Time-Space Administration Bureau cruiser Arthra
Currently in high orbit around Non-Administered Planet #113
Six hours after Beginning of first Shift
All of the Arthra's officers had gathered in the conference room by the time Nanoha, Fate and Mami arrived. Fate could sense the confusion of the other officers as she sat down. Full meetings such as this, not just the section heads but all of the Arthra's officers, were incredibly rare and could mean only one thing: trouble. Fate herself was not entirely certain of what Lindy had in mind bringing the others in. She, Nanoha and Chrono were the only ones in a position to help.
Finally, Admiral Lindy stood and cleared her throat. "Everyone, before we begin, understand that this mission is strictly off the record. No official reports or records are to be made, and all research data is to be kept in personal files only and not on the Arthra's main system. Consider this mission to be a black operation, and requiring all of the precautions that it implies." There were nods around the conference room. It made sense, and some of them had been expecting it.
Chrono stood next. "I've been searching the planet and studying its culture, trying to find secret to the origin of the Puella Magi." Chrono tapped several keys built into the table and brought up a series of holographic views from different parts of the planet. "Here's what I've been able to discover so far. The general characteristics of this planet is that of a world akin to Earth; firmly grounded in Mass-based technology, shifting away from its exhausted supply of fossil fuels toward other mass-based energy resources. Political power is concentrated in a handful of governing bodies that hold dominion over less powerful states through economic empires. There is no evidence of experimental, secret, or widespread-industrial schools of magic, nor is there any evidence for Lost Logia or equivalent relics. Magical aptitude rates are very low: close to those found on Earth but with fewer of the extreme outliers like Nanoha and Hayate."
"It's almost as if the Puella Magi's powers come from nowhere," Ami mused.
"It certainly seems that way at first glance," Chrono sighed, "There's no possible way that a world without a developed magic system or access to some sort of Lost Logia could possibly produce mage devices on an industrial scale like this."
"Mage's powers don't always come from the world they're born on," Nanoha pointed out, "I didn't really know about magic until Yuuno arrived with Raising Heart, but I'm here now."
"Earth is a special case for a number of reasons," Chrono replied, "The TSAB has endless reports of accidental contact between Earth and a wide variety of magic-using cultures. Rayerth, Juraihelm, the remains of the Moon Kingdom, just to name a few. The problem is that it's located too near a heavily inhabited sector, so cross-cultural contamination happens much more frequently than we would like."
"Even Still," Fate mused, "It's been known to happen before on other worlds—The Cures for example. Tomoe-san told us that she received her power from a being named 'Kyuubei.' Maybe this Kyuubei creature is something like the residents of the Palmier kingdom or the Garden of Rainbows: a race from a separate world that possesses a mature magic system but who employ humans as mages due to their stronger and more reliable mana outputs."
"It would be a sound theory if we could actually locate his kind," Chrono replied, "I haven't been able to find any evidence of these so-called 'Messengers of Magic' yet."
"I'm not lying," Mami said, "They are there. Somewhere." She though for a moment. "Kyuubei has this strange power that only Puella Magi or potential Puella Magi can see him."
Chrono frowned. "Some sort of magic-based cloaking? It's certainly possible, I suppose. I haven't yet done a full spectral analysis of this world's mana output yet, but the only strong signatures in the standard frequency range for living creatures were witch-barriers and the Puella Magi themselves. If Kyuubei and his people exist, they're certainly hiding themselves well."
"Couldn't we learn more about them if we find out more about the witches?" Nanoha suggested.
All eyes turned toward Nanoha.
"What are you suggesting?" Chrono asked.
Nanoha fidgeted. "Well, it's just an idea I had. We may not know how the Puella Magi are created, but we do know the reason they are is that someone needs to fight the witches. Couldn't we figure out a lot by discovering what the witches are first?"
"I need to get a grief seed sometime soon," Mami added, "I'm not sure how much more magic I'll be able to cast without it."
"The two goals are compatible," Chrono replied.
"We'll need a way to track the signatures of the Witches," Fate said, "and a way to tell them apart from familiars.
"That will take a while," Chrono mused, "Right now we don't know enough about either to tell."
Admiral Lindy raised her hand for silence. Chrono returned to his seat.
"Our current objective is to locate and capture a witch's Greif Seed without alerting the locals to our presence. If we can do that, then we will not only be able to fulfill our own needs, but also aid our collaborator Tomoe-san. This is a non-administered world that has yet to discover the existence of other worlds or widespread use of magic, so our non-interference policies are to be followed even more conservatively than we would on Earth. To that end, only those field agents that can feasibly pass as Puella Magi will be on active hunt. This means that the actual capture of the Greif Seed will be left to Fate, Nanoha-chan and Tomoe-San. All other field agents are to refrain from using magic except when in mortal danger." Lindy paused for a moment as she surveyed the faces around the room. "Any questions?"
No one spoke. None of the officers even blinked.
"Excellent!" Lindy said, "We all know what we need to do now. Let's go out and get this done."
As the others filed out, Amy moved to sit directly in front of Lindy. Admiral Lindy sat waiting expectantly, until the door had slid shut behind the last of her staff.
Amy cleared her throat. "Captain, I analyzed our scan of Mami's Soul Gem like you asked me to. I have my report, if you're ready for it."
Lindy shifted to a more relaxed position in her chair and folded her hands. "Fire away."
"I think you'll find this very interesting," Amy said. She tapped several controls on the table and pulled up a diagram of Mami's soul gem. "This thing is more than just a device. Tomoe-san's linker core has been physically removed from her body and implanted into it, here near the center of the contained jewel."
A column of numbers, letters and mathematical symbols scrolled down one side of the page, with occasional strings of legible text commented in. These comments, no doubt added by Amy, gave brief explanations of the jumble. Lindy recognized the characteristic style of a device's programming, though the equations were vastly different from anything she had ever seen.
