I won't let them react to Will of the Herrscher because I have an idea of what to do with the event, just you wait.
"Explosion, Time Stop, and whatever move he did to launch himself out of the room…" Red Seele counts the powers everyone just watched Corvo did. "Really neat for a quick infiltration mission."
"It's not actually Explosion though. It's Windblast." HoTE corrects. "Most, if not all, of The Marked have Short Teleportation spells of sorts. It depends on how adaptive The Marked is, and in Corvo's case, he has Blink which you have seen in the vision."
"What's the difference?" The question's from Tesla. "I can understand from what you said that there are many forms of it. But from what we're seeing, he needs to turn to the location he wants to go."
"Because his spell is of the beginning level. Over time it will evolve… or use Whalebones to make himself more powerful."
"Why Whalebone?"
"Like how you use Honkai for the power-ups, KEVIN. Though it's tied to the Outsider too."
"The Outsider?" All want an introduction.
"The man who gave Corvo his Mark. He has forgotten his name due to circumstances, and only the dead know it."
"You mean, like Herrscher of Death?"
"I mean the dead in literal sense, Doctor MEI. The only chance you can find out his name is when you die… and are not drifted into nothingness." The audience gives Cap looks of confusion. "It's something that requires spiritual, cosmic and magic knowledge to explain. And each universe system has their own definitions as well, so yeah."
"By any chance we can see what 'The Marked' can do more?"
HoTE just points her thumb towards the vision as the static starts forming to a solid vision…
A group of trio, dressed in black suits with face masks, pushes a door open and heads up to some sort of castle-like building. One of them sneaks up to an unprepared officer and stabs him through the back.
"...Is this… from the same Recorder?" Everyone can immediately feel the differences of artstyle between the two visions as APONIA voices it out.
Instead of answering, HoTE just turns to Welt and APHO Bronya with a smile. The former narrows his eyes and questions in suspicion: "What do you want me to say? I have no knowledge about this world."
"May I ask what your job is?"
"What does…" The gears in his mind turn, and it takes him a moment to think of what she's implying. "...This is a game, isn't it?"
"A point of view, but yes, it's a game for now." That perks up Sirin, Siegfried, Bronya and Kiana's interest. "It would feel a bit better if you can experience the events by yourself, wouldn't it?"
"But… wouldn't the events be affected if you make a different choice? Or just doing things that only make sense when it's game logic?"
HoTE's eyes turn to Blue Seele after hearing Einstein's question. The scientists also turn to her to try and find out what HoTE is implying as the girl fidgets in her chair, not knowing how she can be related to this matter…
"Bubble universes." Luckily, HoTr catches up.
And it immediately clears things up as all retract their attentions to the poor girl, and Seele quietly thanks her Onee-san.
"Although there are certain events that's bound to happen, like what you are about to see…"
"I have killed Nobles before."
A billboard appears with many portrait pictures pinned on it. Many of them are circled and crossed in red. It also shows a wanted poster of a person named Daud with the reward of 5000 coins.
"Why should an Empress be different?"
The picture of the late Empress also pops up, with the red circle and the cross…
"So now we're in the viewpoint of the one who killed the leader." MOBIUS smirks a bit. "What? Is it to make us feel sympathy for him? Is he going to regret his actions or what?"
Back to the rooftop, one of the assassins makes a Blink to change his location as the rest approach the edge of the rooftop to make the strike.
"This looks the same as Corvo's Blink." Rita comments, which earns her a nod from Cap. "Are these three marked by The Outsider?"
"No, only their leader. But he has an ability to share some of the power with his followers. Some can use the magic, some can't."
The leader, Daud, orders one of his disciples to go ahead and restrains Corvo, who has no chances of fighting back against the magic. He then uses his Blink and approaches…
In one frame, he grabs the arm of a small child, trying to pull her away…
The next frame, his left hand slaps the Empress then chokes her, with his right hand readying the blade…
Instinctively, APONIA, ELYSIA and Cecilia grab the children and hold them in their arms, surprised at the sudden scene.
"The young girl wasn't mentioned before." SAKURA sympathizes with the ladies' actions. "Could it be that she's…"
Before the blade hits its mark, the vision changes to a different location, where two assassins kill two officers with strange face masks.
"For six months, the city writhed and changed."
Another view shows the front of the Rothwild Whale Slaughterhouse, with an electric fence protecting the main entrance and some officers guarding it.
"For six months…"
An assassin is being held down by the masked officers playing some sorts of distorted sound waves.
