The Theological Council's meeting chamber was darkly lit and paneled with dark colored wood. It was relatively small, about the size of a large dining room if you had the allocs for something of that nature. Emma sat with her back facing the entrance on the flat side of a half-moon shaped table. A dozen other magical girls lined the curved side, mostly as holograms. Kyouko Sakura, the Cult's leader, was the only exception.
"Both hands, hm?" said one Mina Montalcini. She leaned back in her seat, a glass of water appearing in frame. "And she didn't say anything else in relation to these two… versions of you?"
"Not that I can remember," said Emma. "It's… it's hazy, like a dream."
"That's very typical," said Kyouko. She tapped a finger idly against the rim of her water glass. "There have only been a few cases where the recipient of the vision has had a very clear memory of what transpired."
"Even then, there are difficulties," said Yui Tanaka, apparently one of the MSY's founders. "Contemporary accounts are often kept private, at the Goddess's request, and historical accounts are…"
"This body is well aware of the limitations I have," said Clarisse van Rossum. She sighed long-sufferingly, then turned to Emma. "Suffice to say, the magical girls of the ancient past would not appreciate their private lives detailed, except in extraordinary circumstances."
"In any case," said Augustine Francois, with the air of stalling a longstanding disagreement. "In your case, Ms. Sinclair, do not be overly alarmed. The dream-like memories you have are common, and the ominous portents similarly so. What matters, as the Goddess was kind to emphasize, is what you do about this vision."
"Two versions of the same girl, presumably from the distant future, has strong symbolic value," said an unusually young girl named Feng Quan. "Though conversely, the Goddess rarely uses such things to make a point."
"Still, the symbolism cannot be ignored," said Yui. "It is perhaps not intended to be the driver of our understanding, but instead to be a framework."
"That is consistent with a few other visions, yes."
"Both hands though… and they grasped Emma's hands directly didn't they?"
"Ah, hold on, that has importance," said a girl who had looked bored up until now. "Ms. Sinclair, which hands did they grasp? Do you recall in detail?"
"Um, the one on my right held my right hand, and the one on my left held my left hand," said Emma.
"Both hands…" murmured Feng Quan. "Both hands."
"It makes sense," said Yui. She pulled something up on her personal interface. "Ms. Sinclair, I understand you recently visited MSY Careers and Education?"
"Yes."
"I have your personal file here, which details the career tracks MSY Careers thinks you would be best suited for. Have you had a chance to look at these yourself?"
"Ah, I was going to do so later tonight," said Emma.
"Do you mind if we discuss your career options, briefly?"
Emma blinked and shrugged awkwardly. "Um, sure, go ahead."
"Thank you. Now taking a look here, you have a lot of options going into combat roles… ah, you've been flagged as having potential for MagOps training… yes, and also the Air Assault divisions, of course… it makes sense…"
"Ahem, Yui, I understand you're very busy," said Kyouko sarcastically. "But if you don't mind, could you enlighten the Council on your latest great discovery?"
"Right, well, consider the aspect which grasped Ms. Sinclair's right hand," said Yui, coughing slightly. "Warlike, yes? Bloodied and battered, clearly a fighter. The majority of Ms. Sinclair's career options, at least the ones MSY Careers suggests, are combat based. It would make sense that this version of Ms. Sinclair would be the one who follows the path of war."
"And the other?" asked Mina.
"Well, we are surely familiar by now of the situation with the Shizuki Matriarchy," said Yui. "If nothing else, Aina's complaining has been loud and vociferous."
"No offense meant to you, Ms. Sinclair," said Aina Shizuki, who had the grace to look embarrassed. "I have never had a stomach for politics, as I'm sure you empathize with."
Emma nodded. "But… what does that have to do with me?"
"As elder magical girls, it is considered our duty to give younger generations advice," said Yui Tanaka. "Therefore-"
"If I may, Yui," interrupted Mina. "Perhaps, if you have special advice for Ms. Sinclair, you should speak to her privately? Let us keep Theological Council meetings restricted to theology."
Yui frowned, but nodded. "That is fair."
"I think, however, that Ms. Tanaka does make an interesting point," spoke up Qin Yang, one of the other girls who had been silent so far. "The fact that Ms. Sinclair saw what she did seems to indicate the vision is more personal in nature. The specific interpretation is, in most cases, left to the recipient of the vision."
"I agree," said another. "If members of this council wish to, they can contact Ms. Sinclair directly with their own advice and opinions."
"Very well," said Kyouko, before anyone could say anything else, "then let's close out this meeting here. We'll leave you to think about your vision, Emma Sinclair, with the caveat that if you wish to talk to any of us, we are available for your consultation."
"I, um, thank you," said Emma, blinking. That was it?
Kyouko nodded.
"Alright, then I call this meeting adjourned."
