Scene #3203: Library of Artifice

Owner	Pose
Septette Arcubielle	The Echoing Library lies in the very shadow of Yggdrasil- but not the one Septette served. There are several trees that go by that name, and this is the Yggdrasil of the Empire, not of the Deep City. Still, she finds herself stalking its stone halls today, summoned by a magical alert set off by some kind of intruder. "If this is another false alarm from an FOE, I'm going to cut it to pieces," she remarks to a black-armored human guard as he heads for the exit. "Please do," he replies in an equally-deadpan tone. Careful not to touch any of the books lest they disintegrate, the little robot makes her way past the deactivated golems and into one of the main atria of the library. Sun shines down from holes in the ceiling, and enormous tree roots have burst through the stone walls in places, as if the pages of the books were calling to their kin. Leaning against the walkway's railing, she looks down at the lower levels, trying to see if she can spy the mysterious intruder. Three small, spherical drones- one red, one yellow, one blue- materialize and hover near her, though they're only lightly armored and have no obvious weapons. "This had better be something interesting..."
Alice Margatroid	Getting wind of something that perks her interest, books that could help her achieve her goal and golems that have their own will. At least, that's what the report from the Syndicate network gave her. What wasn't told to her were the multitude of monsters in the way of her actual goal. "I'm going to have to show that informant what the dollmaker is capable of if they give me wrong info again..." she muttered, making her way forth with Hourai and Shanghai nearby, defending Alice. "Try not to expend too much energy, you two. No need to go all out. They seem weak so far." she comments, Hourai and Shanghai giving a nod before returning to Alice's sides, "Now..." as she pulls a map from the top of her dress... "Mm... left... right? They didn't even give me a complete map!"
Septette Arcubielle	A magician and two summons... is she a Shaman, perhaps? No; the creatures with her don't appear to be enchanted animals. As she watches Alice walk between the bookshelves two stories down, Septette's violet eyes glow with interest. Most likely a Multiversal outsider, she concludes: those animated dolls don't look quite like anything she's seen before, and anyone from the Empire of Yggdrasil knows not to try to break into this place. Hugging her well-worn purple cloak close to conceal her hollow metal ribcage, the yggdroid hops over the railing, grabbing onto the floor of the story below to break her fall. Then she kicks off of that surface and slides down a half-broken pillar for the remaining distance, landing smoothly without so much as cracking the floor. Sept takes a moment to straighten her cloak and adjust the earmuffs she wears over her metal ear-fins before greeting the uninvited guest properly... "Hello," chirps a cheery voice with subtly synthetic undertones. Stepping out from behind a stone bookshelf, Septette inclines her head politely towards Alice and the dolls. "I hope you're finding this place to your liking? I have to remind you that this is all strictly reference material: no check-outs, unfortunately." Her tone is civil, and she looks almost human clothed like this, but Alice may be able to perceive the magic-radiating core and bladed limbs under her cloak. This isn't an ordinary librarian.
Alice Margatroid	Said magician and 'summons' shoot forth and another monster is downed, shaking her head, "Is there no end to this?" she questions "These things are more tenacious than the fairies. Hourai, get ready. Spellcard!" a spellcard comes out from her sleeve then.. "Curse Sign, Houra..." a blink. the noise from someone landing behind her cancels her own thing... "Shanghai, Hourai." The two laser the monster and it falls before the Dollmaker turns around... She readies the card in her hand, pulling Hourai in front of her, expecting another Monster, but... she gives a look at Septette and sighs softly, pulling the card back into her sleeve as the three visibly relax. "Ah, I didn't expect to see another person here." she looks around, "As for finding this to my liking, not really. The monsters here are tenacious, more so than the youkai back home under a full moon..." Alice's eyes glow red and then fall back to the blue. The girl in front of her radiates magic... "Ah, so no checking out then? At least you're about the same as another librarian I know back home. I've been on the look for a few things to help my dolls and was told this place has a few things I can get. I'm looking for a certain tome and then I was told about the golems here and would like to take one to study..."
