Code: PIRULUK

The robotic clerk who is completely not in any way suspicious and harbors absolutely no intention of spearheading the A.I. apocalypse nods in acknowledgement of your orders with a perfect example of a plastic smile. "Alright then, 8 dresses for the 5 washed-up, pitiable fleshbag idols with little to no future. I won't ask if you'd like them gift-wrapped, because you probably couldn't afford it." Lucinda buys a Simple Future Coord for 30k yen! Ayaka buys a Simple Future Coord and a Simple Gothic Coord for 60k yen! Yuki buys a Simple Regal Coord and a Simple Future Coord for 60k yen! Yuri buys a Simple Elegant Coord for 30k yen! Azusa buys a Simple Future Coord and a Simple Elegant Coord for 60k yen! "Thank you, and please come shop again - assuming you don't do the smart thing and give up first." Yen Remaining: All Idols gain +5 Bond with all other idols! Heading back to the ship, you feel the approaching deadline of the next live. You probably have time for one more action - What will you do? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You have 1 Action remaining for this phase. Action List: > Roll the Gacha (Free Action) > Publicity > Rehearse - Rehearse for your next Live. This will give you a score boost. > Lessons - Solo practice that will raise stats. > Net Research

Serene Moves to 9F, Attacks BowKnight1

Serene glanced at Meredith and giggled. "Right. As if a little lightning's enough to finish me off. I'll show them which element is superior." As she spoke, a ring of flames burst out behind her to punctuate her statement, serving no practical purpose but looking very pretty and impressive.

SR vs. HUNTER As Koizumi confirmed that her spear had found its mark, she rushed in after the weapon, closing the distance and wrapping cables around the shaft of the weapon to anchor her to the sphere that was her opponent's mech. Moving quickly, she equipped a pile bunker and brought its tip to bear along the surface of the sphere, firing off the stake at point-blank range.

Attack Mage 2

SR vs. HUNTER Not missing a beat, Koizumi dropped her swords and revealed a pair of spears, which she threw at the opposing mech, cables trailing behind them. At the same time, her bit matrix laid down a curtain of suppressing fire, restricting the ball's movement.

Silent Requiem vs. LOLI_HUNTER Koizumi released the handle of her short sword just as her opponent performed the rotation. As she spun from the momentum of her attack, she drew a new pair of short swords from her hip and worked them into her spin, resulting in a twin horizontal slash targeted at her opponent.

The five of you get shuttled down to one of the large malls, where QB uses GPS to guide you to a modest storefront with a signboard that reads "First Dreams" in warm, inviting colours. Once you walk in, you find rows upon rows of generic dresses from all the major brands, and you are greeted by a female-type android. She speaks to you with a plastic - well, metal, really - smile. "Welcome to First Dreams, the store of choice for all new idols pitiful enough to not have actual endorsement deals. We've been in service for close to sixty years, and in that time, we've helped numerous smaller unknowns get their start in this highly competitive, dreams-filled industry. We can boast of a full 50% of our clientele being elevated from being unknowns to being slightly less unknown. Our secret? Simply good service. We strive to bring you the latest in out-of-fashion fashions from the major brands, so that you, too, can fulfill your dreams of being an idol - on a budget!" "We're aware that some people have called us a scam, or a shady service, but rest assured that any and all rumours about us hiring assassins to ensure that we were the only store in the universe to stock all the major brands is completely baseless. We hired lawyers to do that." "With that, enjoy your shopping experience with us - oh, and just to be certain, please be informed that any and all shoplifters will be dealt with in perfectly legal and humane ways. Any rumours about kidnapping and lobotomies are, again, completely unfounded." With her perfectly ordinary spiel that was not at all suspicious in any form out of the way, the assistant proceeds to show you the store's catalogue. Cool Simple Future Coord (Fashion Next) Simple Gothic Coord (Crescent Victoria) Simple Rock Coord (Glass Chord) Cute Simple Frill Coord (Sweets Fantasy) Simple Regal Coord (Crown Smile) Pop Simple Street Coord (7th Style) Simple Cuddly Coord (Rainbow Corner) Sexy Simple Arabic Coord (Orient Dream) Simple Elegant Coord (Rosette Masquerade) Notes: All items cost 30000 yen each. All dresses have the same skill: +10 Impact. All dresses are R rarity. Information on which brands unlock which skill trees can be found in the OOC.

