Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

The meeting room took time to fill to capacity but once it was, the food was served to the distinguished guests. Each plate was well balanced with meats, breads, cheeses, and fruits. Taika’s eyes sparkled as her plate was set in front of her. The fruit was at peak freshness, not a sign of bruising, and free from any visible defects. The bread was a perfect golden brown, slightly steaming and overwhelming in the warm aroma that wafted from it.

She had never seen the cheeses that decorated the plate, but she could at least identify the meats, which had been cooked to perfection, continuing the theme of the expertise on display here. The entire plate was simply divine levels of craft, even as simple as it was.

Then something insane happened. The waiters came by and poured a glass of familiar golden liquid into each of the four glasses.

Taika and Rebecca exchanged a glance.

“Do you think-?” Taika asked her fellow fox.

“It can’t be.” Rebecca shook her head.

Pacifica and Shouri too regarded one another, though with a different sort of confusion. Taika took up the glass and allowed herself a small sip. Her eyes shot wide open upon the liquid meeting her lips. “It is!” she gasped.

“No way.” Rebecca sat up higher craning her neck to see just how many people were in the room. By her count, it looked like anywhere from fifty to a hundred people. All of whom were being served the same drink.

“What’s going on?” Pacifica finally asked.

“They’re serving us apple juice!” Rebecca hissed, lowering herself.

“Yeah?” Pacifica picked up her glass and took a swig. “That’s apple juice alright,” the otter chuckled, appreciating the glass.

“You’ve had it before?” Rebecca questioned, glaring the otter down.

“Sure. It’s pretty common in events like this. Kinda figured that’s what they’d be serving when you pointed out Grand Master Jacque. Dealing with any of them usually has people pulling out their best to try and lick boots,” Pacifica explained.

“Who the fuck are you?” Rebecca mumbled to herself.

Shouri eyed his otter suspiciously, sharing in Rebecca’s sentiments. Though his thoughts were interrupted by the speakers mounted to the ceiling coming to life.

“Thank you all for joining us today.”

Attention was cast towards the stage where some guy stood. They were obviously a master of ceremonies type person only there to introduce the big names and of course dressed to impress. Either way the droning very quickly wore on Shouri who began to ignore the stage performance in favor of reading today’s news on one of his tuners.

This attitude quickly spread to the rest of the table, who began to have hushed side conversations amongst themselves.

That was until a certain keyword hit their ears.

“And to speak on the Feroce Phenomenon, we have rhythm researcher, Dr. Ilea Vim.”

Rather than a singular presence, four people walked on stage. Two black haired men, and two women.

The first man was clad in a white lab coat, covering slacks and a t-shirt, fairly plainly dressed in all honesty. He took up the mic on the stage, wincing a bit at the bright lights cast on him. His skin was so pale it seemed like he would get sunburnt simply by standing there.

The second man stood behind the one in the lab coat and was in a black three piece suit, black sunglasses. He looked like a government-hired bodyguard one would see in movies. Unlike his ghostly companion, his skin was naturally tanned; even so the way this second man carried himself informed of a much more physically active individual.

Then there were the two women.

And they were a spectacle. They both accounted for the majority of the color on stage. Their outfits and accessories were loud. One woman was clad in yellows and browns, while the other had a garish mixture of blues, greens, yellows, and oranges. Like their suited counterpart, their skin was a shade of darkened tan, forms lithe, yet toned. Definitely used to physical work, unlike the gentleman at the mic.

Their strange choice of attire wasn’t the only oddity though. No, they had some kind of mechanical ornamentation adorning their heads, much like the ears Taika, Pacifica, and Rebecca carried. Behind the two women swished a thin tail with a small flat protrusion at the end. The woman in the yellow-brown outfit seemed to have a heart shape at the end of her tail, whilst her louder counterpart’s tail tip was shaped like an arrowhead.

Rebecca’s attention was solely focused on the two odd creatures masquerading as women. Her ears folded back, faced scrunched up, head tilting slightly as she took in every detail of the silent figures.

“Good morning,” Dr. Ilea Vim spoke up. The side conversations began to fall into small whispers. “I am Ilea Vim, I am a doctorate in Rhythm Studies,” he introduced himself, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts.