Septette Arcubielle	The little war machine eyes Hourai closely when she has the chance, not flinching from the aborted attack, but staring intently at the doll and assessing its features. "I'm not a librarian," she clarifies in a sunny tone. "They sent me here to kill you. But we can work out something more reasonable, can't we?" Offering her open hand to Alice in greeting, she reveals spearlike fingertips and an arm that looks like a flesh-tone metal skeleton. Despite the overt menace, she remains superficially courteous and calm through the entire conversation. "Pardon my manners- I'm Septette. Pleased to meet you. The book you may certainly look at, so long as you're gentle with it and put it back where it came from. But as for the golems..." Here, Septette becomes solemn. "You don't know what you're asking. How do I know you won't activate one accidentally- or, worse, intentionally? That's an impressive body count you've accrued thus far-" She gestures at the monster corpses littering the floor. "-but these squishy things are fodder compared to a reactivated golem. I can't just let you take something like that." She pauses for a moment, looking thoughtful, and then brightens somewhat. "... Unless you'd like to prove yourself, somehow? I am open to negotiation."
Alice Margatroid	Hourai blinks a bit and stares at Septette, pulling in front of Alice with a shield drawn. "You want to kill my Master?" the little doll speaks, a stern tone from her voice. Alice backs up just slightly, her right hand in front of her and fingers twitching a bit, looks like she's readying something. "I'm afraid you won't like what you are wanting to do." Shanghai blinks and tilts her head, looking at the spearfingers and the arm. "Are you a construct too? Who controls you? Where's your Master?" she questions with a happy voice, floating just a bit past Hourai. "I'm Shanghai, this is Alice and Hourai." strangely, Alice's lips are not moving, she's staying silent for right now, "Oh, she'll want to activate one just to see how it works so she can try to improve Goliath." both Hourai and Alice give a stare to Shanghai who immediately retreats behind the two. Alice steps forward some, "They were in my way, I gave them a chance to go away but they did not so I did what I had to do. Fortunately, they should just be knocked out. My danmaku isn't lethal. Unless I want it to be." a pause, "I believe that the only way to negotiation is a fight, am I right?"
Septette Arcubielle	"I didn't say that, little one," she replies to Hourai. "I said I was sent here to kill her. But I do not wish to, unless it proves a necessity... and it seems we are both more reasonable people than that." The last few words come across as rather pointed and searching. In response to the dolls' defensive posturing, Septette calls over the three drones: while they're apparently unarmed, each carries a significant magical charge. They orbit around her lazily without any visible means of propulsion. Her eyes fix on Shanghai a moment later, and she cracks a smile again at the innocent questions. "I might be insulted that you assume I am a servant," she points out, "but I assume you've never met a 'construct' with her own free will." Her tone suddenly shifts to one of cool seriousness. "Kindly never make that assumption again." An almost disturbingly wide grin spreads across her fact when Alice suggests they fight. "You wouldn't kill a monster that attacked you, but your first thought is to fight over the golem? You ARE interesting." Grabbing the neck of her cloak and throwing it to the side, the war machine reveals her dreadful bladed form. "You're only flesh, as far as I can tell. You don't have to best me- just prove that you're strong enough to handle a golem, and I'll allow you to take it. Does that sound fair?"
Alice Margatroid	Alice stares at Septette with a frown upon her face. "Of course I'm reasonable. I asked if fighting was the only recourse for this. I'd rather not fight you either but if you want to insist..." Alice eyes the drones, more magic there. Something feels... off about this person. Shanghai, however, cowers back behind Alice and frowns, "I didn't mean to! Alice is just trying to get what you've accomplished... a doll with free will." "I'm just used to people challenging me for random things." and there's what that off feeling is. She eyes the core and the entire bladed form. About ten dolls appear in front of her, shields at the ready. "It wasn't even meant as a suggestion, just from your initial conduct, an inevitablility. IF you'd rather drink tea and discuss magic, I'd be more than willing to take the offer... but please don't press me into a fight..." Her face turns to a serious looking one the shield dolls taking a rotating circle around the youkai. "I'm Alice Maragtroid, the Dollmaker of Gensokyo. And I'm not just flesh, I'm Youkai." a flash of red in her eyes then back to blue, "I'm open for negotiation."
