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[NSFW] - Doing Something [Waifu Catalog/PMMM Start]

Part 23 - Interlude - Kanna Niko
-WWWWWWWW-
[Kanna Niko]
Moonlight and I had one thing in common that I made use of today: both of us were night owls.
That meant I had no issue knocking on his (still open) door at two fifteen in the morning.
"Come in," he said.
I stepped inside a very generic room; it was clear he hadn't put much effort into customizing it. He was currently looking at some kind of spreadsheet, tracking numbers over different columns.
"Sorry to bother you," I said.
He shook his head. "No worries," he replied. "I wasn't doing anything urgent." He paused for a second, before continuing. "What can I help you with?"
"Your power…" I asked, "it comes with some kind of device, right?" He slowly nodded. "Can I see it?"
That was why I was here; what little time I remembered spending in the void that wasn't focused on Hijiri was spent thinking about Moonlight and his abilities. Like pretty much everyone on the team, I knew the device he sometimes brought out had something to do with it, but not all the details.
I wasn't the only one that was curious; there were various theories about what else he could pull out of his bag of tricks. I already had missed one; raising dead followers wasn't something I'd have ever guessed.
But, now that he'd pulled it off, I couldn't help but think about it, and about what else was in there.
He'd said once that he could recruit people forcefully and wouldn't do it, which meant it was an option.
What other options like that were there on that device of his?
"Sure," he said, handing it to me.
I felt a burst of shame and guilt, along with an undercurrent of hope, as he handed it to me. It was light and felt surprisingly solid, but outside of that it pretty much seemed like your normal smartphone, if possibly a little larger than on average.
Opening it revealed only a single app called Waifu Catalog Shopping App, which I opened.
A popup instantly blocked my sight. Warning! Purchases are unavailable to waifus, husbandos, and familiars.
I scowled at the terminology; being called a waifu wasn't something I liked. Still, I pressed Okay and continued.
Then I slowly went through everything.
There was a list of every member of Moonlight's team save himself, each with indicators of their positions and status. There was even a sell button there, which I found especially ominous. A second page had a list of transactions, with times and costs. Most of what was there didn't mean anything to me, but Kazumi's name was the third line from the top.
Third page was for purchasing, using the currency that had been in the top right all along. It wasn't showing anything without entering something in the filters, and there was the same Tier ranking I'd seen on the list.
Fourth page was more purchasing, but the options were clearly different. There were no filters except categories, and I skipped that as it was useless without context.
The profile page was more useful, as it had a help menu along with personal information. As expected, Moonlight's real name wasn't Moonlight, but the name there didn't mean any more to me.
Then I started reading the help files.
The world travelling part wasn't surprising; Moonlight was something outside context enough that the idea had already come to mind.
The way this system was implemented however didn't fill me with confidence. 'Capturing' waifus and husbandos, that for points? Seemed pretty immoral. Selling people to this shadowy company for the same? Not ethical in the least. Still, as far as I knew Moonlight hadn't done any of that, so I continued on.
I quickly went over the Danger 11 part and the CYOA Mode part after verifying that they didn't apply, and arrived at the meat of this…
Powers.
Origins I skipped after confirming Moonlight hadn't taken any, and hit bindings.
Which is the part that really made clear one could abuse this for slavery purposes. The stamp was already bad, with images of Wild West cattle farming coming to mind, but mind control chokers? Symbiotes that could be sent to attack girls? Hypnosis magic? Outside not buying any binding, which was an option, the shroud was clearly the best choice there, if costly. The combat implications alone were a decent advantage.
As for the changes the shroud supposedly made… I didn't feel any different. I hadn't noticed any physical changes, and since Moonlight rarely gave orders, I'd not remarked any forced obedience.
But I had known he was awake, so there might be something to this 'awareness of activity and needs'. Still, nothing I felt threatened by, especially in comparison with the other choices.
I continued with the lures, going over them quickly given Moonlight didn't have any, then hit the upgrades.
Which just made the horrible parts of the bindings worse.
Branding through a photo? Stronger symbiotes? These weren't things I liked thinking about. The shroud and ritual magic at least had nice upgrades, and I had to say I was looking forward to some of them. An elemental shroud would be nice.
The next part, heritages, was clearly the personal power route of this system, and I was surprised that Moonlight hadn't spent a single credit there. I read through it all, noting which seemed useful or which didn't, then went on.
Perks were one of the places where most of what was there was just nice. Learning things faster was good, though I suspected that the only one Moonlight currently had was simply for the translation effect since he pretty clearly wasn't from Japan, and the defenses, while specialized against certain clear attack vectors, were all items I could see being used.
I then arrived in the area where Moonlight had made the most purchases, and found nothing repulsive. I found and read through warranty plan twice, just to make sure, and outside the fact that this company had cloned me a new body (not something I liked thinking about but something I couldn't complain, given how much I used clones for) there was nothing wrong there.
