Orient City, Anti-Meteor Type Monster Committee Meeting Room 2
Hisaki, Crowne, and a bunch of unnamed engineers are discussing something.
Hisaki: Okay, time to sum up everything we've brought up. We ditch the idea of using the HFCM nuke and make a Pseudo Parallel Weapon Cannon powered by high density VP, right?|
All present agree.
Crowne: Yeah, we'll be cutting it close on time if we make the cannon, but it should work. If we consider the VP transfer functions on our phones, we have a base to work with and a bunch of people who know how to use it already.
Okitaka: Yeah, they're working in another room but we should tell 'em. Also, why did we never come up with a perfect like this before? Wouldn't the Space UN have got on this already?
Crowne: People have been coming up with this idea on and off the past 100 years. It's just that when they looked into the energy decay rate, they couldn't figure out how to make a bunch of these things work consistently. We'd have to think of it as a one-time thing. Plus there's tons of other problems.
Okitaka: Aww, so this is just an emergency thing? Well fine, we'll just have to deal with the other problems. So the biggest worry is this cannon's shot dying before it actually hits the Meteor Monster... (sigh)
Crowne: We'll need a control system that can handle that much energy, but the bigger problem is how we'll get all that energy to begin with.
Hisaki: Yeah. And even if we get that much power we can only hold the converted VP for so long.
Okitaka: Right. With a normal Observer, conversion efficiency drops sharply when they stop watching, which means we'll need to get all that VP right when it's time to fire. Which means we need a bunch of people watching on command. Super.
Okitaka: Okay, so people can't pay attention for that long even though it's another planetary crisis. If all of Orient City isn't(?) enough to make that much VP, we can get throw in our Views too. But there's still a huge number of people who'll think this is someone else's problem. We need them to watch too to shoot down the meteor, but if asking them to tune in was enough we wouldn't be having crimes still.
Hisaki: So we need to announce when we need them to watch? Hmm... well we still need to consider everything else we need to do. We'll have to recalculate how close we can have the meteor fall in.
Crowne: We'll need to minimize the cannon shot's power loss too.
Hisaki: Yeah, raising the shot's power lowers the range...but I doubt one shot will be enough. I think we'll need at least two.
Crowne: Two shots is the most we can probably manage. The VP conversion and charging will probably take minutes. Even if we shoot the meteor several thousand km up in the atmosphere, the Monster will be falling down in seconds. We'd be dead before the next shot is ready.
Okitaka: Hmm...
Hisaki: It doesn't matter if the odds are less than 1%! We have to do everything we can to bump it up! Right Sis!?
Crowne: ...right. Let's tell the people in Room 1 the plan and figure out the base for the Pseudo Parallel Weapon. We have to start on what we can do, or we'll never make it in time!
Okitaka: Y'all said it. I'mma go fill in the Space UN and other Anti-Meteor departments about this! It's almost time for the emergency evac order to go out too. Hisaki, tell everyone else!
Hisaki: Right! I'll go talk to the research and battle groups! I bet Huckle and the other heroes are on edge about the big plans. And I gotta get control system done quick...this is gonna be so awesome!
Title card: Combine with that Sound
Parallel Flight
MC and Mokdai are the only ones in.
MC: Hmm...do I go, or not go?
MC takes out the ticket to stare at it. Do they go or not go with the bear they barely know?
MC: He's a villain and it's bad to associate with villains, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. (sigh)
Mokdai: What's wrong? Wanna talk about it over tea?
MC: Thanks Mokdai / Eh, it's nothing big / Well...
One explanation later
Mokdai: B-Borealis? The conductor villain is Borealis? (looks at ticket)
MC: Yep, he said so himself. Is he famous?
Mokdai: SUPER famous! He's a galaxy-wide ex-hero conductor! He may be a villain now, but he's not the kind of villain who actively commits crimes. I saw that he quit being a hero after a past incident.
MC: ...what incident?
Mokdai: Well there aren't many news articles from that time period so I don't know much...but the incident cost Borealis his home planet. I saw that he stopped contact with his agency after that. He was put as MIA for a bit, then recognized as a villain when he popped up again.
MC: Huh / What a rollercoaster of a life he's had. / Why won't he go back to being a hero?
(AB) Mokdai: People have wondered if he's got some personal objective to do instead of coming back, but he's the only one who knows for sure.
