[BITPR²] Kyuukyoku Gaiden: The Beachdown Apocalypse

[Rater202]

"Your caution is understandable, but pointless. We should assume that privacy in this construct is limited to the scopes of our minds." Meaning: the walls have ears, the ground has ears, the freaking coffee table has ears.

"His name is Mikhail. According to him, the reason everything here feels so spiritually dead is because of a ruthlessly effective proactivity towards keeping anything with spiritual powers strictly in the spirit world. The reason he holds any interest in us at all is because we are an anomaly as far as this situation is concerned, a potentially imbalancing factor if you will." Which in and of itself is a bit odd, considering Mikhail's version of 'balance' has everything 'real' on one side and everything 'spiritual' on the other, and they probably do not share the same weight. "Assuming our deaths do not, in fact, eject us from this construct, the most likely conclusion is that we would end up on the spirit world side of this place. Which poses an interesting question all its own, since I don't think there would be a Hueco Mundo for Svetlana-san here to be sent to."

"...I'm starting to think this might be less of a construct and more of a 'Alternate Reality' situation... He was pretty insistant that this wasn't an illusion before we left, so..."

"I attempted to open a Garganta my first day here. Something about this false body prevented me from opening the gateway and, unfortunatly my child wans't able to force the soul of this body to eject my true self into the astral plane."

She blinks.

"Do you likewise have an Oroboros sign marked on your body sealing your powers to afraction of what they should be? I have one, but my child does not."

[Kuroimaken]

"I do. I've also noticed it on a few people I've run into. In my current state, my Zanpakutou is sealed within this Gigai. I presume it wouldn't be particularly difficult to sublimate this false body, but I would rather wait until there is concrete reason to do so." Koutarou replies. "Although perhaps you needed a different approach. Instead of focusing on getting the soul out of the body, you could focus on removing the tattoo's effects. Sarah, can you confirm that the Gigai we're using is in fact something you can interact with through your powers?"

[Rater202]

"Uh... Kind of... The problem is is that, while you're in those bodies, they're alive. And just like the souls of living humans are differant from Plus's or Shinigami, the souls of living matter are differant from the souls of non-living matter."

Sarah sighs.

"Every individual atom has a soul, separate from the souls of the things they make up. My body has a soul that isn't me. My skin, my blood all of my muscles, bones, and organs, all have souls separate from my body's. My hair, each fiber of my muscles, all of my tissues have souls separate from my bones' and organs' souls. All of my cells have souls separate from the souls of my tissues, the molecules inside my cells have their own souls... It's souls all the way down."

"And for the life of me, I can't distinguish the souls of my body from the soul that's my actual self. If I could, I'd be able to summon my Fullbring. It's the same problem with you guys, as long as those bodies are alive, I can't tell the difference between them and you, and I'm not strong enough to Fullbring like people souls. I might be able to disrupt a hollow or glue pieces back on since they're made up of a bunch of people souls so they're more like inanimate souls, but the one time I was able to try... Don't wanna talk about it."

Svetlana puts a hand on Sarah's shoulder.

...And that's why I'm so.. jumpy. Nothing here has a soul. These cloths," She gestures the outfit the Shinigami helped her get, "barely have a soul and it seems to be formed mostly of lingering well wishes from the people who donated it so there's only so much I can do with it. Fullbringiner anything is so hard here..."

She sounds scared. This is the closest thing she's been to completely powerless in a long time.

"But yeah, I can't do anything with your bodies till I figure out how to tell the difference between them and you."

[Kuroimaken]

"...I see. I can't say I fully comprehend your difficulty since I am so used to seeing a Gigai as a tool - as Mikhail has strangely but adequately put, a Gigai is little more than 'a corpse that I am making alive'. Well, not in so many words, but still, it does not decompose as corpses do." The Commander-General pauses to consider this for a moment.

"Sarah-san, allow me to propose a harmless experiment. You know what my Reiatsu feels like, yes? A Reiatsu is an expression of the soul. It comes from within the soul itself, and it manifests in different ways for each soul. Now..." He plucks a couple of hairs from his head, and puts them in the table in front of her. "...look at these hairs. They have a soul of their own, yes? And yet no Reiatsu of their own, at least none that they can release. Can you tell the difference between these hairs and myself as I release a small portion of my Reiatsu?" To this end, Koutarou calmly projects a small Reiatsu field around himself.