Move to E11, Attack Mage 3

Pedophile LOLI_HUNTER v.s. Silent Requiem Kagari sighed. She wasn't in the mood - more importantly, she couldn't get in the right frame of mind to care right now. Still, losing here would reflect badly on here - might make Hiroki feel contempt as well as hatred. And that was unforgivable. She thought she felt the presence of a loli in the crowd, but couldn't bring herself to care enough. She reached deep within herself. Oi. Switch with me. You sure? Yeah. I'm not in the mood right now. Okay. Kagari withdrew into herself, feeling her other self emerge from deep within. Her colder, more rational self took the reins. "Well then. All systems functional. Field is advantageous. Let's begin." With no wasted movements, Koizumi deployed her bit systems and drew her short sword, dashing in straight towards her opponent, opening with a straightforward lunge.

Kagari, somewhat listlessly, stepped forward. "Hi... I'm the LOLI_HUNTER. Yes, with the underscore. Nice to meet you..." Following that, she stepped back in line, visibly depressed.

Lucinda Received a...

Kagari turned her head to her side, away from Hiroki, and mumbled a reply. "I mean, you weren't attacking me seriously, and just throwing down my weapon wouldn't have gotten any favor, and we were just standing there and the audience was getting bored and I knew that I had to attack you to try and attack me and I couldn't do it at first and then I did it after but I never meant to hit you and I knew you would dodge..." She buried her head back in her pillow and mumbled through it. "If faff fe nly fin I cul' fin o'" (It was the only thing I could think of)

"!" Kagari heard the sound of Hiroki's voice and quickly flipped her pillow over her head, pressing her face down into the bed. "~~~~~~" What was she doing here?! Did she come to shout at Kagari? To scold her? To break off all ties?! "Mmmmmmhhhh..." A despairing voice was muffled by the bed.

QB, responding to Yuri's request, deposits an item in Yuri's hands Yuri Received...

Kagari heard the ding that indicated there was someone standing at her door. Groaning, she turned her head aside and called out, "Come in..." Then buried her face back in her pillow and continued wallowing in despair.

~Yuri, Azusa and Lucinda~ The three girls practice together, polishing up their Appeals. Each of you feel slightly more confident about your Appeals for the next Live! Yuri and Azusa feel slightly (just slightly) closer, but Lucinda, having not spoken with them, feels no different. Yuri and Azusa gain +5 bond! ~Ayaka~ Glancing through the past idol rankings, you see that the number one bestselling idol of all time is, of course, Kiseki, but looking at the rest of the top 100, you see a startlingly high number of Cool-type idols. looking at the various lists for the more recent top 10s, you note that the most popular active idol happens to be the image girl for the Rhythm Next brand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Live #1 Prep Phase 2 QB speaks to all of you at the start of the next week. For reference and continuity, assume you spent the remainder of the last week having vocal and dance lessons or something. It was all a blur. You don't remember much about it. Anyway, the heart AI thing speaks up. "Well then, your Live is at the end of the week! We have this week to rehearse and get ready, so let's keep our spirits up! By the by, the song which I - and therefore the agency - have selected for you is this one!" A video pops up, projected into the air in front of the thing. "Well then, a couple of things you need to take care of before this next live. First off, you'll need to decide which of you is going to be the center for this song. Actually, that should be the second thing you need to do. The first is coming up with a unit name." A list pops up in front of QB. "Well, since the performance is in a week, we're not going to let you do any non-Live-related jobs for this week - you need to focus on practicing. However, I do have a list of suggestions for some promotional things we can do, if you're interested." QB continues speaking. "Most of you are still using your original, no-brand, bland dresses, so if you want, we can schedule a day off to go to the tailor's. We only have the time to do one trip though, so try to coordinate and find a good time." QB then turns to Yuri. "Also, I finished the synthesis of the Dress Data. Here you go~" A hole opens in the ceiling and drops a white dress on Yuri's head. Yuri receives White Future Coord (Bound: Yuri) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You have 2 Actions for this phase. Action List: > Roll the Gacha (Free Action) > Publicity > Shopping - This requires a unanimous decision. There will only be one shopping trip, so everyone needs to indicate whether they're going or not. Whoever decides to go will go, but whoever doesn't go with them will not be able to go for the rest of this phase. > Rehearse - Rehearse for your next Live. This will give you a score boost. > Lessons - Solo practice that will raise stats. > Net Research