(C) Mokdai: I dunno...but maybe he wants to use his abilities for some other thing instead of being a hero?
Mokdai: (sips tea as he thinks back on things about Borealis) Well, people who aren't registered in an agency using hero powers are considered criminals. It doesn't matter how famous you are. Oh, but it's different if you sign a form saying you won't use your powers like retired heroes do. Borealis sounds like he's still using his though, so hero supervisory organizations have apparently marked him as uncooperative or self-righteous. But if I ever get to fight together with him as a hero, I wish I could go hear one of his concerts! Only his guests know when and what channel to see them though. He's still super popular, so when a concert starts there's gonna be tons of views in minutes. Look, here's one of his archived concerts!
Mokdai streams a video from his phone to a computer for MC to see.
MC: So that's the view count log...wait, it feels like this is two magnitudes higher than regular livestreams.
Mokdai: ...right? Borealis's concert tickets are super valuable! He's still a villain, so I can't recommend you going alone...but since he gave them to you as a thank you, I doubt he'll hurt you? He wouldn't have given it to you otherwise.
MC: Right, thanks Mokdai / Thanks for your insight / Wow you know a lot.
(C) Mokdai: Hehe, well I know some stuff. I'm glad I could help! Feel free to talk with me if you need to.
Ding-dong!
Crowne: Dammit I worked for like two days straight and my shoulders are stiff...
Huckle: Yes, I'm really tired two after all that training...
Crowne: Hey you two. Seen the news lately?
Mokdai: Hi guys. And what's on the news?
Crowne and Huckle look at each other before sitting near MC.
Crowne: ...you know the newsflash about that giant meteor the other day? We were called in about it.
Huckle: They said the risk of it colliding with Earth has gone up and the expected impact zone will be given evac orders. And one of the possible sites is the center of Orient City with a radius of 100 km.
MC: It's gonna crash here!? / Well damn...
Huckle: The silver lining, if you can call it that, is that it hasn't been that long since the city got flattened by the kaiju Monster earlier in Mt. Fuji, so there's still tons of people who haven't come back yet. The call is to send them straight into refuge instead. Every hero agency is helping out with the evac, and I've called Ryekie to go work on that.
Mokdai: Oh, so that's why he left for an emergency summon this morning.
Huckle: Yes, having an S Rank Hero around will help convince people to go. If you believe me, that is. Everything we've said so far is just the declassified stuff for the news. I wanted to tell you guys earlier, but I apologize for being late on that.
Mokdai: Oh, there it is now on my phone. But shouldn't Akashi, Sui, and I be helping citizens evacuate t--
Crowne interrupts by holding a hand up. Huckle nods at this.
Crowne: There's more to the story. That meteor? It's a Monster, and Okitaka called me and Hisaki to research a way to shoot it down.
Huckle: Once the evacuation is done, I expect the government will tell everyone that part. Keeping that quiet for now is meant to prevent panic until everyone gets there.
MC: OH NO! Is it gonna eat the whole city!?
Crowne: Hello, we're trying to prevent that here. I know I just became a hero, but I wanna keep everyone safe too. Have a little faith here.
Crowne smiles, but she looks tired.
Crowne: ...still, we're pressed for time but still have tons of problems to solve. Things are tense over there.
Mokdai: What sort of problems...?
Crowne and Huckle explain about the Pseudo Parallel Weapon Cannon's development and it's problems. The biggest one is...
Crowne: We need enough VP to power the thing in that instant, or else it won't be strong enough. We need like a million times more VP than usual or something.
MC: That much!?
Crowne: An S Rank Hero's livestreams clocks in at the tens of thousands on a good run, so we keep seeing how unrealistic that goal is.
Huckle: Still, we're continuing on hoping that there's some hope we can grab onto.
Crowne: We need someone with supreme charisma or some sort of event the whole world would watch. It's not like we have another kaiju coming to threaten the planet or anything. And if someone or something like that is around, we'd still have to make contact somehow. (sighs)
Mokdai: ...oh! MC, what if we ask him!?
Later
Huckle calls Okitaka to explain Mokdai's idea: ask Borealis to help and throw a concert on a dedicated channel to get them views.
Okitaka: ...I see. The conductor villain Borealis? I've heard o' him. He might be the best man for the job as a guy stubbornly pursuing views.
Huckle: It's not often we ask villains for help, and it'll depend on whatever conditions he demands. We don't even know if we can negotiate well enough with him...