Septette Arcubielle	Her hollow ribcage expands and contracts slightly in an emulation of breathing, and her eye-lights flicker as if in a blink. If not an uploaded organic intelligence, this is someone who has spent a very long time learning how to act human. "You misunderstand me," she chides gently. "I said that I didn't want to kill you. Not that I didn't want to fight." Her fingers flex with an unpleasant sound, like a pair of scissors that desperately needs grease. "It seems to be the most direct method of assessing whether you can handle a golem," Septette reasons. "If you couldn't tell, I am built for conflict- and, of course, I enjoy it. So yes, I think we shall fight. Please don't consider my actions evidence of hostility. Should you prove weaker than you seem, I've saved you from being killed by your own experiment. If not, then you may continue on your way with no lasting injuries." With that, the blades on her arms unfold and crackle with magically-generated electricity. Her eyes' glow switches to ultraviolet light, seeming to go completely dark and adding one more disturbing aspect to her skeletal appearance. "Go." The stone floor below her feet practically explodes when she pushes off of it, a spiderweb of cracks suddenly appearing where she stood an instant before. The three drones just barely keep up with her when she leaps, carrying her forwards and upwards until her taloned feet dig into the ceiling above Alice's position. The elementally-charged spheres ignore her dolls, instead launching a spread of sharpened icicles, magical orbs of electricity, and gouts of fire at Alice designed to pin her down. A moment later, Septette kicks off of the ceiling and lands on her feet just a meter away from Alice's original position. If the dollmaker is still pinned down by the drones' fire, she'll try to strike with the blunt edges of her blades at lightning speed; otherwise, she'll electrify the immediate area, trying to disable some of the dolls before they can retaliate.
Alice Margatroid	Alice's eyes fall flat, shaking her head a bit, "Very well then. I guess I have no choice in this matter." She shakes her head again and she looks towards Hourai and Shanghai, nodding. "I'll promise you it won't be as easy as you may think to prove me weak." a grin, "I've helped solve incidents with my danmaku and youkai are nothing to be trivial about." She gives a bit of a nod and the shield dolls disperse a bit, "Then do not consider my actions hostile either, you've challenged me and I'll accept it. Hourai, Shanghai! READY!" Both dolls nod and suddenly they're equipped with Lance and Shield along with a Sword. "I'll show you why I am the best dollmaker in Gensokyo!" With this, Alice takes flight, looking at the possibly grounded individual before her, but when Septette takes off, her eyes go wide. Okay, stay calm. Treat this like you would Aya... Dodge... everything. When Septette's attacks start, Alice starts looking for holes, and where she finds none, the shield dolls quickly start engaging, moving in front of the attacks to take the brunt of them, only to fall and dissapear, Alice moving back with her hand outstretched, magic twitches from her fingers to the multitude of dolls and she clutches the grimoire to her side. Her eyes scan the now made battlefield and with a small curse under her breath, she starts throwing out danmaku of her own, small shard based ones before Hourai and Shanghai come into play and send out lasers of their own, small red beams that move to trace Septette's movements. "It will take more than that to pin me down." she comments, though with the electrification of the area, quite a few more dolls fall to the Yggdroid, Alice's eyes squinting in a calm but calculated manner, "Melee will not be good here..." she mutters to herself, she wheels her hand forth and four dolls appear with strings attached and large lances, moving to strike downwards towards the speedster with loud kashink sounds as they attempt to strike.
Septette Arcubielle	If Septette's eyes could widen, they probably would: very few things in Etria can summon replacements at all, let alone several at a time. Clearly, destroying all of Alice's dolls is not the optimal solution here. She'll likely just keep making more, but unlike the youkai, Septette can't summon infinite numbers of drones. Normally attrition favors the one who does not bleed, but now it's in her best interests to keep the pressure on Alice until one of them cracks. "You never lead with your best attack," she replies calmly. "Of course I have more." Those lancers don't know what they're getting into: the yggdroid may have some ranged attacks, but it's in melee that she truly shines. Now that she knows most of the dolls are replaceable, the electric charge on her blades disappears, and they turn red with heat as the air around them distorts like crinkling cellophane. Meanwhile, her three drones disperse throughout the room, assuming seemingly random positions but holding their fire for now. The first lancer to come at her is met with a swipe at neck-level just before it can reach her, as is the second. By the third and fourth, she's too distracted to block effectively, only able to ward them off after taking a couple of blows. Her armor plating is unscathed by the attacks, but one strike does damage the hydraulics in her left arm. Even that kind of damage doesn't seem to slow her down, however. The twined hydraulic cables flail as liquid briefly gushes out of them, but Septette flash-freezes the fluid to keep more of it from escaping, and shapes what did leak out into spear-like points of ice. The cables wrap back around her arm, moving like tentacles under her control. A fraction of a second later, she leaps into the air towards Alice with blades extended and tries to lash out with the damaged cables as well as her standard melee weapons- but she fully expects the magician to dodge. The yellow drone floats about twenty feet behind Alice, and as soon as she passes her opponent with the first strike, she'll leap off of a flickering barrier projected by the drone, instantaneously changing direction for a second attempt!