“I have been studying the Feroce Phenomenon for some time,” the doctor continued. Shouri leaned forward; his brows pointed to a glare. Pacifica reached out and grabbed one of Shouri’s hands, focusing entirely on him and not the speech being given.

“Feroce, as it is called, is a rhythmic disease that infects Resonators. Through many trial studies, we've determined it is impossible for Maestros and Naturals to succumb to this illness. The unique rhythm sensitivity Resonators enjoy is the primary factor that allows this condition to form. At present, two methods of creation have been identified for the condition: Extreme Aleatoria of an unafflicted Resonator, or as a viral vector from an already infected individual.” A pause to allow the guests to speak between themselves.

Pacifica’s grip tightened around Shouri’s hand. “Cecil,” she muttered, trembling with emotion.

The doctor continued his lecture. “There is a process to reverse the condition. A Feroce Resonator’s condition improves with the presence of strong etude between a Maestro and their Resonators.” More muttering amongst the masses. “However not just any etude will do. There is a particular quality that increases the efficacy of the reversal process. That is a topic I am still presently researching.”

“This is the ultimate goal of this gathering. The reverse quality isn’t something that we’ve been able to measure or quantify in a lab setting. However, it is something my assistants have been able to sense with a ninety-seven percent success rate. This is why you were asked to bring your Resonators, active usage or not.” He motioned to the two strange people behind him. They both stepped forward. “Vail and Whistler will now appraise each table individually to see if the quality is present.”

Shouri and his Resonators watched as the two assistants stepped down from the stage and split off to visit each table. Where they found the “quality” Ilea spoke of, a slip of paper was left; where it was absent, they shook their head and moved on.

This took some time as they had to stop and really analyze each Maestro. It was an awkward affair, since the two mysterious assistants didn’t speak a word. They simply stared at those who sat at each table before passing judgement.

Notably, the table where Grand Master Jacque and his Resonator Wren sat obtained one of the papers in question.

Finally, one of the two women approached Shouri’s table. It was the woman with the blues, greens, yellows, and oranges. She stood before them silently observing them through her red-framed glasses, but allowing for the seated quartet to take in her features in more detail. Her long, thick blue hair was tied up in a ponytail with a green ribbon, which matched the mechanical protrusions sticking from her head. The material the “horns” were made of was transparent, allowing one to see the electronics inside.

Her sleeveless dress was the most glaring and garish part of her outfit, being green in one segment, orange in another, and dark blue underneath those splotches of fabric. Her yellowish orange boots rode all the way up to her mid-thigh, and she had arm warmers going up to her mid-bicep.

The strangest thing was on closer inspection of the woman’s tail it seemed to be wire-like, more akin to an accessory than a part of her physiology. Even so, it moved like a real, natural tail.

Rebecca’s eyes were entirely fixated on this mysterious being. The Resonator’s entire aura was that of confusion or even disbelief at what she was looking at.

At that point, the second assistant joined her counterpart at Shouri’s table.

She had yellow horns, made of the same material as her counterpart, her hair matching in color, long but unbound unlike the first assistant. A brown hair band separated her bangs from the rest of her long locks. Her top was green on the left, and blue on the right, with yellow joining the two halves to provide a covering for her chest. Her tail poked out from the back of her waist-high skirt, and like her counterpart, her yellow boots ended just over her knees.

“Whistler,” the yellow-haired assistant spoke.

“Vail,” the bespectacled assistant regarded her counterpart for a moment.

It was at that moment something very strange happened. The yellow-horned individual spoke in an indecipherable tongue, sounding more like strange computer noises. Which was answered in kind by the green-horned woman.

Neither Shouri, nor Pacifica caught this, but Taika and Rebecca picked it up, and only barely.

“Here you go,” the woman identified as Vail spoke Maelish once again, handing Shouri one of the sheets that had been passed to the other selected tables.

Pacifica and Taika scooted their chairs closer to Shouri to peek at the paper he had been given.

“Report to:

Lyreann University – Rhythm Sciences Lab

Room 448

Lyreann, Unis-Résonne 1-258514

Assigned to:

Name: Colette Severine

ID No: 61354-35129

Date of first assignment: Wednesday, 4th of July, 2018

Please bring all Resonators registered with you to the site for study.”

Three grimaces locked onto the name they were “assigned” to.

“I suddenly feel ill,” Pacifica mumbled.