"I tried to forget what I'd done to the Empress and her little girl."
The tomb of the Empress is shown, with the tomb written:
IN MEMORY OF
HER MAJESTY
JESSAMINE KALDWIN
MOTHER TO EMILY, EMPRESS TO US ALL
And the body of hers is laid before it. Not under the ground, but plain above it.
…
"So what happened to that young girl? Is she…"
"Alive, Siegfried. I won't spoil it any further."
"Can you explain a bit about the masked officers? Some of them got killed by the assassins while some seem to be able to subdue them." Carole curiously asks.
"The Overseers, they work for The Abbey of Everyman. To make it short, they believe many sorts of spiritual forces are hostile to man and they will fight against them. And, unfortunately, they see all magic as evil, so yeah."
"If you were to make a comparison, how strong are they to our organization?"
"Completely stump…" Cap stops herself from finishing her answer to Otto's question. She turns back to the vision for a few seconds, then turns to Doctor MEI and asks. "Can I ask if the MANTIS are susceptible to Honkai? I mean, in a large amount of radiation?"
"They can turn into Honkai Beasts."
"That's… okay, give me a moment. I mean to find the right words…" HoTE starts rubbing her cheeks to think of an accurate question so she can get the right information to answer the Overseer's question… she then unconsciously turns to Seele and sees the stigma on her chest… "...The Stigmata. Alright, I got it." She turns back to the Doctor and… stops again. "...Great, you guys don't have any other spiritual forces other than the Honkai."
"...If Bronya is correct…" HoTr theorizes. "Whatever the Overseer did with the soundwave can disrupt the assassins, correct?"
"The Void power, yes, not the assassins themselves. Those sounds are annoying though."
"So they're basically like Schicksal, using the Void to fight…"
"The records say otherwise, Otto. These guys hate the Void to the core so they will never use it. About the 'Music Box'..." A small pause and everyone notices HoTE's lips twitch a bit in annoyance. "I'm borrowing Project Bunny for a second, Bronya."
Before the mentioned three can respond, HoTE quickly shifts to her right, and HoR's version of the big machine appears. During the machine's materialization, a portal materializes before it and two figures are dropped through. The Bunny's hands manage to manifest fast enough to grab both, stopping them from falling to the floor.
After a second, Ai-chan giggles and questions: "Finally making counter-measures for this, Cap?"
"If my other self decides to be nice." HoTE grunts and turns to see who just dropped in. "...Misteln Shariac and PROMETHEUS. Of course."
The former, upon hearing someone calling for her, turns her head to the right to see a face they just met a few hours ago, in the form of a decayed statue. Her eyes widen a bit in surprise, then looks around to see many familiar faces that she was their opponent for a while… and then she sees Cecilia…
"Ely, watch them for me." It's the only warning before the duo's gently dropped next to the Elf, who happily snuggles the Bronya-alike while the other looks around to try to understand what's going on. "To make it short: The Cecilia-alike is Misteln Shariac, the other is PROMETHEUS. You two, we're here to watch stuff, that's all. Back to the Music Box, I just remembered…"
Project Bunny, after retreating back, instantly uses its right hand to backhand HoTE's face, stopping her from continuing. A few seconds of silence later, HoTE lowers the hand down to show her scolding face, then pushes the Project Bunny into another portal, sending it back to where it was.
"Does this really happen everyday?"
"If lucky enough, Senti, every hour." After dusting her hands, HoTE turns her head back to the newly arrived duo and says: "Don't worry, I'm no HoTE. Just the 84$t4rd of my other self messed with my appearance."
"Is she your sister or so, Cecilia?" Younger Siegfried asks his wife in confusion, not seeing many differences between them.
"The woman is the Shariac Stigmata awakened." His older self explains. "About the other girl, she's…"
His mouth's suddenly zipped, and everyone sees HoTE making the motion. After the older Sieg sends her an annoyed glance, she opens his mouth and explains why: "It's better to keep whatever you say next private. For your daughter's sake."
In a moment less than a second, HoTE stops time and her eyes flash into Sirin's Herrscher eyes, and the two Kaslana instantly know why and nod in agreement.
"Anyway, back to Otto's question. I just remembered something: Other than the eruptions, Honkai works kinda like viruses or parasites which are more biological than magic. So no, the Music Box is useless against you guys, excluding its obnoxious noise of course. And since they have nothing close to a nuke, pretty sure you can stomp on them no problem."