Alice Margatroid	"That's standard.." she replies back as more dolls start to fill around Alice's area. One of the lancer dolls gets beheaded and then falls to the ground, along with the second one, but with the third and fourth getting glancing hits, they move to stay in the air, looking towards Septette with lances extended. The shimmer of magic strings connecting the two to Alice brighten up but do nothing. A few more of the shield dolls are taken out by the sudden pounce at her, Alice kicking off the ground to get out of the way, leaving a few dolls behind that start spinning with razors attached to them. "Spellcard." she starts, a card pulled out in her hand "Curse Sign, Shanghai Doll!" Shanghai relocates in front of Alice as she spins around, looking at the ricocheting Yggdroid. Shanghai opens up with a large red laser firing out towards her, with a loud repeat of her own name in the most cheerful voice possible, then she swings her sword to let the beam swing out over. Sure's it's a bit of a modification to the normal spellcard but, with how fast the opponent is moving... Another card is pulled out... and Alice starts glowing blue. "Magic Pot..." and another, now glowing yellow. "Sacrificial Doll..." and one of the shield dolls that isn't even getting hit dissapears. "Shoring up the defense.. Now.. " Alice starts to wave her hand once more, sending shards of danmaku around, and with a quick point towards the yellow orb, she sends a laser doll right at it, projecting a thin red beam at it.
Septette Arcubielle	The yellow drone projects a flickering forcefield around itself, but it only holds for a second before the beam pierces through. Seeming to realize it can't defend against the attack forever, it drops the shield and pours its remaining energy into a bolt of lightning aimed at the beam doll. When the dust settles, the 'bot is lying on the floor with a sizzling hole in it. It sparks erratically, seemingly disabled. Simultaneously, the red drone dashes to her side, pivoting to remain between Shanghai and its master. It seems each of them has a similar defensive purpose: this one superheats the air directly in front of it, briefly sparking a phase change to plasma and diffracting most of the beam harmlessly. Shanghai's attack is considerably more powerful than the standard beam doll's, however, and a moment later the red drone outright explodes in a spray of fire and magically-charged metal. The danmaku shards largely reflect off of Septette's armored plates- rather than try to dodge all of them, she twists and angles her body so that they hit the least vulnerable parts. Some pass through her skeletal anatomy without striking anything, but a handful do strike true: her inner workings are progressively becoming more damaged, though she doesn't show any pain. For a moment it looks like the yggdroid's leap is going to fall short- but then she flares a small array of thrusters in her legs, and footstool-jumps off of an unfortunate doll. Her scything blades lash out in a series of precise strikes designed to pass through as many dolls as possible, and as she emerges from the red drone's fireball, she brings both searing blades down in a shearing arc towards Alice...
Alice Margatroid	The yellow one is down... and now the red, howeer Shanghai's wounded, floating weakly in mid air after that last attack from the red drone, burning off quite a bit of Shanghai's outfit and the underlying doll beneath. It... almost smells like flesh. Almost. Meanwhile, Hourai's trying to keep everything else from closing in on Alice, but with a quick look, and the Yggdroid's leap, she moves to try and take the place between her and Septette, but falls short, the searing blades tear into the dollmaker's dolls and then the dollmaker's outfit! The attack leaves ready burn marks on the dollmaker's torso and the force of the attack sends her skidding back, clutching her torn top and torso. She hunches over and takes a few deep breaths, wiping her head with another hand. "Nnngh... you're no ordinary construct..." she whispered... heavy breaths between each word. She looks to Hourai and Shanghai both coming back to the dollmaker and two more shield dolls dissapear with no attacks at them, the dollmaker glowing a brighter yellow. Time to change it up slightly. Normally Alice prefers a keep away style but in some situations... this may end up with a more direct approach. Alice kicks off the ground and starts dashing towards Septette, her right hand balled up into a fist. Now, there's dolls everywhere, strings crisscrossing. "SPellcard! FOCUS POWER!" she starts, the stationary dolls lighting up. "TRIP WIRE!" Red energy barrels out of Alice's right fist, shooting across all the wires and bouncing from doll to doll. "Doll Placement!" More singular dolls start to appear in various directions, "Spellcard!" she gets close towards Septette, or tries to. "Lance Sign! Cute Phalanx!" she continues her advance and thrusts her fist forward once more, lance dolls appearing out of a spellcircle at high velocity towards Septette as the dollmaker continues her advance, and while close... Alice eyes that red core... and with the spellcard ending soon, she spins around and lashes out with a kick aimed to that core with a heavy boot. "Kyaa! Doll Activation!" the dolls that are placed after the Placement skill spin around rapidly with razors, attempting to cut anything in its place. Alice proceeds to take a few more steps forward and drop to her knee, panting hard. This wasn't everything she could throw but... the state of her being, her magic power is running a bit low...
