of the fact that she'll eventually run out of bullets so she'll need some time to recoup and make more.

Which, honestly is a huge pain in the ass. ]

Judging by the look of things, I think she's fine... for the most part! Unless I'm mistaken. I'm not mistaken, am I?

[afterlifer]

I'm fine, you're not mistaken, Suzumiya.

[ She smiles politely, then the Hand Sonic on her wrist dissipates. ]

I've cleared a good number of them for now. May I ask what you need?

[losthersheep]

We're here for you. We want to help protect you.

[ Mami doesn't hold back their plans, or beat around the bush. She is afraid, afraid that her friends are in danger, that she can't help them. But Ai is a friend now too, and she wants to see her safe. ]

You...can trust us, you know? We're friends.

[extraordinarily]

Well, I trust Ai-chan better than I trust that idiot NPC. Since he made a lot of mistakes as far as I can tell, anyway. I wouldn’t say we’re friends -- but maybe the word ‘companions’ would be better? Since I haven’t known you long enough to actually call you a friend, sorry.

But I’ll be straight with you: I have absolutely no intentions right now to fight with you. Nor do I have any intentions to give you to the Programmer. I don’t like people who lie after all, it’s annoying, toootally annoying..! Which is why I want us to team up. I’m sure not everyone will agree with me because of the consequences that’ll happen afterwards, but I think having you on our side will be better in the long run.

At least, that’s what I’m getting from the weight of the options… But I do want to know your opinion first.

[afterlifer]

[ Ai looks to Mami, then to Haruhi. The long talk about that was, to Ai, about the same thing that Mami had said. The only difference was that Mami seemed to think more of her than something that is to be used. That's something that Ai can view as a reason to actually accept their help, as caring about someone has been shown to cause them to be more trustworthy. She may not understand entirely, but she does know the facts. That Mami is there to say that is the reason she accepts instead of putting it off as she had with Hinata. ]

I'll accept, but I would like to ask one thing: is this an offer from you two or an offer from the SSS? If I'm not mistaken you're both considered members.

[losthersheep]

[ Mami looks to Haruhi, listening to her speech. She really feels like her own offer was underwhelming, why would anyone want to listen to her anyway? If only they knew what happens to Mami's friends..

She still tries to smile reassuringly, that trustworthy, dependable senpai attitude she had forged for herself. ]

I can't speak for them, I only know Nakamura-san a little. For me, I'm trying to help you because.. [ She looks over at Haruhi for a moment, taking a deep breath in. ] You were looking for friends. I can understand your feelings.

[extraordinarily]

The former. Like Mami-chan said, I can't speak for Yuri at all. And besides, I'm pretty sure she would get mad at me if I was asking for the SSS. After all, I'm not some important member in the Shinda Sekai Sensen. If you wanted to ask for their opinion, you would probably be better off asking Hinata-kun.

[ She waves her hand dismissively before placing her hands on her hips, a determined look in her glistening eyes, a grin slowly forming on her lips as a she lightly chuckled. ]

Besides, I think this way would be a lot more interesting, you know? ... Ah, but it's not like I'm saying this to be rude or anything, since I have to think about the majority. But having friends is really nice, even though they can be difficult to find. So I totally understand, since I didn't have friends for a long time~

[ After all, Haruhi was alone for several years. She had parents, sure, but she wasn't really all that close to them. ]

[afterlifer]

I spoke to Hinata-san earlier, that was why I wanted to make certain. He did invite me but I refused at the time due to uncertain alliances. I will go with the two of you, however.

[ She smiles, folding her hands in front of her. ]

For me, I was not lying about not having friends before then and that I would like them. I think I will enjoy having them now, if you two will allow me now that you know the truth.

[ Ai bows deeply, suddenly. ]

I'm in your care!