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[ off they go... it's always interesting, touching spectrals. they're so light. hugo had been too. ]

You'd kill at "the floor is lava" for sure. Wanna be part of 3kon's spooky act next fall? You could fly around and tick menacingly at people.

< ...Spooky act? >

[They guess they are kind of spooky now, even if that's not the sort of impression they want to give off.]

Dressing up as monsters to scare the audience and then charm them with song and dance... And there's candy involved somehow, probably.

[ it sounds like fun anyway. to her. ]

You could say "your tiiiiiiiime is running short!" or something like that. I'll compensate for your help, of course... I should be allowed to speak business by then.

[ takasugi ain't gonna keep her off of that forever. he's lucky she's even giving in this month. ]

[Oof, ow, that clock pun.]

< I don't know about that line, but it does seem kind of fun. >

[And they'd be getting paid, too, which is a nice bonus. Maybe they can take some of the candy back to the apartment for Gregor and Lyle, too.

And... maybe scaring the pants off some Karterians seems like it'd be pretty satisfying, too.]

< I'll give it some thought. Maybe some other Spectrals will be up for it too. >

I'm definitely gonna ask the ones I know if they'd like to join up around then. Three's more than enough.

[ well. and because she doesn't want them taking the spotlight off her sweet baby boys who can do some wrong. malkuth shakes one of her legs a little as she walks, trying to get it to unstiffen. ]

I wish it'd warm up already, though... As much as it reminds me of The City, I'd love to feel the sun again sometime. And to stop smelling rain before it hits the ground.

< I wouldn't mind if it warmed up... >

[But they can't say anything about the sun.

It must be nice, enjoying the feeling instead of wanting to crawl out of your own skin once the smallest ray shines down on you.

They push that thought away before it can go any further. Malkuth's a friend. There's no reason to start getting jealous of her for having a different soul than them right now. Especially since it seems they already have a leg up on her in terms of movement right now. In a way.]

< But maybe it'll be worth it in the end. What's the phrase... "April showers bring May flowers?" Even if it's not April yet. >

Maybe that can go for my mood, too.

[ let everything shower out and feel refreshed... could it be that easy. the small talk is oddly nice though, since it isn't like they can do it all the time. ]

How has your thing gone, by the way? Did you end up talking to the person you mentioned back at the tower?

[ their bonding over missteps in relationships... ]

[The tower...

It's kind of embarrassing, thinking back on it. They'd been so... clingy at the time. At least Malkuth isn't holding it against them.]

< Well... We ended up talking and decided to give it a try. >

[They rub the back of their neck sheepishly.]

< After, uh, what happened... We had to address it somehow so that's how we decided to address it. >

[Despite the awkward, beating-around-the-bush way it's described, their ticking has taken on an upbeat quality.]

< I'm not really sure what I'm doing, and neither of us thought we would get anywhere near this sort of thing to being with nevermind with eachother so... It's definitely a learning experience, that's for sure. >

[ ...

how nice, for them. though the only person she has to blame is herself-- so it isn't fair to hold that against them, neither dante nor the mysterious other, when it sounds like it isn't all sunshine and roses anyway. uncertainty is its own issue. malkuth can't stop her ears from pressing back though. ]

That's good. I'm happy it worked out somehow, since I was rooting for you guys.

[ but she gets why takasugi flicks topics away like they're bad pieces of food now, since she's quick to do the same. ]

What a mess that all was, huh...? And then Kelesis right after. You'd think we'd have some kind of break from being helpful -- though I guess it depends on someone's point of view for the second, since I sure wasn't helping Patho-Gen any.

[They catch just a hint of her ears pressing back, and they wonder for a moment if they said something to upset her.

...Wait. The guy who "disappeared" on her... Could that have been...?

...

They follow her lead and swap to the next subject.]

< You too, huh? They nearly got me a few times, which probably isn't that surprising. You didn't get hurt too bad on top of everything you had to deal with during the fog, did you? >

Thankfully not. Everyone I fought was holding back... even when I told them not to, since it was easier to figure out who needed a good knock out.

[ because she can definitely handle some pain, that isn't an issue. she'd rather deal with injuries after. ]

I was pretty susceptible though, because of my time with them back in October. I don't foresee that changing any either. [ malkuth's always going to be a danger to the people she loves.

... maybe she should prepare them for that. ] Thankfully, they haven't been able to delve into my EGOs when I'm still aware of my surroundings, but I don't know how long that'll last.

< To be fair, it's hard not to want to hold back a little when it's someone you care about. >

[The only reason the Sinners could get away with it is because Dante was there to bring everyone back to life, and even then they were more hesitant about that sort of thing than they were back in the early days (of course, they didn't care as much about eachother back in the early days either).