The rest were specific details and perks applying to specific waifus. I found Salvation there, and it did exactly as Moonlight had explained.
Then, near the very end and after the explanation of shroud elements (Cyber Shroud was something I very much hoped for in the future), there was the original explanation on how binding affected magical girls.
And then I was done.
I reread the items Moonlight had bought just to make sure, but there was nothing there of the more repulsive aspects of this power.
Then I sighed, and dropped the device to the side.
Moonlight instantly turned from his computer screen back to me. I'd caught him sneaking glances over the time I'd been reading, so I wasn't surprised.
"I suppose you have questions?" He asked.
I nodded. "How did you get this?"
"I actually suspect a random raffle," he admitted. "Nothing I'd signed for or was planning to get."
"And you came here from another world?" I continued.
He nodded. "This was the place that I found I could do the most good," he stated. "The stories of this world don't end well in general, and the witch thing…" he shivered in his seat.
I nodded. I'd made my decision to become a magical girl because I wanted my wish granted, and all the others made it a decision easily lived with. Losing Kazumi… it had nearly destroyed us, and my hands weren't clean in the least with what was necessary for making the clones.
Also, given Hijiri being an issue here, I suspected she'd been a problem in whatever future Moonlight had seen.
"In… the future you know…" I started, unsure on what to say. "I'm not one of the ones who make it, am I?"
He shook his head sadly. "You're the first to fall, and Hijiri takes your place," he admitted. "Everything goes down the drain from there."
I winced; I could easily see how. An infiltrator in the group without anyone knowing? A recipe for disaster.
There was a moment of silence. "Anything else?" He finally asked.
"What heritage are you planning on grabbing?" I asked out of curiosity.
That clearly surprised him. "That's all? You're not asking about the capturing, the selling, or the binding's effects?"
"I don't see the need," I admitted. "You've been clear about the binding part, capturing (and I use the term loosely) only informed people who were willing. I don't see you selling anybody in the team." I paused. "That's what you've been using on witches and the clones, correct?"
He nodded.
"I don't have any issue there; we would have killed them regardless," I replied. "The only thing I'm curious about there is why you went with a binding at all."
"I wasn't sure I could reliably give witching immunity without it," he pointed out.
I verified on the device, and the only way to capture someone without a binding was a 'sincere declaration of love', which I agree might be difficult to get for simple mechanical benefit.
"I can see the difficulty given the wording you have," I confirmed.
He went silent for a moment as his emotions shifted. The guilt shrank, as did the shame, and there was a bit of happiness and satisfaction that wasn't there before.
Then he finally turned back to me.
"I'm planning on transhuman aethermorph," he explained. "I was actually thinking about buying it or going for Burial Shroud."
I checked; that was the death and entropy shroud. "Why that one?" It didn't seem the most useful in this situation.
"It's the one that synergizes with aethermorph," he replied.
The device still in my hand indicated 134 credits left. "Why haven't you bought one of them then?"
"I'm not sure if I should reserve those for emergencies, like if we need specific defenses in a hurry," he pointed out.
Something came to mind, and I quickly verified all the purchases he'd made. The only one I found that didn't have a team benefit was Social Talent, and that was both not counting using it for language purposes, and only 5 credits.
Out of 820.
"Why haven't you bought more stuff for yourself?" I asked.
"The team benefits a lot more from everything that's not reserved to me alone," he countered. "Infinite magic for the team is worth a lot more value-wise than me being a stronger combatant."
"But now, that makes you the weak point of the team," I exclaimed. The program didn't say what happened to bound waifus if their binder died, but I was pretty certain losing the warranty plan was the least of them. "And having the lynchpin of the group being the weakest member is asking for a decapitation strike." I paused. "You should have at least spent half those points on yourself and improving your survivability."
"I have the shroud for that," he replied.
"And is the shroud enough against Hijiri? Or that witch you talked about before?" I asked.
There was a moment of silence. "No," he admitted.
"Then, there you have it. Grab either aethermorph or Burial Shroud right now, and keep at it until you're strong enough that going after you is a worse idea than tackling the rest of us," I stated, brooking no compromise.
"Fine," he said. "Any recommendations on what to do?"
"Are you asking me what choice I'd make if I was in your place?" I replied.
"You could see it that way," he stated.
"Aethermorph," I replied instantly. "The shroud is nice and gives more combined defenses and talents, but you'd still be a generic human under it. Aethermorph is simply more general, and if you can figure out how to integrate magical girl spells…"
Him just managing to copy my cloning ability would boost his survivability a good hundred and some percents.
"Might as well," he said, bringing his hand forward. The device disappeared from where I'd dropped it, appearing right in his fingers. A couple of clicks, and it was done.