“Voglio una vacanza,” Taika added.

“God damn it.” Shouri slammed his head on the table, allowing the paper to fall onto the table.

“Huh? What is it?” Rebecca was finally snapped out of her fixation on the two strange assistants to find her friends in a state of disgust. “What happened to you?” she asked.

Shouri, keeping his head firmly planted on the table, brushed the paper they had been handed over to her. Rebecca scooped it up and read over it. “Oh. Colette is that one weird chick, right?”

“Uuurrrghhh…” Shouri groaned, trying not to raise his voice and/or cause a scene.

“I think we should go,” Rebecca said.

The other three looked to her. The combat expert glanced uneasily back to the stage where the green and yellow horns had returned. “Maybe we can find out more about them.” The vixen fell to a whisper, “Something ain’t right.”

“Let’s work together to build a brighter future,” Ilea concluded his speech at that moment.

“What?!” Shouri hissed.

The small group of four huddled in a corner on the train back to the MA Office they were staying at.

Rebecca had just quietly revealed the fact that:“Those two were Resonators.”

Pacifica’s face contorted as she desperately tried to understand the situation. “Maybe? Their rhythm was certainly weird. I couldn’t get a real read on them,” the otter admitted.

“Look, I tried to read their elements and it was like all over the place. They felt like they shouldn’t exist. My rhythm was screaming at me that something was wrong.” Rebecca shook her head, trying to figure out how to explain what she had sensed to her friends.

“Did… they feel like Cecil?” Shouri asked quietly. The three Resonators looked to their Maestro, understanding the implication of that question.

“No. Not at all,” Rebecca replied calmly. “I don’t think they were Feroce Resonators. It was like they were trying to hide their element with a ton of noise. Nothing like Cecil.”

Pacifica nodded in agreement. “Right. Cecil felt like there was this strange foreboding darkness over him. Like his soul was being smothered under it. Those two, Vail and Whistler I believe, they felt like a regular Resonator, just weird.” The otter pursed her lips, furrowing her brow whilst trying to think of another way to describe what she had felt.

Shouri looked to his third Resonator. “What about you?” he asked.

“Non so lo,” Taika said with a shrug.

The Maestro nodded - Taika didn’t have a particularly strong rhythm sense; unlike Rebecca who could gauge combat potential, and Pacifica had emotional sensitivity covered.

He perused his memories of the two assistants of Dr. Ilea Vim. To say they were strange was an understatement. “Maybe…” He recalled their horns and tails. They looked so otherworldly, alien almost. “Maybe they’re some new kind of Resonator,” he hypothesized. “Like a robot or cyborg powered by rhythm.” It seemed so familiar to Shouri, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard such a thing before.

Both foxes of the group perked up at that theory, exchanging a glance before nodding at one another.

“Sho,” they both spoke up.

“Hm?” The Maestro turned to the pair of vixens.

“They did something weird while at our table,” Rebecca revealed.

“It was like they were speaking TV static,” Taika added.

“Wha-?” Shouri raised a brow in confusion.

“They were like talking in weird computer beeps, we could just barely hear it,” Rebecca tried to clarify.

“But I couldn’t understand the words.” Taika glanced over to her fellow fox, who nodded in confirmation.

Shouri’s confusion only deepened. “That shouldn’t be possible…” he breathed out.

“Why not?” Taika questioned.

“Taika, Resonators can innately understand any language. That’s why when you slip into Naturalian, Rebecca and I can understand you and why Maestros have to turn to their Resonators to translate,” Pacifica explained.

“Scientists think it is because Resonators are more sensitive to rhythm, so they can feel out the intention behind messages and jump language barriers without issue,” Shouri added in.

“There’s also an old story about a Resonator who was said to learn every language and passed her abilities down to all of Resonator-kind,” Rebecca chimed in.

Shouri nodded. “Right, Cunei. When Maestros say 'I’m not graced by Cunei' it means they don’t understand what you’re saying in reference to that story,” he clarified for Taika.

The lunar fox nodded, adding yet more knowledge to her repertoire. “I’ve wondered where that came from,” she commented. Though she hummed and frown, considering the whole situation. “But… if Resonators can understand any language, why couldn’t Rebecca and I understand those two?” Taika questioned.

Shouri stroked his chin in thought. “Good fucking question.”