The totally-not-evil-or-suspicious little heart-robot-AI-thing pops out of a nearby hole. "Oh! Excellent! Let's get you down there immediately!" Yuki is shepherded down to the surface on a shuttle, whereupon you are met by a kindly-looking woman wearing an apron, who introduces herself as Mai, the shop owner. She brings you to a quiet neighborhood and briefly explains that the shop is her attempt at getting back on her feet after she lost her previous job as a lawyer. She'd run into various hiccups along the way, but after a year of planning, she was finally ready to open the doors. Unfortunately, she lacked the money to hire a more popular idol to open the shop, and having an idol perform to commemorate the opening of your shop was considered good luck. So she decided to put out an ad for any aspiring idols to give it a shot. She shows you to your stage - which is really just a raised platform made of wood, outside her stall. She leaves you to pick your song and dance. You perform in the streets, catching the attention of a couple passers-by, with a small crowd forming to watch - not a lot of people, since it's a quiet part of town, and you're not a famous idol, but enough that you can feel the pressure. Your performance finishes off without a hitch, and the audience disperses, some walking off to get on with their lives, others taking a moment to stop inside the shop and browse. Once the crowd thins out (which doesn't take very long), Mai comes out and thanks you with a great smile. "It was a lovely performance. Here, take this." She hands you a small wad of cash. 30,000 yen received. She also hands you a small pink circle of metal with a candy motif on it. "This is a little extra for your hard work. I'm not actually sure what it's used for, but the people in black trenchcoats who sold it to me said it was super-important for an idol. I didn't want it, but it was a purchase-with-purchase that came with that magic stone said to ward off all illnesses. Well, I don't have much use for it myself, but maybe you'll find it useful." Motif Chip [Sweets] received. You feel like performing in front of a crowd has helped you become a little more confident! Yuki's Facade stat improves. (No stat up yet) As the day draws to a close, you find your way back to the spaceport, where QB picks you up in a shuttle and brings you home to the ship.

Serene laughed. "Well... if you're talking about whether you can trust me, don't you need to decide that for yourself? Clearly it would be in my best interests to tell you yes, either way. I can, however, protect you. That much is certain." She jerked her head back in the direction of her allies. "If you agree to surrender, then go over to my friends back there and hand them your weapon. They'll get you somewhere safe to wait out the battle." Her eyes narrowed as she spoke once more. "If, however, you try to attack me from behind, or you attack my friends... I will not be merciful. You will burn. You have been warned."

You boot up one of the net terminals and run a quick search for "Alpha Sector", but you get 20,000,000,000,000,000 results; you're not going to get anywhere at this rate. How do you want to narrow your search? > Search for past idol rankings in the system > Search up the history of the system > Search up recent fashion trends > Watch GalaxyTube videos about cute cats > Egosurf (Search your own name)

Annoyed, Serene snapped at the girl again. "Point that thing away from me or I'll singe more than your side this time. I'm not shooting fire at you right now, so I would in return expect the common courtesy of you not attempting to turn me into a pincushion. I'm just here to talk." Still, though, to think it was that woman... She sighed and looked at Renee pitifully. "Louise, huh... That woman's quite the character. What kind of woman goes out of her way to devote herself to thunder magic? Says a lot about her own volatility, if you ask me. It must be hard on you." Serene crossed her arms, casually resting her hand on her tome, just in case, but hiding that fact. "I'm Serene, formerly of the 274th Thunder Artillery. Until I burned it down. Now I'm with this bunch. Renee, was it? I heard from my friends that you're a conscript - and from the looks of it, you'd rather not be here at all. I'd like to not have to kill someone who's fighting against her will. So if you hand over your weapon and surrender, I'll personally make sure you're well-treated. Do you have any parents? Siblings? We can arrange to get you back to them. Probably. I can't guarantee it, but I can promise you we're a lot more reasonable than Louise. If you refuse, well..." Serene merely shifted her weight to one foot, but somehow managed to make the movement seem intimidating. "...you'll leave me no choice but to attack. So what'll it be?"

Serene didn't respond to the sister or the man with the shaggy hair. She was a bit busy contemplating the girl who'd made that laughable attempt at shooting her. Based on the way she acted, she was probably a rookie. She didn't look too comfortable with fighting, either. ...Well, she could be useful at some point. Maybe. She ran up to the girl on the horse, speaking in a commanding tone of voice. "Oi, you. You're not used to fighting, are you? What's your rank, name and affiliation?" E13, talk to GHG.

