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The Fate who calls herself Mountain tried to convince some of her neighbors to allow the occasional mountain in their lands, for stability purposes.
"I meant no insult!" Dodge ball of lava. "I don't intend to interfere, you said no!" Dodge house-sized spear of ice. "I'm leaving peacefully, okay, so stop tearing up the tile!"
"You'll respawn at home. No permanent damage. You interrupted an important meeting, you need to learn a lesson about territory, mountain bitch." Dodge- no, fail to dodge a thrown tree, and then another ice ball. The next sphere of magma is what destroyed that form.
She wakes up, stripped of all her tools and enchantments and even clothes, and groans in pain.
Steel in Wormverse
sturdycoldsteel
"Certainly. And we would also welcome you to rest in one of our Headquarters, if you would be so inclined."
sturdycoldsteel
"I only regain power when I rest in a place I have personally built or modified. If possible I should sleep on one of the plateaus I created to evacuate people, or on the mountain I accidentally raised while trying to hold Kyushu together."
sturdycoldsteel
"I will probably accept." Is that the end of the conversation? If so, she'll get out her phone and see if it still internets after a few seconds of polite silence.
As far as her hosts are concerned, it is, for Aiko Wakahisa has grabbed her laptop and started typing into it.
The two capes accompanying her are just sitting there in silence.
The two capes accompanying her are just sitting there in silence.
sturdycoldsteel
So, does her Protectorate phone still have access to the internet? If so she starts scanning for advice on the PRT's paperwork. If that seems like a dead end she'll send emails to lawyers and hope they won't charge much to inform her what all those endless contracts actually mean.
There isn't much public advice that's not in itself buried in lots and lots of legalese. It's not wholly impossible to understand, if you're a native English speaker, but might prove somewhat challenging to her.
But lawyers that can navigate that for her are not too expensive!
...for lawyers. For her current funds, they're stretching a bit, but given that she doesn't need to pay for a place to live she might just be able to pay for one of the less expensive ones.
But lawyers that can navigate that for her are not too expensive!
...for lawyers. For her current funds, they're stretching a bit, but given that she doesn't need to pay for a place to live she might just be able to pay for one of the less expensive ones.
sturdycoldsteel
Can she borrow money from somewhere? She'll only need it for a month or so, and she doesn't really want to hire a cheap lawyer when screwing up with the law could be so inconvenient.
Her bank is willing to give her a loan. In fact, it's quite a big loan, though she might not recognize this given her lack of familiarity with American banks.
sturdycoldsteel
She knows how much clothes and food and rocks cost. She sees that it's a big loan.
She only needs a small part of that big loan, though. Emails go out to the bank and one of the most recommended law firms. She wants a concise explanation of what all the paperwork means for someone new to English, and probably some phone conversations about it later. She'd also like it if they can do some of that paperwork for her. She doesn't need everything finished until she's back from Japan, though.
She only needs a small part of that big loan, though. Emails go out to the bank and one of the most recommended law firms. She wants a concise explanation of what all the paperwork means for someone new to English, and probably some phone conversations about it later. She'd also like it if they can do some of that paperwork for her. She doesn't need everything finished until she's back from Japan, though.
One of the most recommended law firms takes a while to reply to her email, and the first thing they do is tell her about prices for online consultations and in-person visits and stuff like that.
sturdycoldsteel
After discussing schedules with Aiko for a minute, she'll pay for a one-hour online consultation at a certain time tomorrow, to summarize her wants and concerns.
After that she just relaxes for the rest of the trip. It shouldn't be long, this thing is just as fast as the other one.
After that she just relaxes for the rest of the trip. It shouldn't be long, this thing is just as fast as the other one.
Yup, not long at all, just a few more hours.
Eventually they arrive, and the party waiting for her consists of more uniformed differently-masked people, three men in suits, and a ridiculously overdecorated reception room. With food! Quite good food, too. And tea.
Eventually they arrive, and the party waiting for her consists of more uniformed differently-masked people, three men in suits, and a ridiculously overdecorated reception room. With food! Quite good food, too. And tea.
sturdycoldsteel
She's a little used to this: They're doing their very best to impress her. It's like working for Princess Avaced.
She politely greets people and has some of the food and tea if they don't immediately move to go somewhere. (She's figured out a mouth and not face revealing modification of her helmet by now.)
She politely greets people and has some of the food and tea if they don't immediately move to go somewhere. (She's figured out a mouth and not face revealing modification of her helmet by now.)
They don't immediately move. There are a few politicians and cape-sponsors that subtly (and at times not-so-subtly) hint that she could be working with them on a more permanent basis, with all those shiny things she could have (like lots of money) if she did.
sturdycoldsteel
Unfortunately, she thinks their philosophies and beliefs are simply not compatible enough for a long-term partnership. She'll still be glad to assist in times of emergency or on a temporary basis, of course.
They assure her they completely understand her position and will welcome her help in the future, in a tone she might recognise as the 'we will keep trying to more subtly convince you with even more lavish displays of various temptations' tone as opposed to the 'I respect your opinion and will no longer push the subject' tone.
sturdycoldsteel
She attempts to distract them from subtle prodding by asking about the history of Japan.
That might just be amongst their favourite subjects! They can talk about it at length, with words like 'glory' and 'magnificence' and 'joy' sprinkling the description.
sturdycoldsteel
This excessively polite chitchat is nice and all, but after a while she asks whether she might get started on some of the repair plans?
Oh, they thought she would like to rest before, what with the differing timezones and the fact that it might be quite late for her biological clock.
sturdycoldsteel
Her sleep schedule mostly is not a thing. This is a personal quirk, not a power. She needs sleep eventually, but may as well stay up until it's night here.
Well, it's five thirty PM there, night will take a bit. If she's sure, will she accompany this attractive young man wearing a suit through these beautiful hallways towards this conference room?
sturdycoldsteel
Sure, sure. She idly bulks her rocksuit back up a bit along the way. It makes soft crackling noises. Not enough to hurt furniture, hopefully.
They have arranged for sturdy furniture to be there to welcome her.
They outline the plan, asking some stuff of her (like can she raise the rest of Kyushu back? would it be okay if she lowered those platforms again once most of the water was taken care of? can she help with macro flooding?) and presenting different parts of a plan tree depending on her answers.
It's actually pretty well thought-out and has apparently taken quite some work. They probably started this long before the previous day.
They outline the plan, asking some stuff of her (like can she raise the rest of Kyushu back? would it be okay if she lowered those platforms again once most of the water was taken care of? can she help with macro flooding?) and presenting different parts of a plan tree depending on her answers.
It's actually pretty well thought-out and has apparently taken quite some work. They probably started this long before the previous day.