Emma let Mikoto run around the fair for a few more hours before collecting her to go to dinner. The intervening time was spent carefully nursing several Manhattan cocktails in the Church's Refectory,
La Mer Généreuse had a thing for the twentieth century, seafood, and cuisine classique. According to Infopedia and a variety of cooking blogs, it didn't really do anything particularly authentique to the term, but, despite that, the food was good, so neither Emma nor Anna had any real complaints. Catherine had a taste for wine that matched the resident sommelier's, and James enjoyed the atmosphere. The restaurant was decorated in the Art Nouveau style and typically had a performer singing very old songs on stage, accompanied by a band of some nature.
Emma was slowly making her way through a dish called "Cadgeree de Saumon". With nothing better to do, she had decided to look up the dish in question, as it was apparently something very traditional. Whatever it was she was eating contained a fillet of salmon, seared on one side but essentially raw on the other, set atop a pillow of creamy risotto. The appropriate presentation apparently required the fish be fully cooked, then served with a bed of rice pilaf and some hard boiled eggs. Personally, Emma found it perfectly reasonable.
She glanced up at the stage as a ripple of applause worked through the dimly lit dining room. A new performer was taking the stage. A woman, dressed in a dark burgundy dress and string of pearls around her neck.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," she said, batting her eyelashes as she took up the old-fashioned microphone. "Welcome to La Mer Généreuse. This is Luke Yokohama-" she gestured at the tuxedo-clad man at the piano, who waved "-my brother and the best pianist I know. Seated below is the band, led by the estimable Audrey Hanson. They've been here all night so far, let's give them a round of applause-" the singer led the crowd briefly in applauding the band sitting in the pit. Their director, presumably Audrey Hanson, waved and bowed "-for their efforts this evening. And lastly, my name is Rochelle Yokohama-" another pause, for further clapping "-and we will be your entertainment for the evening. Audrey, if you would?"
The band began to play. Her implants dutifully informed her that the song was "La Vie en Rose".
"Emma?"
"Hm?" asked Emma, turning from the stage.
"You've been very quiet," said Catherine. She gestured at Emma's plate. "And you've been eating very slowly. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," said Emma. She cut off a section of salmon, making sure to pause and speak aloud. "Just thinking."
"What about?"
Emma began to speak in telepathy, before swallowing quickly to answer her mother. "Oh, well, I've been looking into career options is all. Mikoto and I went to MSY Careers and Education, and the advisor gave me a list to look at."
"What're you looking into?" asked James. "Anything interesting?"
"Well, er, some," said Emma. "It doesn't seem that the MSY thinks I'll do well in administration."
"Ah, that's too bad," said James. "Then again, Administration can be very… what's the word?"
"Convoluted?" suggested Anna.
"Yes, that's a good way to put it," said James. "Convoluted as hell. Not something you'd necessarily enjoy."
"No, probably not," said Emma, nodding as she poked the tines of her fork into the risotto on her plate. "It's something I'd like to avoid."
"Speaking of administration," said Anna. "Did I ever tell you guys about what happened today at work?"
"Is this the thing with the Yamamoto boy?" asked Catherine.
"No, but that was stupid too. What happened was…"
Emma made sure to pretend to pay attention this time as Anna detailed some incident that had occurred at her internship.
"You bored?" Emma asked Mikoto telepathically. "This stuff can get kind of dry."
"Eh, it's interesting enough," said Mikoto. She had ordered Sole a la Hollandaise, something which was legitimately impossible to screw up, and was contemplating her butter. "Do you think I should pour this on?"
Emma shrugged and toyed with her salmon. Personally she would dip, but she couldn't be bothered to express the opinion as Mikoto poured the butter onto the fish. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma spotted a passing waiter wince.
Another flake of salmon fell prey to Emma's fork, which she speared and dragged through the risotto with her right hand. Her left hand flicked the blade of her knife to coat the piece of fish with a smear of risotto, before she popped the assemblage into her mouth.
Huh. That wasn't half bad actually.
"Well, Emma's leave is only for the next forty days, I think," said Anna, making Emma log back into the conversation. "I don't think we can make any detailed plans when she's also planning on taking lessons of some kind."
"What did you have in mind, Emma?" asked James, looking at Emma over the cup of his wine.
Oh boy. "Well… there's a few options," Emma hedged. "And because I'm military, I'm allowed to use Accelerated VR, so it shouldn't be too much of a bother. The lessons are mostly focused on non-magical things, which they can simulate."
"What do these things entail?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow. "I assume it's not something as dry as history. You should have cortical dumps available for that."
"Ah, er, well, there's actually a lot of lab work you need to do," said Emma, pushing a lock of hair behind one ear. "I'll be taking a few fluid dynamics courses that combine cortical dumps and lab simulations. It's important to get as literal a feel for the physics as you can, after all."