"What about the guy who fired the explosive arrow on the civilians?" Lyle's question causes the new duo to turn to him with a surprised expression. "He looks quite intimidating."
"To normal civilians, yes they are. But you guys beat up Honkai Beasts on a daily basis, I doubt they can cause much trouble."
ELYSIA giggles a bit when she sees the duo's confused expression (though the expression is very small) so she explains: "We're watching another world that has no Honkai threats. Some people there have magic and we're curious about how strong they are."
"...There's a world without Honkai?" PROMETHEUS starts running the scan in her brain to see if there's any records that she somehow accidentally skipped. "Project VALUKA should have caught that up earlier…"
"And Sire didn't have to go through the troubles of continuing Project STIGMA…"
"VALUKA can only scan in the 'Honkai' universe system." Hare turns to HoTE who's looking at her. "There are more universes than you think. And the Tree of Imaginary is just one in the forest."
"...Who are you?" PROMETHEUS questions cautiously.
"Just nobody who got dragged into the messes between worlds." HoTE replies while waving her hand like it's nothing worth noting…
That perks even more interest towards her.
"Let's just return to the vision for now, okay?"
…
From the empty space, debris of broken roads suddenly float up and create a way to a nearby building. Daud, standing near the cliff with the body of the Empress behind him, watches the Void before him change on its will.
"Whatever doom is coming, I deserve it… But not yet."
"Is that his ability?" Adam questions. "Or the place he's in has different physical laws?"
"Welcome to The Void." HoTE spreads her arms to the sides like she's representing it. "Where all things start."
"Don't be overdramatic." HoV snorts.
"Oi! Aren't you the same with your performance?"
"Does it change based on his will? Or this… The Outsider made those platforms?"
"Hm… it's a bit hard to say, Adam. There's no rules in the Void, unfortunately, so it's hard to pinpoint that."
"What's The Void, exactly?" The question is from the green snake. "Do you mean like the void in space?"
"Void is Nothingness. But since it's nothing, it could potentially be everything."
Sights of different corners of the city during different times starts running within the next seconds:
Morning, a 'normal' street with the rail train running above it. Some guards are patrolling as part of their daily routine.
Nighttime, a dark corner of the city with the moon shining bright on the sky that looks down on the statue of the late Empress.
Dusk, before the steel-wired fences over the wall separating the street to the Slaughter House. One cut shows the guards guarding the front.
"Is that the same thing with the electric fence from before?" Tesla growls, noticing the pylon on the ground level.
"That's an Arc Pylon, a defensive system alongside the Wall of Light. Forgot to say that they have a warning sound before they blast off."
"Doesn't make them any better." Einstein replies with a disappointed tone.
"And how would you justify the robots you have?"
"We can control them directly."
A warning poster about Corvo appears, detailing why and the price of capturing/killing him.
'Long live the Empress' is crossed out with a paint spray, and beneath it is another statement in black: 'She was a wench!'
"That's… a bit too far, isn't it?" Kallen scowls. "Calling your ruler like that…"
"Well, it can't help with the fact that no one in that world knows who her daughter's father is."
That causes many to blink several times. Himeko manages to get her words out first: "What do you mean by 'no one'? Don't tell me that the Empress also didn't know?"
HoTE sends back a flat look. "I know you're FA a bit too long but do you have to take it so literally?" That causes the color on her face to match her hair. "Of course the Empress knew. And the father too."
'It's Corvo, isn't it?'
'Who else, Ai-chan?'
ELYSIA also recognizes it, but only giggles to herself to not spoil the fun.
The vision zooms in one of the assassins, which dresses in red instead of black, only for the figure to disappear.
Scene changes to the inside of the slaughter house where the butchers with saws in their hands patrol, the remains of the whales being in plain sight. One's in the process of joining its kind in the afterlife.
Some younger audiences shiver due to how bloody it looks. They know enough that a butcher's work is never a clean job, doesn't mean that they don't feel wrong watching it.
"Seeing this makes me a bit glad that we're fighting the Honkai instead of ourselves."
"*Crackle* Can't handle some drops of blood, APONIA?"
"Not everyone is into fights like you, KALPAS."
"Does it have to be this bloody?"
"Butchery isn't a pretty job, Bella." Cecilia pats the girl's head then to the others to calm them down.
A second of the outside scene of the slaughterhouse before returning to Daud who's stealthily crawling through the sewers beneath the dripping blood of the whale. It then cuts to him bringing a body to a meat locker.