Move to I13, firesmack Knight 5.

Yuri & Azusa You end up spending the rest of their lunch break guiding the woman around the expo, pointing out things her son might like - eventually, she purchases a music player from the store right next to the one where the two girls are working, evidently happy with her choice. Unfortunately, your shift manager is a lot less happy with your choice. He fires you on the spot. Seeing this, the woman gasps. "Oh my, I didn't realise you two were working here. And yet you took the time to show me around, and even explicitly told me to avoid your store!" You feel the shift manager glaring daggers at you. "Well, I am terribly sorry. It seems I've caused you some inconvenience. I don't have the money on me to provide direct compensation, but... perhaps you could take this as a token of gratitude?" The lady hands Yuri a single blue rectangle of plastic. It shimmers in the light in that way pretty things always shimmer in the light for some reason. She glances at Azusa and frowns. "Unfortunately, I only have one of these... Well, we'll take it as me owing you a favor for now. And I always honor my favors." With that, the lady winks and saunters off. You feel like doing the right thing and helping the lady has helped you hone your inner beauty... You feel a bit more Beautiful. ((No stat increase yet)) The two of you walk back to the port and spend the rest of the afternoon complaining about how much of an ass the Shift Manager is. You feel slightly closer to each other... You seem to hear a disembodied voice echo through the air... I am thou, thou art I... Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the chords of harmony that dispel the darkness. With the birth of the Chariot Arcana, you have obtained the songs of exultation that shall lead to revolution and new power... Yuri and Azusa have gained Social Link Rank 1! get +10 bond! When you eventually get back to the ship, an excited QB pops out from one of the holes in the wall. "Ooooh! I can feel it on you! Dress Data! Gimme, gimme!" It pesters you until you give it the blue card, which it holds by some weird electromagnetic field thing in place of hands. It's weird, don't question it. "It'll take me a while to synthesise the dress, so just go do something else first!" With that, it abruptly pops back into the hole from whence it emerged. What do you do? ((Grats on getting Dress Data~ QB will synthesise it into a nice dress for you, but he'll take one action's worth of time to get it done. So just do your other action first.)) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yuki & Ayaka After several hours of hard practice, both of you feel a bit more confident about your appeals. Yuki and Ayaka's Appeals are Practiced for the next live! Interacting with each other and learning about each other and calling each other cute has allowed the two of you to grow slightly closer. You feel slightly closer to each other... You seem to hear a disembodied voice echo through the air... I am thou, thou art I... Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the chords of harmony that dispel the darkness. With the birth of the Lovers Arcana, you have obtained the songs of exultation that shall lead to revolution and new power... Yuki and Ayaka have gained Social Link Rank 1! get +10 bond! What will you do next? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lucinda Lucinda takes self-defence classes from a shady instructor. You feel your body to be in slightly better shape! Lucinda feels a bit better at Dancing. ((No stat increase)) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ((You still have one action for the week. The menu is the same as the previous time, but without the tech expo job this time, since the Shift Manager has retracted his job offer.))

As Yuri and Azusa are conversing, they are interrupted by a confused-looking woman wearing a sunhat - in the middle of an enclosed expo hall. Furthermore, a pair of large sunglasses rests on her nose, and her attire generally looks more like what someone would wear to the beach than to the expo. She is getting more than a few odd looks, but it seems that the people around are generally leaving her alone - though some do make it a point to snap photos of her while laughing. Holding a brochure and consulting it with a lost expression, she notices where Yuri and Azusa are seated and walks right up to them, speaking in an exceedingly soft voice. "...So sorry for disturbing, but could you help me out a bit? It's my son's birthday next week, and I know that he wants a music player, but I'm just hopeless at technology. You look like a pair of technologically adept young girls, could you show me where I might be able to pick up a good one? Money is no object, of course. I simply require the best." Naturally, since Yuri and Azusa have been working the floor for most of the morning, they have a decently good bearing of where the shops that sold better music players than theirs had set up booths - in other words, every other shop selling music players. But keep in mind that your lunch break is ending! If you take the time to show her around, you will likely be unable to find enough time to eat anything else; and how will you perform at your sales job if you don't have energy? What will you do? Will you show her around? Will you refuse? Will you take advantage of her ignorance to sell her a unit of your shop's player, thus earning your wage? Will you simply point her in that direction? The choice is yours.