[hider=Purple Moon Bunnies][center][b][u]Student President Yoshino Tsugumi[/b][/u][/center]
Time passed slowly in the Student President's office. Yoshino spent a majority of the time sipping her coffee and making conversation. In that frame, the two began to learn a little more of each other, Black and Red King. Unfortunately, Yoshino could delay her true goals no longer. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was roughly 11:45 A.M. It was time to get moving.

"Apologies Michael, but I'm afraid we have to cut our meeting short for now," she said gravely, the face of Moon Rider appearing in her features.

Michael blinked and opened his mouth, he nodded and closed it before responding, “Alright then.”

He stood up slowly and took a drink from his cup, “I’ll uh… see you later?"

Just then the door opened. Slightly winded was Retsu. She was looking directly at Yoshino. [b]"Yosh... Tsugumi-san, what do you think you're doing?"[/b] Retsu wanted to know, honestly. She had no idea what had happened between her and the Silver Jester, and she wanted to know. It was only than that she looked at Michael and realized that he needed to leave if she wanted to continue talking to Yoshino. Retsu still didn't trust him, so she walked up to him and snatched the button off his shirt. [b]"Stand outside."[/b]

"Retsu?"

Yoshino stiffened as her friend burst through the door uninvited. Rather, it wasn't like this was anything new. Having the other girl make random appearances had become common occurance by now. But now...things were different.

Michael blinked and opened his mouth, he gulped, "Yeah, I was just-" Michael lowered his gaze as he walked around Retsu, towards the door.

 Yoshino deliberately avoided Retsu's gaze, fiddling with her glasses.

"I need to schedule a school assembly," she merely repeated to her deputy.

Once Michael was out Retsu closed and locked the door behind him. [b]"That much I've already figured out. Turn around Yoshino."[/b] Retsu ordered as she took Hibiki's experimental chip out of her pocket.

The Student Presiden't eyes widened at the little device in Retsu's hands. It looked very much like the standard and world prodcuced chips that lied dormant in all people's brains. This version however looked much more crude and primitive, though it was easy to figure out what it was and what Retsu was doing. Still, Yoshino had to ask.

"Where did you get that?"

[b]"You'll get your answers soon enough."[/b] Retsu said ominously as she walked towards Yoshino. In one deft movement, Retsu had turned Yoshino around, parted the hair on the back of her head, and removed the chip in Yoshino's head. It was still work with energy when she tossed it onto the desk. 

"W-Wait, Retsu, sto-ahh!"
Michael was leaning against the wall outside the office; at the sound of her cries he turned around and knocked on the door, "Yoshino? Everything alright?" He leaned his head against the door and sighed.

[b]"The Silver Jester can listen to you through that chip, seeing that he's the World Interface. But this one isn't like the others."[/b] Retsu inserted the new chip into Yoshino's head, and the effects were more or less immediate. That is to say, all the previous features that would normally be granted with the other chip: gone. No email, not internet access, only Deep Ground.

Yoshino struggled in the other girl's grip as she was forced down. A sharp pain, very reminiscent of what she had experienced back in Jester's domain, suddenly overtook the inside of her skull. A ripping sensation, as if several claws were being yanked at all at once, made a scream of agony escape past Yoshino's clenched teeth.

Usually, it took professional medical care to remove one's mental chip. Retsu doing it in such a quick matter was the equivalent of performing surgery without anesthetic. The Student President's yelps of pain could be heard outside of her office, no doubt reaching the Red King's ears.

[b]"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the Silver Jester ordered you to do something while I was gone. Something that has to be made public. Now that he can't hear you through the chip, tell me. Every. Thing."[/b]

The bespectacled girl panted as she felt the fire in her head gradually calm down to a lasting, dull pain. Her eyes had become dull from the lack of connection with the World Interface, and it took a few moments for her to recover from the initial shock. Coughing, she weakly looked up at Retsu.

"W-Wh...where d-did you get that? Answer me first..."

[b]"That girl from before, Hibiki Toho, has been investigating the deaths of the kings. She's the daughter of Toho Technology, a company that creates computer hardware for people like Deep Ground. Apparently the king's deaths concerned her enough to look into it, and somehow she managed to find a trail leading to me. She knows how the kings died, and figured that I had some involvement. Of course you and I both know the truth, but as luck would have it, the chip I just inserted into your head gives us a means to fight back. As you may have noticed, you have just lost many features. The only thing you can do is enter Deep Ground, which may be seen as a curse for some, but for us this means that the Silver Jester can't kill us by overloading our chips. The best he can do is kill us in Deep Ground, and that isn't exactly the worse thing that could happen."[/b]

"I-I see," Yoshino said, wincing still from the lashback pain.

Michael sighed and knocked on the door again, "...Yoshino?"

Before she did anything, Yoshino glanced at Retsu, silently asking if it was ok for Michael to enter now. Regardless of the answer, it wasn't like she could refuse, seeing as she pretty much just had the modern day equivalent to the primal practice of lobotomies for their predecessors.