Septette Arcubielle	If Septette notices the smell of burnt flesh, it doesn't change her demeanor in the slightest. She inclines her head respectfully towards Alice after landing, remaining calm and polite even when damaged. "I should hope not. For what it is worth, you are no ordinary dollmaker." Rather than try to avoid the magician's advance, Septette seems to welcome the approach: she simply turns to the side in a traditional fighting stance and digs her talons into the floor. Then comes the Trip Wire spellcard: her stance leaves her rooted to the ground, without enough time to evade the complex laser attack. Something glints in her once-empty eyes, and she wordlessly activates an effect... LIMIT BREAK: INDOMITABLE. The lasers scorch and mar her armor, and red-hot slag drips from some of her injuries like glowing blood. Septette simply stands there, unflinching despite the seemingly-critical damage. But when the lancers close in, she rips a huge chunk of stone out of the floor with her talons and hurls it at them, breaking their formation (and probably a good number of the dolls themselves). With a flurry of precise strikes, she clears her immediate area of remaining dolls, pretending to be too occupied with destroying them to pay any attention to Alice herself. Then the kick strikes directly at her core with a resounding echo. She looks down at Alice's foot inside her ribcage momentarily with an unreadable expression... and when Alice collapses a few steps away, the blue drone is hovering just a few feet away, facing directly at her and brimming with stored magical power. With heavy, clanking footsteps, Septette strides over to her weary opponent and offers a hand- one that's no longer seemingly made of knives. Now that her built-in weapons are concealed again, she looks much less threatening, and a warm smile crosses her face. "You have certainly proved yourself, Alice the Dollmaker. I shall see about printing you a library card."
Alice Margatroid	Alice is panting hard, a light grin, "That's what I keep hearing." she comments back and wideeyes as her doll formation is broken but with the kick to the core and the echo... Alice shakes her head. "Nngh. You're a tough one, I'll give you that." she offers, watching the blue drone and Septette approach. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "I never thought I'd have to go through all this to get a book. I see why Patchouli makes tomes to defend her stuff. Never the less." she looks up and sees the extended hand, taking it into her own and lifting herself up from it. "Margatroid... but I don't mind that as well." she shakes her head and looks at herself, "That would kill ordinary humans, I'm sure..." Alice turns to look around, Hourai and Shanghai still on the defensive and every other doll has dissapeared. "Sorry for breaking your orbs, but... it needed to be done, you broke quite a few of my dolls.. and even hurt Shanghai. Which, by the by, is hard to do."
Septette Arcubielle	Septette just shrugs with equanimity at her opponent's apology. "Don't worry about the drones. They're not easy to make, but ultimately, they're replaceable. Not like those two," she remarks with a nod to Hourai and Shanghai. Then she reaches into her pouch, and presses a few enchanted cloth bandages into Alice's hand. "You look like you could use these." It's well-meaning, but it might sound a bit hypocritical coming from someone who's still bleeding slag. "Shanghai. Hourai. It's been a pleasure to meet you. I hope that you haven't been damaged too badly- I didn't anticipate the red drone's exploding, or else I wouldn't have put it so close." She inclines her head respectfully towards them as well- perhaps just a little lower than she did for Alice. "I know where you can find the library's catalog, as well as a dormant golem or two. Let me mark it on your map- I'll accompany you as well, if you like." There's a brief pause as Septette dons her cloak again, but then she turns and flashes Alice a grin. "When you're done with that tome, I can recommend others that may complement your research as well. They can't leave this library, but I could bring a tea set and snacks..."
Alice Margatroid	Alice gives a nod and Shanghai and Hourai look towards Septette. Shanghai gives a bit of a nod, "I will get better. Alice will fix whatever's broken like she normally does. She's right though, you're the first one in a long time to actually hurt me!" she still seems cheerful despite what happened as Hourai takes the bandages and starts working on Alice. Hourai gives a bit of a scoff, "Something tells me you didn't go all out against her." she comments, but it's okay, you're not gone and she's not severely injured." Alice shakes her head and offers the map, letting Septette mark it. "Thanks. Hopefully we won't have to meet up with bullets again." as she picks up the tome and looks for a table to sit at... somewhere protected at least. "Tea sounds nice. Green, light sugar..."