Okitaka: I've heard he's in deep with big wigs everywhere, but he's famous here for not doing anything that won't benefit him. Kind of a long shot here...
Okitaka agrees to the idea of trying to ask anyway, and Huckle ends the call.
Huckle: We're back you two. I've told Okitaka what's going on. Thanks for suggesting this idea.
Mokdai: So, we can go try asking Borealis for help?
Huckle: ...MC. This is repeating myself, but I want to ask you to negotiate with Borealis for this plan since we don't really know anyone else who can speak with him directly before his concerts and has one of his tickets. If Okitaka or I were to go to his location, he'll obviously put his guard up. You'd potentially be at risk in that case, and negotiations would be impossible then.
Mokdai: I guess...but MC definitely has a VIP ticket. Even regular tickets never get shown, and this one's been autographed...
Crowne: He likes you? He even wrote his spaceship coordinates. You could sell it for a ton, and if you wanna catch him that could be possible.
MC: Hmm. That'd be scary. I wonder why he likes me? He said something about my sound...?
Crowne: Your sound? What's that mean...? Well I guess you'd just have to ask him directly about it. He's not hostile to you, right? We don't even know that much about him.
Huckle: Right, if he agrees to help then we'll be fighting together in the same place. It's important to know each other well. And while you're negotiating, I'll inform you a little bit about what's going on. Right now, a bunch of heroes and engineers including me and Crowne are gathered at the emergency countermeasure department to develop that cannon and doing Anti-Monster training. Since time is limited, our communications will be limited too unfortunately. Ryekie's already working on his assignment, and Sui and Akashi will help with evacuations later. Mokdai, can you go with MC as their bodyguard? We can't send MC as a lone Observer to a villain's location.
Mokdai: Okay. MC, feel free to count on me if anything happens!
MC: I'm worried... / I have an exclusive bodyguard! / Let's do our best, Mokdai!
(A) Mokdai: Just do things like normal and it'll be fine. Relax!
(B) Mokdai: Haha, yeah. My fists of justice will fly when you're in danger!
(C) Mokdai: Yeah! Let me know if I can help with anything!
Crowne: We gotta head back soon, but you two should get all your prep done. If you don't know much about the other party, it'll be hard to get an edge in negotiating. Even if he's following his own justice or whatever, he's not obligated to help strangers like us.
Huckle: Right. If only we knew someone who's informed about him to explain things... Under normal circumstances I'd want to go with you two as well, so I'm sorry to leave it all to you. I'll wish the best for your negotiation.
MC: Understood. / It'll work out! / oh no, I'm getting nervous...
Huckle and Crowne pick up their things and leave.
Mokdai: ...right! We need to finish up our work here and get ready quick! It hasn't sunk in yet that we have a meteor Monster coming this way, but we should go as fast as we can!
MC: You say that, but what do we even do to prepare? We need info first.
Mokdai: Hmm...I wish we knew more about Borealis. I've looked him up myself, but maybe we need a investigative specialist. Someone who knows a lot about heroes and villains, their activities and backgrounds...
MC: ...so, a journalist then?
Later at some restaurant
Narihito: Hi guys, long time no see!
Mokdai: Sorry for the sudden call. Thanks for coming!
Narihito: Any reporter would come if you said you had some special scoop!
MC: Wow you're a great model of a reporter!
Narihito: Aww shucks. It's just a coincidence I was on Earth and came by so quickly. I see Orient City's been rebuilding fast. Excuse me, coffee please!
Narihito sits across from MC and Mokdai.
Narihito: There's been news lately about a meteor swarm colliding with Earth, right? I heard it might be a giant unmanned ship developed for planetary probing. Its old flight functions broke off so it absorbed smaller planets and turned it into a meteor. Sounds like a dream! I'm here to get material on that, though I just finished earlier.
Mokdai: O-okay...we came to talk to you about the meteor actually. There's something we want to ask first though, so can we get started?
Narihito: Haha, I'll answer if I can. But not for free of course.
Narihito smiles as he starts drinking his coffee.
Mokdai: Thanks. So what do you know about Borealis? Do you know why he's a villain, or what his personality is like?
Narihito: ...huh. (quietly puts his cup down)
Narihito: ...I've always wanted to learn more about Borealis. I've tried pulling every string I've got, but I've never gotten a chance to talk with him directly so far. All I have is what's general knowledge, like how something happened to his home planet and how he stopped being a hero after that. That's all I can say free of charge.
