002 [Video/Public]

[otakuro]

[The screen flickers on to a boy wearing an amused grin.]

Everyone!

I've got good news!  You're forgiven!  The angel I summoned said so himself; God would definitely forgive you in a heartbeat because man's heart is weak, as is his mind, and we're all, uh, susceptible to the workings of the Evil One, and even as we wallow in our filth and sin, we -- You know what, forget God; I forgive you.

Seriously, no one could possibly blame you for what happened last week even if some of us were lucky enough to be scorpion magnets.  Misery has it right - the important thing is to make sure that it doesn't happen again.  If you all missed the announcements from the higher-ups, the people who were affected most severely were Scorpios.  ...If you don't know what that means, in modern times on Earth - that's the 2000s - they were born when the Sun was in the sector of the sky dominated by the constellation Scorpio.  This makes no sense if you were born outside Earth or in a time when we didn't go in for ridiculous things like pretending arbitrary sky-pictures meant anything about our lives, but the important thing is that the sun transitions into Scorpio beginning on October 23rd.

Guess what last week was.

The next sign is Sagittarius.  The sun will shift into its sector on November 22nd.

So let's clear a few things out of the way - Everyone who was afraid, can you report in with your sign?  Same thing if you were a scorpion magnet, though maybe that's more of a subjective thing.  And everyone who's a Sagittarius, do you mind if we tie you to your beds from November, oh, 18th-ish to the 23rd?  Your choices are (Yes/Of course/Definitely).  If your name is Jun, (That's kinda kinky) works, too.  If you don't know your sign, Sagittarius goes from late November into late December - so the end of a harvest season into winter in the Northern hemisphere, and the end of spring into summer in the South.

I'll keep track of the data.  It's kinda my thing.

Oh -- this has nothing to do with anything, but I'm working in the computer labs of the university now.  Drop by if you ever need anything fixed or if you just want to say hi.

Comments

[voice]

[greatseal]

I'm a Gemini and I wasn't affected at all, if that helps your data. Neither was my brother.

I do know someone who was afraid, but I'm actually not sure what his sign is. [It's probably a good time to wheedle birthdays out of everyone she knows...]

[otakuro]

Thanks, Minako. It's looking like it's Leos and maybe Aquariuses who were afraid.

...I don't suppose you know any more about the Zodiac than I do? This stuff about Mars and Venus and being a 'cardinal modality' is like trying to slog through the Tale of Genji.

[greatseal]

Probably not. I could tell you about the Tarot, but I never had any reason to research zodiac signs before.

[otakuro]

Haha, yeah. You'd think one arbitrary fortune-telling system would be good enough. Now we've got to worry about star-signs, too.

Hopefully, we'll figure it out soon... Capricorn's in December, and I'd rather not wear one of those masks if I can help it. They're pretty tacky.

[greatseal]

I agree! But I hope that we can figure out what was going on with the other effects, too. I don't want to end up hiding in my closet either.

[otakuro]

It has to be all related.

Since we know it's all sort of based around our signs now... we've got to figure out what caused it in the first place. Do you know anyone who went on a rampage?

[greatseal]

There was Eikichi-kun. He's the only one I saw who I knew.

[otakuro]

We should probably speak with them and see if they heard or... felt anything before it happened. Voices in their head or something.

[greatseal]

Mm... It would be a good start to finding a way to stop it. If we could block whatever technique is being broadcast to cause personality changes...

[otakuro]

Tin-foil hats!

[...]

Uh. Barring that, do you think broadcasting is a possibility? A certain frequency that modulates brain waves... I don't know if that's scientifically sound, but it's better than 'And Then Magic Happened'.

[greatseal]

It makes enough sense in in theory. Some Shadows could affect people's thoughts, too.... though not really this badly. [Well, maybe the creepy sexual harassment from the Scorpios was a little bit like the Lovers Shadow....] We'd have to find someone who knows more about demon science to figure out what actually happened here, though.

[otakuro]

...Ah, yeah, I talked to someone who sounded like he knew what he was talking about earlier. ...We, uh, segued into the 'ritualistic use of organic resources' as a countermeasure.

[greatseal]

That... doesn't really sound pleasant, to be honest. Do I want to know what "organic resources" are?

[otakuro]

You... probably figured it out already.

I don't really know the details of what he was thinking, but I guess if we're dealing with demons and rituals here...

[greatseal]

Anything that ends up hurting someone isn't a measure worth considering.

[otakuro]

Oh, yeah no, we definitely weren't thinking of a real person. I mean... you know how in Christianity, they drink wine and pretend it's blood and it's important somehow?

[greatseal]

So like a fake sacrifice instead?

[otakuro]

...

I guess he was thinking of buckets of blood from the butcher's or something.

[greatseal]

...I think it'd be better to learn more before we start throwing blood around.

[otakuro]

I'm thinking that's a good plan of action.

...Or, a good plan of knowing which actions to hold off on, anyway.