"What's more, her consciousness is being run on an emulation program within the device itself. Her body is essentially under remote control."
"That would explain Doc's strange readings. It seemed impossible that a girl without a linker core or brain activity could even be alive, let alone casting magic."
"It does," Amy replied, "It's an incredible feat of magic, especially for a society like this."
"I guess that makes a reasonable amount of sense too. It'd speed up casting time an enormous amount to have the casting device directly connected to the consciousness directing it. Seems to explain everything."
Amy was frowning. "I guess so."
She looked Amy in the eyes. "That does explain everything, right?"
"There's something…odd about it, actually. We can't be absolutely certain, of course, but we think there's a reciprocal programming function—a sort of feedback effect—that's causing the entire system to undergo a sort of metamorphosis."
Lindy felt a chill she could not explain run up her spine. "Metamorphosis into what, exactly?"
Amy fidgeted. "It's…it's hard to tell. This device runs on a magic system very different from Mid-Childan or Ancient Belkan devices, so we're having a difficult enough time figuring out how it works right now. Without knowing more about these devices, I can't give you a good guess as to the end product."
"Keep on this, Amy. I want to know the instant you discover something." Lindy studied the diagram of the soul gem. "There's something strange going on down on this world and I don't like it."
Non-Administered World #113
Planet's Surface, Mitakihara City
Local Time: 11:30 PM
Tomoe Mami walked cautiously through the alleyway. All of her senses were alert to the world around her, ever watchful for both natural and magical threats. Madoka and Sayaka had gone home for the evening an hour ago, but Mami had decided to stay on the hunt for a few more hours. So far, however, there was nothing.
Mami caught the gleam of metal in the shadows and sensed the presence of another person. She had a musket in her hand and trained on the person in less than a heartbeat. "Show yourself," she called to the person.
From out of the shadows stepped the last person Mami wanted to see. Long red coat, red hair and eyes, and a broad-headed spear in one hand. Kyoko.
"Easy, Mami, I'm just here to talk."
Mami leveled her rifle at the other Puella Magi. "Alright then, start talking."
"Lower your weapon first."
"Only if you lower yours."
"I'd like to," Kyoko jerked her head toward the roof of one of the buildings, "Except that she's pointing a rocket launcher at us."
Mami risked a glance up in the direction Kyoko had gestured. Standing there, silhouetted against the moon, was the slim figure of Homura, holding a rocket launcher.
"What are you doing," Kyoko called up to her, "Spying on us? Trying to wipe us both out at once so you can get all the grief seeds yourself? What?"
"I think we've all gotten off on the wrong foot here," Mami said, "Why don't you come down here, Homura-san, and we all put down our weapons on the count of three."
Kyoko nodded. "One."
"Two." Mami replied.
"Three." Homura finished for both of them. Kyoko lowered her spear to the ground. Mami dropped the musket she was holding, where it dissolved into glowing ribbons and disappeared. Homura pressed her rocket launcher against the shield on her wrist, causing it to disappear, then leapt lightly down into the alleyway between the two of them.
Mami turned back to Kyoko. "Alright, so you came here to talk. What was it you wanted to say."
"One of you stole my kill," Kyoko said.
Mami blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I was stalking a familiar that was just on the verge of becoming a witch. But the barrier shattered before I even have a chance to get to it. And I really don't like it when other people take kills that should be mine."
"It wasn't me," Mami replied, "All I've run into in the last few day is two familiars, and weak ones at that" She turned to Homura. "What about you?"
"No." she said simply. Mami studied Homura's impassive face. This girl, this strange Puella Magi, she had shown up out of nowhere, offering them no explanation why she seemed to know them already. Kyuubei had not been any more forthcoming about her presence, saying only that she had not contracted with him and that she was a "Special Case."
Mami frowned, thinking. "If it's not you and it's not me, then who? Who else could it possibly be?"
"Maybe it's those two little newbies you're running around with," Kyoko suggested.
"They've been with me the entire time," Mami replied, "And they only contracted this afternoon. It couldn't be them."
"Well Somebody stole my kill," Kyoko snapped, "And if I catch them doing it again, I'll make 'em pay for snatching Greif Seeds that were supposed to be mine."
"There's something else strange going on," Mami said, "Someone managed to get into my apartment and took some of my things."
"Sounds like an ordinary burglar," Homura suggested.
Mami shook her head. "Somehow I don't think so. If it were a burglar I doubt they would have been nice enough to wash my dishes for me or put them away neatly in their proper places. What's more, the things they took made no sense. It was mostly little personal items; make-up, some of my clothes, pictures of my parents, that sort of stuff. They even took that broken hairclip that my mother was wearing the day that…the day I became a Puella Magi."
"Something weird is happening here."
"It seems that there is some mysterious other player," Mami mused, "who they are, where they are, and what their goal is, however, isn't clear."
"Another Puella Magi," Homura stated, "Potentially two."
Mami turned to her. "We can't be certain of that, can we?"
Homura's face remained completely impassive. "I can."
"A fair assumption based on the details available to you," said a fourth voice. The three Puella magi spun to see a white, cat-like creature perched atop a trash can.
"Kyuubei!" Kyoko called to the creature, "you mean there actually is someone else here?"
"Kyuubei-san. Besides Sayaka-chan, Madoka-chan and the three of us, are there any other Puella Magi nearby?
"Yes and no." The creature said.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kyoko snapped.
"There are no other Puella Magi that have made contracts within the city."
Kyoko huffed and turned away from Kyuubei. The damn marshmallow never gave straight answers to any question. "Look, if either of you find the one responsible, tell me. And if I get to another barrier that mysteriously collapses and I find out that you were inside, I've already warned you what will happen."