[Rater202]

"Yeah. I can tell the difference just fine once it's not part of your body anymore, but I'm not talking about the differances between the body and the soul. I'm talking about the differances of the souls of your body and the soul of you."

[Kuroimaken]

"That's not what I meant." Koutarou corrects himself. "You can tell we're not part of the same being once it's out of me, but can you tell the difference between my Reiatsu and the 'soul' on these hairs? Look closely."

[Rater202]

"Yes. When they're not part of your body."

"But the soul of something that is part of your body is indistinguishable from your own soul. It's a property of the souls of living objects verses the souls of non-living objects, they become too similar and I don't have the skill level needed to tell the differance. What you're doing isn't going to help me get any better at telling the differance between you and your body."

Sarah blinks. "Am... Am I the first Fullbringer you've met?"

[Kuroimaken]

"You are." The Shinigami admits. "It's not that you are a particularly rare breed of medium. But your skillset doesn't come up often, and I'm not familiar with its particulars. In that sense, I'm more acquainted with the Quincy than I am with you. If nothing else, your particular powers are sourced neither from Reiatsu nor Reishi, so there is no particular analog for me to draw from."

Another sip of his tea.

"It's a moot point, regardless. For whatever reason, Mikhail or whomever brought us here has decided to limit myself and Svetlana, but not you. He must not see you as a threat."

[Rater202]

"Fullbring comes from the heart, like a Hollow's unique powers but not corrupted by
raw instinct and the damage to the heart."

"Think of them as less human mediums and more something similar to an Arrancar: However, instead of a Hollow becoming part Shinigami and developing Shinigami-like powers, it's a living human becoming part hollow and gaining hollow like powers... Though the soul manipulation aspect appears unique to them, an example of the malleability of human souls."

"My uh... Mentor for lack of a better word explained that it comes from human souls absorbing hollow energy. Usually when they're babies or in the womb, but... I used to be able to suck up energy from the environment. Happened automatically. Hollows attack my village, I become part hollow from their reiatsu. Of course, It's been months since I've drained any energy from anything so I don't think I can do it anymore."

"As for the seals... I've got a theory on that. It's my understanding that powerful Lieutenant Shinigami, Captains, and people on the same level would often have a not insignificant portion of their energy sealed away to avoid accidentally affect the environment or living souls when deployed in the living world long-term. At least, before the War and the following truce. My child's power is roughly equal to that of Menos Grande, who are roughly comparable to an average Shinigami Lieutenant in power, yes? I myself was an Adjucha and a powerful one, even before my Arrancarification and the Average Adjucha is roughly equivalent to an Average Captain. As a powerful Adjucha based Artificial Arrancar, I should be roughly equal to an above average or, at risk of sounding arrogant, exceptional Captain level Shinigami while you're the current Captain Commander."

Svetlana pauses for a moment.

"If we take it at face value that the lack of spiritual presence in this world is due to the balance of spirits and living souls being more closely monitored, than perhaps whatever being brought us here sealed our power to limit our impact on the world of the living while my child's own power is just below the threshold."

[Kuroimaken]

"...honestly, I am not a scientist, so how exactly Hollow energy enables the manipulation of the spiritual essence of an object is beyond me. But then, that's what makes a Fullbringer unique, as opposed to another category of medium." What's even more surprising is that such a 'contamination' does not seem to change the nature of a living soul. How does it stop the erosion on its own? Probably a question to fascinate Shinigami scientists for years to come.

"An interesting theory, but I am not entirely certain that's quite it." Koutarou comments. "Even as theoretically limited as we are, I am fairly certain there is more than enough havoc either of us could wreak on an ecosystem that's entirely devoid of spiritual energy. If that were meant to be the case, then sealing our powers entirely would have been a better choice. Which leaves two possibilities I can think of - either a complete seal was just not possible, or whatever force brought us here is not the same force Mikhail and the spirit world of this reality are working for. If a third party indeed exists, then there would have to be a reason for it to not show itself... but I digress." By now he's finished his tea. "Mikhail's direct approach and suggestion seems to imply whomever would want us out of here can't or won't interact with us directly. It's possible that direct interference will have the exact effect it's hoping we won't have on its carefully balanced environment."