I clearly noticed it happening; he filled out instantly, gaining an easy ten centimetres of height. He also looked visibly more healthy, and one of the scars I'd noticed on his brow was now gone. He now had muscles in all of the right places, too.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed as he fell back into his chair. "That… that was a rush."
"And you haven't even really unlocked it," I pointed out.
"Right," he said with a nod. "I should go work on that."
"I'll let you be, then," I said, turning to the door.
"Niko?" He said as I was about to cross the threshold.
"Yes?"
"Thanks," he said with a smile, and I could feel his sincerity in the shroud.
It felt really good.
"My pleasure," I replied, saluting and walking out with a satisfied smile on my face.View This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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Questionable Questing
Gusfes, Moonlight_Haunted replied to a thread you are watching at Questionable Questing.
[NSFW] - Doing Something [Waifu Catalog/PMMM Start]

Part 25 - Unlocking the Third Eye
-WWWWWWWW-
[Moonlight]
I didn't sleep much last night, after the discussion with Niko.
Buying the First Aethermorph Augmentation had been indescribable. I felt stronger, better, and healthier than I'd ever felt, and worse was I knew this was just the tip of the iceberg. I didn't have the HUD yet, or the magic perception.
Which was why I was now in the gym, meditating.
I'd thought about it, and I suspected that I'd need to unlock astral projection before I could get all the effects of the first augmentation. So, that was what I was doing, meditating in hopes of figuring things out.
However, the last two hours hadn't given much results.
"You want breakfast?" A voice said, stepping closer.
I opened my eyes to see Kazumi with a plate of food in hand. It wasn't my usual morning meal, given it was the classic japanese breakfast, but I couldn't deny that I could use the food.
I rose. "That would be great," I admitted.
She looked at me as I did so. "Aren't you… taller?" She asked, looking me up and down.
I nodded. "I got a new ability last night, and it caused some bodily changes, yes," I pointed out. "That's actually why I was in the gym, trying to figure out how this new power works."
"What is it?" She asked with a smile.
As I ate, I explained what the transhuman heritages were, and the version I used. I cleaned the entire plate just as I was finishing, and Kazumi was thoughtful about the possibilities.
I know I was.
"Anything I can do to help?" She asked.
I almost said no automatically, then thought for a moment. "Maybe," I replied.
"What can I do?" She asked.
"Can you pull out your soul gem?" I said.
She did so.
"Give it to me here, then go back to where you currently are," I continued.
She tossed it to me as asked, clearly not comprehending what I was looking for.
I hadn't thought about it in a while, but the upgrade that came with magical girls being bound to me made it so that their soul was bilocated between their gem and their body.
As such, I focused on the gem.
It took a moment, but I started noticing a 'feel' that wasn't that of the gem itself. It was… there were no words I could put on it, but I was sure I could recognize it in the future.
I closed my eyes to focus on that sensation more, and fell back into my meditative position.
Now that I knew about it, I started noticing it more easily, and more widely. The range I could feel extended up to the limits of the room, and I could not only feel the gem before me, with all of its… sensations was the best term I could figure out. I could feel Kazumi as a copy of what I was currently holding, and remains of various spells from yesterday's practice.
All of this wasn't like sight or smell. The closest I could compare it to was proprioception, with the fact that one just knew where his hand was, even without any of his other senses being active. It still carried as much information as sight could somehow, even if I wasn't using my eyes to do it.
That done, I focused inwardly.
I was both different and the same as Kazumi, different in that her self was a lot more concentrated than I was, and similar in that I could tell these were both souls I was looking at. Mine was covered in small channels that ran from head to toe, and I could tell I could somehow fit something there to make it part of me.
I smiled at the realization. Only one last thing to figure out.
It took me a few minutes to manage to move my soul without moving my body, but I managed, and started flying around the gym. Gravity had no pull in this form, and it wasn't if I needed to use my legs to move.
And, as I opened my eyes, I suddenly snapped back to my body, only this time this sense hadn't shut down, still being present along with all my other active senses.
And I could feel the HUD that had been described in the catalog.
It was part of this astral sense, a series of informative areas just around my body. I quickly customized it for best results, hiding things like purchase lists and the summoning tab, and set everything just as I wanted it.
Only then did I rise.
Kazumi was still seated a little distance from where I was, apparently not having moved in some time.
"What time is it?" I asked.
She looked down at her watch. "A little after ten thirty," she answered.
I winced. Last I remembered was before nine. "Did you stay here for the last hour and a half?" I said.
"Pretty much," she said with a shrug.
"Sorry," I exclaimed.
"Did it work?" She countered.
"Yes," I confirmed while nodding.
"Then it was worth it," she stated as she rose. The moment she had, her stomach made itself known. "Time for second breakfast!" She exclaimed.
"I'll take care of it," I replied. "I owe you that much, at the very least."
She smiled. "Not going to say no!"
We both walked out, intent on the kitchen.View This ThreadUnread Watched Threads
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