Some widen their eyes in shock, imagining what the man's about to do…
Thankfully, the vision changes to some cuts throughout the city which there's nothing to note…
Until it stops at an assassin stabbing a guard in the back.
Daud shoots an officer's head with his wristbow.
Daud fights a guard with one of his subordinates. When the guard shoots, Daud instantly uses Stop Time, which his assassin isn't affected by.
"That's… convenient?" MOBIUS tilts her head with suspicious eyes. "His assassins aren't stopped by his spells? So allies can move freely while he's stopping time?"
HoTE chuckles. "Funny enough, Time Stop is considered to be the worst if both sides can use it since none are affected by the other."
Then she whispers: "F4ck the clock."
"We have the technology to slow down time…"
"I think it's more akin to accelerating your own speed." APHO Bronya replies to APHO Mei. "To completely stop time is a different matter. I don't think there's a piece of technology that could tackle something that doesn't exist physically."
'There are.' HoTE replies to herself. 'We might see that in the future.'
Some cutscenes about the assassins and Daud fighting against their enemies…
"Even if Dunwall burns to the ground…"
The Outsider shows himself before Daud.
"One corner of the Empire will still know your story. Daud, the Knife of Dunwall. Killer of an Empress."
And he disappears, like he was never there.
Imagine the Outsider scene is pushed into the end and the others are pushed forward.
"This one is a bit boring." KALPAS calmly comments, which causes his table to send him suspicious looks. "What?"
"I thought you like bloody battles?" SAKURA raises an eyebrow.
"Does that look like a battle to you? It's more of an one-sided assassination, which is up your alley more than mine."
"Well… He's not wrong." VILL-V shrugs. "I was expecting more, but then we're talking about an assassin here, so…"
"An assassin group with power to bend reality." SU counters. "And these are just… does the Void enhance their physical attributes too?"
"As long as they're connected to the Void. Normal training would also help adapting and evolving the spells they know or even create a new one." HoTE then turns to the new duo and sees the 'We need explanation' from the Advanced A.I. "Substitute the 'Void' with 'Honkai' and you get the…"
"That's easy to analyze." PROMETHEUS interrupts. "What I want to know is why you dragged us here."
"...It's not me, personally. Just think of this as a free vacation after all the fights you've gone through for a while."
Hare looks around the room for a moment before refuting the statement: "With this much decoration and refreshments, I fail to believe that statement."
"Well free for you, but definitely come out of my paycheck later." That answer causes some to chuckle/giggle. "I did expect you here, but not during the middle of the vision, though. I do see why after a bit, but still…"
"Is there a similarity between the two with someone in that vision?" EDEN curiously asks while slowly swirling her wine glass.
"It's true."
Everyone turns silent after HoTE answers, waiting for any further explanations… and gets none. "HEY! That's not the answer we're looking for!"
"Shut up Idiotka." Young Bronya slaps young Kiana in the face to shut her up before she spurts out more. "But Idiotka is correct. That doesn't answer anything."
"For somebody's sanity, which includes mine…" HoTE shrugs. "I will keep that information in a more suitable moment."
Young Kaslana pouts and crosses her arms, not satisfied with the answer.
"May I have a question?" All turn to Otto. "You said that we can do whatever we do here within this office. Is it possible for us to duplicate the power that you showed on the screen?"
"Yes, but I highly recommend not to overdo it." HoTE gestures to Welt and HoTr. "With the power of Reason, they can certainly replicate these feats with just minor issues. With you guys, however…"
"The adaptation is in question." HoO continues. "But with the authority you gave us, it means that we CAN imagine that we're adapted to said abilities, and we can perform those with no problems."
"Yes."
What follows the answer is a huge yellow HOMU appearing out of nowhere and dropping straight on top of the False Herrscher, and quickly followed by a lot more HOMUs with different colors.
PROMETHEUS blinks a couple of times before turning to the three Bronyas who just give each other a thumbs-up for their 'good work'.
"Aside from them testing that theory…" HoTE starts comically crawling out of the pile which causes the kids to laugh. "Things like Time Stop are really hard to pull out even when you HAVE the power to do so. Since the next vision won't show it, Corvo has a Possession spell."
That causes HoO to glare at MOBIUS, who in turn glares back and asks: "What's with that look of yours?"
"Your simulation version tried to take over my mind when I was with the World Serpent. I really didn't take kindly to that."
"You can bicker after this vision, okay?"
If the quality of this one doesn't satisfy you guys, my apology. I was a bit off while writing this one. Hopefully the next will improve.