[Rater202]

"Maybe the seals just don't' work on living humans?"

"...Or maybe I'm just not worth it, I, I haven't been able to use my Fullbring since... Object s don't have souls here, so my other powers aren't as effective... There's no point, If we get attacked, I'm a liability."

[Kuroimaken]

"I find that unlikely." Koutarou notes. "Your being a liability, I mean. Between the three of us, there is far too diverse a set of abilities. If we have indeed been brought here, then there has to be a reason behind your being here too, Sarah-san." And there is very little to suggest that the three of them were brought as a complete coincidence.

"Don't mistake a potential error on our antagonist's part as an assessment of your self-worth. That oversight could indeed prove a trump card for us.

Svetlana-san, how about you? How do you feel in this place?"

[Rater202]

"...can't fight without my Fullbring."

Svetlana shrugs, "Other than my restricted power, it feels natural. I'm not used to the world of the living, especially one with no spiritual presence at all, but nothing feels wrong or unnatural about it."

[Kuroimaken]

"Take it from a guy who's been a soldier most of his life, sometimes fighting is not the most important function to have in a conflict." He tries to soothe her feelings.

"So Sarah is the one most bothered about the lack of spiritual presence out of the three of us, then." Koutarou concludes. "I think there may be something we can do about that, in a way. Sarah-san, you said you could still feel the well-wishes from the clothes you were given, right?"

[Rater202]

"...Kind of... Like, like a soul is kind of forming from it being used and the sentiment behind it being donated."

[Kuroimaken]

"This is something you've been wearing for a while, so you've kept closer in contact with it than most objects." He muses aloud. "I have an idea. It might be a complete crapshoot, but it shouldn't hurt any. I'm going to buy a simple piece of jewelry and try releasing my Reiatsu into it every day for a week. We'll see at the end of that week if any of it has 'taken'. What do you think?"

[Rater202]

"...It might work. Though since we're all currently living on government charity, good luck justifying buying it if anyone asks."

[Kuroimaken]

"Easy. We claim it's of religious significance and brings us comfort." Sounds like the start of a bad joke: a God of Death walks into a bazaar and buys a crucifix...

[Frozen_Feet]

Fortunately for their plan, absolutely no-one could be interested if they spend five euros on some cheap trinket.

[Rater202]

"Anyway, uh, the main reason we contacted you was... Uh..."

"My child wanted to know if you would be willing to, uh, 'go halfsies' on an apartment with us due to our similar circumstances and the strength in numbers principal."

[Kuroimaken]

"I wouldn't mind, it seems like the least expensive way to keep us lodged around this city. Although some might question our relationship as roommates." They were, after all, not the right age to be a family of three, but not in any way alike physically so they couldn't claim to be siblings.

[Rater202]

"I figure just be truthful if anyone asks: You're in the same boat as us, there's safety in numbers, we know each other a decent bit, and sticking close makes it asy for the cops to get in touch with us for the investigation regarding how we even got here." Sarah coughs nervously. "Honestly, I don't think anything will come of that, but if we're not available if and when they try to contact us, they'll either think we've been kidnapped or killed or that we're the suspicious ones."

[Kuroimaken]

"I think you might be jumping to conclusions there." With a catapult, he deigns not to add. "But a fair point regardless."

[Rater202]

"...Trust me, if you'd had my experiences, you'd be paranoid too."

[Kuroimaken]

"I was a street kid myself. Finding myself a home eventually earned me more trust, not less."

[Rater202]

"...How many times were you betrayed by the people offering you a home?"

[Kuroimaken]

"A little over eleven.

That's why I took the habit of not staying more than a couple of nights at a time under any roof that was offered to me."

[Rater202]

"...No offense, but if you were betrayed that many times then the only reason for you to not be as paranoid as I am is if you're not smart enough for the job you've got."

[Kuroimaken]

"Oda Nobunaga was betrayed fifteen times over the course of his military career and his tactical acumen was single-handedly responsible for the unification of Japan, once everyone else under him stopped killing each other after his death.

I was only betrayed as a civilian, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well for myself."

He should probably order more tea. He missed that stuff.

[Rater202]

"...I thought Oda Nobunaga was a woman."

Svetlana blinks. "Why would you think that?"

"...It was in a comic book."