"How does that end up factoring into your magic?"
"Well, it's… it's weird sometimes," said Emma. "So, uh, did you ever read the public parts of my personal file?"
"Yes," said James. "It is alarming reading for a parent, but, well…"
"Yes, er, so, my magic is sort of wind-based, but also sort of not," explained Emma. Talking about this topic with her parents was incredibly disconcerting. "It's mostly based off of pressure gradients. It's uh… sort of like if you imagined an infinite vacuum being manipulated through space, but one that also includes air currents and flow patterns?"
The table paused to collectively glance at each other.
"Well, nevermind," said Emma, fidgeting awkwardly. "It's uh, the best way to put it is that it's just related enough to real-life physics to be helpful if I studied it."
"Is all magic like this?" asked Catherine. A waiter poured her a fresh glass, appearing almost out of thin air.
"Yes and no," said Emma. "I happen to be what's called an Elemental. Magical girls of my classification manipulate matter in various ways, most always while defying physics. Conversely, Mikoto is a Summoner. Mikoto, if you'd like to explain?"
"Oh, yes!" Mikoto chirped. Emma resisted the urge to ruffle her kouhai's hair as the younger magical girl set down her silverware in order to gesture properly. "Being a Summoner means that I pull things out of 'hammerspace', that's actually the technical term yes it's weird, and send them at the enemy. Most everybody does a different thing, even if it's just a little bit different, and the magical girls who do something the same as someone else usually do it because it's their specialty."
"The Sub-classification is 'Mimic'," added Emma, forcing Mikoto to pause and give her parents a chance to catch up. "They're sorta rare."
"Yeah! But so, I summon bears," said Mikoto. "Real actual bears, not teddy bears, even though technically my magical weapon is a teddy bear but- erm."
Emma patted Mikoto on the shoulder as the latter flushed. "Don't be embarrassed. Every magical girl has their own thing."
"R-right."
"I see," said Catherine, looking over at her husband with a raised eyebrow. "It appears I'm missing out on a fascinating field then."
"Ah, but then nobody would be there to do the things you're capable of at the company," said James. "Or raising our children to become the beautiful, talented young ladies they are now."
Anna and Emma gave each other looks of deepest suffering. Mikoto restrained a giggle.
"Oh, so, after dinner, do you mind if I go see a vid?" asked Mikoto, turning to Emma. "I met some friends at the fair we went to earlier and we were thinking of seeing one."
Emma shrugged. "Seems fine. Let me know if you have an unplanned sleepover or something."
"Okay!"
The discussion after dinner was less banal. The family had retreated to the privacy of their living room after Mikoto had left for her vid, and they were all cradling drinks of some kind as they settled into their seats.
"Alright, I don't want to make this into too much of a thing," said James as he sipped a glass of whiskey. "But unfortunately, it's going to be a bit of an ordeal however we slice it. Emma, we've left you out of the loop since you've been… engaged in other things, and Anna's only been getting bits and pieces. As things progress, it's becoming important for you two to know as much detail as possible."
Emma didn't respond, and instead focused on her own whiskey glass. She had opted to include a single maraschino cherry in her drink this time, and focused on swirling it around in a circle.
The silence began to grow awkward.
"Starting at the beginning then," said Catherine. "The information we're about to provide is incomplete, but is the best we have at this time. I'm sure, Emma, you'll appreciate the difficulty of getting good intelligence."
Emma glanced up at her mother and nodded.
"A few weeks ago, Emma allowed a member of the Burnside-Sinclair Matriarchy to take a blood sample for testing," continued Catherine. "According to this member's testimony, she intentionally withheld the results of the DNA analysis until she was able to notify Emma as to their results. These results were made public about one week ago, indicating that Emma's genetic profile, and by extension our family's genetic profile, shares certain markers with the Burnside-Sinclair Matriarchy's main bloodline. The link is distant, as a matter of course, but since the results have gone public the Burnside-Sinclairs have decided to attempt to claim us as a member family."
"Simultaneously, marriage prenup negotiations between Ami Hashimoto and Ryouichi Shizuki, the latter being a member of the Shizuki Matriarchy, were concluded to the satisfaction of all involved parties," continued James. "As I recall, you're familiar, Emma, with Ryouichi's younger brother, Ryouta?"
Emma blinked in surprise, then nodded. "Ryouta's a friend, yeah."
"Has he told you anything?"
"About the same as you have so far, while we were waiting for our flight out of Helsinberg," said Emma, shrugging. "It's what it is. I'm not terribly interested."
"Ah, I see," said James. He glanced at Catherine briefly, then continued speaking: "Well, the details are relatively straightforward. At the end of the day, the prenup effectively enforces permanent Hashimoto claims over their shares in Hashimoto and Sinclair Investments and Securities, while allowing a certain degree of direct Shizuki influence into the situation. The effect of this is to place us, the Sinclair Family, in an unusual and problematic situation."