But if that wasn't an option... They wonder what the others would do.]

< Hopefully they never learn. Given how powerful EGO can be, I can see them trying to make as much use of it as possible, and then... >

[Well. Malkuth worked for the old L Corp. She should know the dangers of that well enough.]

Something very, very bad might happen.

[ she does, and that's why she uses it only sparingly -- only when she knows she can't handle it with her natural soul alone. ]

... I've thought about what the consequences might be, ranging from my personal experience to the effects of emotional blowout here, and I think-- it might cross over. And frankly, I don't think there would be many who could stop it depending on the level of the Abnormality tapped into.

[ a ZAYN, TETH -- those can probably be dealt with without too many casualties. HE would be worse, but managable. a WAW or ALEPH... patho-gen might have to get involved. ]

Both rely heavily on emotional and mental stability. If we could figure out how to settle those remotely, without it coming to blows, then maybe we can keep each other in check.

< Our department has regular consultation sessions to keep track of the likelihood something like that'll happen--among the other usual reviews--but I don't know how likely it is that other people will buy in. There's even less of a chance if Patho-Gen is offering. >

[You never know if they're going to use it against the rest of the Augmented.]

< And while I can think of a few ways to test how it might work with EGO, they're uh... pretty rough. And I'm not sure I want to put Gregor through that. >

[ hm. she wonders if they're like hod's old consultations, or if they actually work. it might be worth suggesting to one of those working the augmented clinics... ]

Tell me anyway. You've got two others who can run tests too, Dante, and I'm at least a willing subject... once I'm more stable myself, of course.

< Well... With Gregor, I was thinking I could try and "Overclock" his EGO by pushing it to the allowable limits. He'd still have some control then, but there's obviously still a risk involved. >

< The other option would be to try and let the Corrosion happen over time? But obviously that's risky too, since if it goes for too long there's no coming back. Or you'll have to kill the person using it. >

[Which is easier for Gregor to recover from than Malkuth or Yesod.]

[ corrosion, huh... so that's what they call it. "overclock" is a fun term too. they're really bound to dante, aren't they? ]

Yesod and I have some experience in handling out of control individuals without murder, but I do admit that the circumstances were... different enough that it probably wouldn't end the way it did then. We can always try and end the experiment before that point.

[Given their former place of work, Dante can't say they're surprised. It seems like the number of ways an Abnormality can mess with someone's head are limitless. ~~what's a Realization~~]

< That might be for the best. We're all familiar enough with it at this point to be able to recognize the signs before they happen, so as long as we're careful and everyone's on the same page we should be in the clear. >

< You sure Yesod would be okay with it? >

[They haven't spoken to the guy that much, so they don't want to start making any dangerous plans involving him without his say-so.]

He'd be more angry if I went at it alone.

[ this isn't a yes or a no ]

[They definitely caught that.]

< ...Supervisory position, then. >

[Unless he offers himself. He seems like the kind of guy who can be trusted in that role anyway.]

[ this is usually how she gets people to do what she wants here. ]

Perfect delegation, Dante. There's no one I trust more to have my back in case of an Abnormality related incident.

[And fortunately for Malkuth, she has the perfect person to do that with right here with her.]

< Glad I make the cut? When you have a lot of strong personalities to manage, you kinda get used to knowing who to put toward what task. >

[Even if they're just making an assumption when it comes to Yesod.]

Tell me about it. Understanding what everyone does best, what they like to do versus what they'll drag their feet on, how to get them to do tasks that they'd otherwise put off, making sure one person isn't overly relied on and that each one feels respected, needed, and fulfilled... It's not easy, but I do kinda enjoy it.

[ she is quite good at it. incidentally taking on too much herself aside, simply because she hadn't wanted her foxes to think of anything but their next performance, she's got a good record. ]

It's really nice when things come together in the end. And suuuuuuuper satisfying uprooting any problems.

[That earns a pleased chime, the rhythm of their ticking growing more upbeat.]

< Right? Seeing everyone be assigned right where they need to be, watching everything come together--like you said--helping bring forward everyone's hidden potential and seeing them start taking the first steps forward... There's really nothing like it! >

[Says the person who has only ever had one job until recently.]

[ look liege she has one type of job she does and that's that. don't even worry about it. sometimes you get to be a manager and that's just the life you live now, forever, in every chapter you open anew. ]

Gosh, there's really only so many people who get what I mean! There's a lot of them that consider this boring busywork, you know. They've just never tasted the high of a well-put together plan unfolding exactly the way you wanted and prepared for.

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