MC: And that means...?
Narihito: Heh, sorry. It's difficult to tell you everything since I don't know why you need to know. Even one bit of information can change positions and situations, and keeping confidentiality is part of my work. But if you guys are bringing up Borealis, it might benefit me too. If it can get me closer to interviewing Borealis, could you tell me more about what's going on?
Mokdai and MC look at each other.
MC: Think it's okay? / Well Narihito's a hero too / Nobody said we couldn't talk about it
Mokdai: Yeah we're in a hurry, and we can probably trust Narihito. Okay so here's the simplified explanation of how we got here...
One explanation later
Narihito: ...I see. If that's true, then you guys need Borealis for the plan to stop the giant Monster to work. Plus that explains a lot about what I heard about it originally being an unmanned probe.
MC: What do you mean? / Aha, I see
(A) Narihito: Well, it's something I've learned through my investigation...
(B) Narihito: Whoa, you sure are insightful!
Narihito: In the past there was a giant unmanned space probe launched, but all records and evidence of it has disappeared. It may have been 100 years ago, but I still thought it was weird how nothing was left of all that.
Mokdai: Oh, did they disappear because a Monster ate it?
Narihito: That's what I suspect. And if they turned the ship into a new base to wander the universe, then it fits. Thanks you two! This is gonna help my article a lot! (puts down empty coffee cup)
Narihito: Right, my turn now to talk. But first, I have a request...CAN I COME WITH YOU GUYS TO THE NEGOTIATION!? (slams head into table)
Mokdai: Wait WHAT!? Calm down!
Narihito: Impossible! You're a huge hero nerd too, so you know how I feel right!? It's a chance to talk to Borealis, even if he is a villain now! I HAVE to go!
Mokdai: I-I guess...
Narihito: If I let this pass by I may as well give up my career! And if you take me with you I'll tell you anything about Borealis!
MC: Oh right. Narihito you can drive spaceships, right? Mokdai doesn't have any experience.
Narihito: ...GENIUS! I can drive if it's a smaller model! Look, my license! How about I be your personal driver!?
MC: What do you think, Mokdai? He seems happy about that...
Mokdai: Y-yeah! I don't think we can stop him...I'll go tell the director. Having another hero along would be reassuring, so thanks Narihito.
Narihito: You can count on me! Okay, lemme get my notes on Borealis... (taps on phone)
Narihito: So as you know, Borealis has specialized talents for collecting VP. Some suggest even his concerts could be an abuse of his hero abilities, but the essential thing is that he doesn't seem to be doing anything with it all. It's like he's focused on the act of getting Views itself.
MC: He's after Views? He's not using them for anything?
Mokdai: Maybe getting Views with his concert is the goal in itself.
Narihito: It seems to be. I hear he invites government and police officials and other such influentials from every planet to them. Which would mean even with unpermitted use of his abilities, he doesn't cause real harm or attack.
Mokdai: Why hide his concerts instead of going to the media then if he just wants Views? He wouldn't be chased for being a villain if he kept up his hero contract.
Narihito: Hmm. Maybe he has a reason he can't go back to being a hero? Or maybe he thinks there's no point to it. Maybe having guerilla concerts helps with his motive somehow. It could also be that he doesn't like taking orders from someone else. And maybe it has something to do with that incident with his home planet. It's just my reporter's intuition talking though.
Mokdai: Hmm...it's gonna be hard getting him to help then. Do you know anything more about that incident?
Narihito: Sorry, I looked into it before but I couldn't find anything. I'll try again later since it's related to Borealis's past.
MC: Thanks! Guess we'll just have to ask directly.
Mokdai: Right, you have talked with him in person once already. Let's try asking for his help first and avoid bringing up anything he dislikes and see how that goes.
Narihito: Nice! That sounds like how I regularly ask for interviews with heroes I don't want to let get away!
MC: Eh, it'll work out somehow!
Mokdai: Let's go see Borealis tomorrow! I'm getting excited!
Narihito: Me too! I should go to bed early tonight. Oh, when should we meet tomorrow? Mokdai, does your office have a spaceship? If you don't, I'll go get a charter!
And so the party get up and get ready for tomorrow.
The next day, at the spaceport
Narihito: Morning, MC! Thanks for having me!
Mokdai: Good morning MC. Let's do our best with the negotiation!