"In particular, the Shizuki Matriarchy is sufficiently massive as to constitute multiple acting bodies," said Catherine. "This shifts our position from one of relative equal footing to one where we have extremely low influence, compared to the theoretical collective power of the Shizuki Matriarchy."
"That being said, there is no reason as of yet to suspect that we will be in a situation where this lack of influence will be hurtful," added James. "Current indicators show that the Shizuki Matriarchy is content to allow us to do what we see fit. As it turns out, we happen to know what we're doing."
"However, this will not be the same for you," said Catherine, gesturing her glass at Emma and Anna. "You are still young, and lack experience. While your father and I have every confidence in you, the fact remains that your youth presents an opening the Shizuki Matriarchy would be foolish not to take advantage of. If they can influence HSIS more, they will, if only to snag more of that quarterly profit."
"The question, then, is what do we do about it," said James. "It's a complicated problem that needs all hands on deck to solve."
Emma set her drink down and tried not to let her distaste for the situation show on her face. "Anna has the finances and logistics covered," she said as she crossed her arms. "She's always been better at that sort of thing. Why do you need me?"
James paused, then looked at her with an appraising eye. "Do you want the nice answer or the truth?"
Emma's lips thinned and snatched her glass up off the table. "The truth, please."
"You're useful," said James bluntly. "You're a source of intelligence, and good, spinnable PR. If we're here to make friends and influence people, you're the only window we have right now into the deeper reaches of the MSY."
"Not much of a window," Emma scoffed, gesturing vaguely with her drink. "I'm not exactly old."
"Then make friends," said Catherine blithely. "You mentioned at some point that you're religious now?"
"Yes," said Emma. She raised a defiant eyebrow. "Is it a problem?"
"No, it's not," said Catherine. She shrugged dismissively and sipped her wine. "The Cult is relatively harmless, compared to what it could be, and useful to boot. I think I speak for both myself and your father when I say that it would be better for you to get more involved, and create a support network for yourself by way of the Cult."
Emma's lips thinned, again, in distaste. "I'd rather not."
"You're going to have to make a network at least, whether you like it or not," Catherine replied. "You're not a magical girl just for fun."
"How do you know?"
"Team captain at twelve years old?" asked James rhetorically. "We may have been neglectful parents, but we know drive when we see it. No, we shouldn't have pulled you from football, but that doesn't detract from the fact that you have always wanted to be the best you can be."
"To get the opportunities you want, you'll need help," said Catherine. "Mentors and people with connections. The Cult is a good way to do this, and everything we've heard makes it sound like the Cult actively tries to help. You may as well use what you have available, and share with us whatever you learn."
Emma looked down at her hands. She closed her left hand, then her right.
"Alright," she said as she reached for her whiskey. "Fine. I'll help where I can."
"Thank you. Do you have any thoughts on how to start?"
Emma tapped a finger against the side of her glass. "I'm not sure yet, there's not enough information. It might help if I move into the dormitories at the Church. I've been thinking about it anyway."
"It would," said Catherine. She began to speak, then paused and turned back to Emma. "That being said, are there other reasons, aside from the cold-blooded ones?"
Emma tried not to give too much away in her expression. "I… well, I just want an apartment of my own, I guess," she said, before looking away guiltily. "For, um, personal stuff."
Catherine and James looked at each other, the former giving the latter a pointed look.
"That's so unfair," Anna said, shaking her head. "But, for the record-" she looked over to her parents with a grin "-I totally called it."
Emma coughed, and hid behind her glass of whiskey.
"Well, I suppose it is inevitable," said James blithely. "I reserve the right to embarrass you about any rumors we hear."
"As do I," said Catherine, smiling. "Also unwelcome advice."
"You could always spend the night at their place you know," said Anna. "Save me the indignity of being the only one without her own flat."
"Oh shut up, the lot of you," Emma muttered, feeling herself get increasingly red.
"Alright, alright, all joking aside then," said James. "Both of you, neither myself nor your mother is going to judge you for your personal business. But. Keep in mind the implications of any rumors you cause. Emma, you know how to get rooms on your own, so we'll let you deal with that."
"Thanks."
"Now, Anna, we'll probably want you to come over to HSIS relatively soon," said Catherine. "I know you have other work to do with your current internship, so we'll have to work that out, but that's ending soon anyway."
Anna nodded. "Alright. What else?"
"For now? Prepare," said James. "We need to see what happens when we meet with Ami later this week. Sort out whatever you need to sort out, so that we won't have any hiccups once Ami gives us her updates. Everybody clear?"
Emma and Anna nodded.
"Good. We start tomorrow."