Quote (Escort)
I am afraid I am unable to interact with much of anything. Rather, I cannot see, hear, or really even touch anything, besides some sort of floor, and it does not appear to be the same Yumland Net ground that I was shown onto earlier, as there is no hint of mud or dirt. There is little chance I will be able to escape my present situation or help Miss Suzume, but I'll continue searching. I have not heard anything from or about Miss Arch. Why do you bring her up? To be honest, it has been quite some time since anyone other than Suzume responded to m
The message cut off there as, unbeknownst to the ones receiving it, she had been whisked away to join Suzume.
---------------------------------
"IDENTIFICATION: the Neo-Shogun Empire's subordinate Rodeo is the one who asked me the question. I spent a very brief time in Internet City, intending to grant wishes, when I met her at the Neo-Shogun recruitment kiosk. When I told her my function, she gave me my new mission, saying she thought that there were others like herself who want to be part of the empire- QUOTE- 'so gosh-darn bad, but ol' Yasu keeps givin' miss-shuns tougher 'n chewin' cowhide.' PROPOSITION: If you would like me to erase that request, simply request it at any time, Utopia explained at length, sounding very odd trying to imitate Rodeo's unusual manner of speech... not that her own was normal either.
Puppet-Show was taking the fact that she might not be paid as in stride as she could. "Well, I suppose. Hm hm... I have roughly the same problem as Utopia, in that respect, though. I could turn on you if I get a better offer," she smirked, keeping her arms crossed beneath her distracting chest. "Not quite as easily as Utopia could, but you see what I mean. I would not have loyalty to the Shogun just for his rank or what he represents. If you can deal with that, and assuming there is pay to be had, then I would certainly be willing to work with you."
She blinked twice, then laughed at the next question. "My dear girl, if you hadn't discovered this was a ruse, the girls certainly would have after some length of time, unable to contact any of their contacts through old e-mails and receiving one mission after another in sequence," Puppet-Show giggled. "So I don't think actually keeping them trapped inside this illusion for the long term is even possible. I'm not certain how powerful Utopia is, but I somewhat doubt that even she can hold up this jackout barrier and white world up forever. But, if you want my opinion, there is nothing wrong with Messenger or Plastique other than that one is nosy, the other is grumpy, oh, and they both are actually loyal to other factions, apparently. I don't want to tell you how to run your- or our, if you're saying the Shogun is going to pay me for all of this so far- empire, but it seems highly unsafe to let them in. As for Wasteland, I haven't seen her be as dangerous as she apparently is, but she sure sounds like she would be, doesn't she? I'll say this though: if you're going to hire a mercenary with no loyalty, an NP mole, a Mafia mole, and a Blesser who could change allegiances just because someone asked her to, then you might as well hire a murderous maniac too, right?"
The hints of irony and comedy in the aloof puppeteer's voice were seemingly lost or useless to Utopia, who continued to wear the same face she always had. "CLARIFICATION: I labeled them as zero-percent chance candidates because the two of them have worked, not undercover, for their respective factions in low profile positions. That initially made me suspect they would be good candidates for this program, more so as I intercepted their messages to others," she answered, trying a few different poses as she did so. She stopped with her back turned to Suzume and her arms raised high above her head, running one down the opposite forearm as though she was putting on a glove. "CONFIRMATION: That is indeed the real Escort. I imitated Yasu, assigning her to recruitment, and then cut off all communications between her and the Empire. My intent was to have her add authenticity to the program by also deceiving her, making her think she was serving your Empire under orders while actually assisting in my illusion. COMPLIANCE: I will bring Escort to join us. Utopiaaaaa~"
She spread both arms to her side and stood with her legs together, as Escort suddenly blinked into existence. The Neo-Shogun subordinate was currently in a strange position, sticking both hands out away from her body and walking like a blind person, still dressed in her revealing, muddy black leotard from earlier; it had torn in a few places as well in the battle, including one strap hanging from the shoulder and a rip running from the back shoulder-blades down to the small of her back. She turned to face the others, then sighed. "Miss Suzume, Miss Puppet-Show... I am very pleased to see you both safe," she began, then noticed Utopia for who she was. "Is Utopia holding all of us captive?"
"CONFIRMATION: Yes, I am," the pink lady answered, unapologetic; she crossed her arms at her chest, splaying the fingers of both hands, then turned her torso slightly and her head a little more to face the others at an angle, looking over her shoulder. "REQUEST: Please provide further orders, Suzume, so that I may fulfill your wishes."