MC: Morning! You two are up early.
Narihito: I just got the key to the spaceship from Mokdai! Let's get going!
Narihito starts moving first. Mokdai and MC follow after.
Mokdai: Narihito's been like this since I got here. We've been talking about heroes all morning! It's so great having someone with an interest in common to talk to!
MC: Nerd~ / That sounds like Narihito
Narihito: Here's the space car! Get in guys, we're going to see Borealis! I promise to drive safely! Whoo!
Inside the spaceship
Narihito: (getting the space car ready) MC, can you tell me the coordinates to put in?
MC: Oh, right. Here, it's on the back of this ticket.
Narihito: Oh my god is that really one of Borealis's VIP tickets!? Can I touch it!? Holy crap, it has his autograph! I can't believe you really got your hands on it...
Mokdai: I know that feeling... When I first saw it I was shocked inside too.
Narihito: Yeah...thanks, MC. Okay, time to head out. (sighs and starts the car)
Narihito: Oh right, I looked some more into that incident yesterday.
Mokdai: Oh thanks. Did you find anything?
Narihito: It's true that Borealis's home planet was destroyed for some reason. I didn't find out why, though it was already a pretty small planet with a small population count. Apparently it was extremely cold, and it was declared uninhabitable after the incident. No one who says they're from that planet has been seen outside of Borealis. (pulls out notes)
Narihito: It seems safe to assume Borealis is the only one to know much, but he seems to be hiding his location from other villains, terrorists, or people who want to use his abilities. Hardly anyone gets invited to his surprise concerts, and there's no way to ask him directly. I know it's not much, but I hope it can help somehow.
MC: No, it's fine! Even a little bit more info is better.
Mokdai: Still, I wonder what happened to make the planet inhabitable? It can't have been eaten by Monsters if records still exist, right?
Narihito: We're almost there. Oh wait, I can see it now! I guess we're close enough that the stealth function's no longer working on us. (points at a giant ship on standby mode suddenly appearing)
Mokdai: That's Borealis's ship...? I-it's huge!
Narihito: Just what you'd expect for a ship bigwigs get invited to. Time to dock! (flies the spaceship to the docking gate)
Narihito: Okay, now we just need to wait for it to open.
Mokdai: But will it let us since we came without an appointment? Oh wait, we were only given the ship coordinates so we wouldn't be able to arrange an appointment anyway...
Narihito: I doubt they'll turn us away if we show MC's ticket.
Mokdai: Hopefully... oh, they've confirmed us. It's almost time, MC!
MC: Let's go guys! / I wonder how this will work out...?
Inside Borealis's ship, the party walks into a gorgeous parlor.
Mokdai: W-whoa...the tables and carpets all look expensive... Oh, there's a piano over there. Think Borealis is interested in Earth music?
MC: Oh no we better not make anything dirty! / How many paychecks would it take for me to pay for that...?
A gate opens as guards come out while the party gawks around.
Guard: ...welcome. Can you please show us your ticket, then tell us your names and occupations? There weren't any planned guests for today.
MC: I'm MC. Here's the ticket, and I'm a Hero Operator.
The guards look at Mokdai and Narihito before they'll take the ticket.
Guard: You two, please show your tickets. We cannot let anyone without a confirmed invitation from our employer in.
Mokdai: U-us too? We came as MC's plus two...
Narihito: Yes, we don't have tickets ourselves. Can we come in together?
The guard looks suspicious.
Guard: ...excuse me, might I know your names and occupations first?
Mokdai: I'm Mokdai. Uhh...I'm a hero as well as video editor and uploader.
Narihito: I am Narihito. I'm also a hero, and a reporter for Taiyou News.
Guard: ...heroes? And a video uploader and reporter and Operator?
...
The guards transform.
Guard: You bastards got some nerve coming onto this ship!
MC: They transformed!? / W-wait, please hear us out...!
Guard: The boss said no troublemakers. Get out!
Mokdai: P-please wait! We aren't here for th--
Guard: Did I stutter? Anyone would say that in this situation! Now that you know this ship's coordinates, don't think you can go home in one piece!
Narihito: ...MC! They don't seem like listening, so transform us!
MC: Okay!
Mokdai and Narihito transform.
Mokdai: Thanks MC! I don't want to be rough, but we need to make you listen!
Narihito: No time to talk! Get ready!
BATTLE START
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