Retsu simply shook her head. She didn't trust Michael enough to let him in on this... And not only that, but she didn't want Yoshino to throw away all that they've done for him either. [b]"Now than, what did the Silver Jester tell you to do, Yoshino?"[/b]

"I..."

Yoshino paused, glancing back at the door separating her from Michael. Wouldn't it make more sense to gain more allies in this conspiracy? Perhaps, and perhaps not, but at this point, she was quickly seeing that Retsu had been absolutely right about the new chip. She could no longer see Michael's name or even class number in her view sight. It was nothing. Was this how the people of the past felt and lived?

"He....the World Interface instructed me to reveal my identity to the world," she finally conceded. "If I didn't, then another King Massacre would have occurred on my hands."

Clenching her teeth, Retsu began to think. Normally she would simply suggest to Yoshino to let the other kings die. Indeed, another massacre would allow the Ebony Strykers to regain their power during the chaos once again. However, she knew that Yoshino could not accept that. Strong as she was, Yoshino was not heartless. 

"It wasn't just that," Yoshino said, already guessing from the look on her deputy's face what she was thinking all too well. "He not only threatened the Kings, but you as well Retsu. And I...well, I don't really wanna think about the idea of losing you both," she said with a side ways glance towards the front door.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Retsu racked her mind trying to think of what to do. Of course the Silver Jester would threaten their lives if Yoshino didn't comply. Revealing her identity would be simple enough, but further implications would spell disaster. Everyone would pin the deaths of the kings onto Yoshino, as the Black King, truth be damned. And than Yoshino would be targeted by others for her title... And that's when Retsu had an idea.

And finally a chance to make use of Michael.

[b]"I have an idea Yoshino. We can't risk letting the others die simply to keep a secret. However, just because you reveal your secret doesn't mean that anyone would beleive you. To that end, we'll... Use Michael. I'm going to let him inside, and I want you to distract him."[/b]

Yoshino nodded in understanding, though she didn't exactly know what Retsu was implying by "distraction". Oh well. She would just improvise.

Retsu went over to the door and opened it. She stood beside the door and beckoned for Michael to step inside.

Michael stumbled as the door opened, almost stumbling into Retsu. He caught himself, however, and patted down his shirt and held a hand up, "I heard a scream..."

"It was nothing," Yoshino said curtly, her amber eyes stoic as the Black King took over her speech and actions. "Don't worry about it," she assured him, voice softening for a split second.

Michael shot a quick sideways glance at Retsu before making his way into the room, "...so, uh..." He walked around the set-up of the office and sat down in a chair facing the door, "...what's up?"

Closing the door behind Michael, Retsu stood directly behind him.

It was at that moment that Yoshino suddenly had a faint semblance of what Retsu was trying to accomplish. A dirty tactic, but then again, it [i]was[/i] Retsu after all. She expected no less.

"Hmm? Honestly Michael, we're at the brink of something that could very well alter the destinies of everyone," Yoshino answered, slightly annoyed, as she took the seat opposite of him. 

"And here you are again, making little quips about our inevitable destruction. Either you're being cocky again, or you're really quite brave. More so than I had initially expected." A hint of admiration was present in her voice now.

"I- uh..." Michael was thoroughly confused. He had literally said no more than five words since being let back in to the room and apparently he was making 'quips'. He gulped, "...uh, thank- you? I- how did I fuck up, exactly?"

"Hmm? Well I suppose it's because you managed to scream louder than the both of us had anticipated," Yoshino said vaguely, giving the bearest of nods over towards Retsu.

"Well, I uh- sorry..." Michael sighed and turned to look at Retsu and back to Yoshino, "So, what now?"

Suddenly Retsu hand shot out and grab Michael by the neck, as tight as a noose. With a brutal and quick strike, she tore out his chip. Unlike with Yoshino, which while forceful was mostly careful, Retsu tore out Michael's chip with violence. She crushed his chip in her hand while loosening her grip around his neck.

A searing pain shot up through Michael's nervous system as the chip was forcibly torn from its socket, "Gah, fuck!" Michael buckled over and held his head between his knees, "Jesus fucking- gah! W- what the hell?"

[b]"Now you'll prove your loyalty to the Black King. As you know Tsugumi-san is the Black King. Circumstances have arrived which Tsugumi-san must reveal her identidy to the academy. I'm sure everyone already knows that, or at least would believe that Tsugumi-san is the Black King. What you must do is discredit this idea."[/b]

Michael grimaced and sat up straight, "Yeah? Sounds fucking easy enough." Michael closed his eyes tightly and let out a deep breath, "Yeah, so what does all this have to do with anything?" Michael said, making gestures to his neck area, implying Retsu's forceful lobotomy.

Yoshino sighed. Suddenly, this all felt just like when Michael had called her just a few hours prior. Two forces clashing right in front of her. The immovable object and the unstoppable force. Charming. Regardless, she watched in silence as Retsu did the interrogating.

[b]"It's not quite so simple. As you can imagine, simply announcing that you are the Black King won't be enough. To that end, I want you to go gather you guild and during the announcement, make your alliance with the Black King clear for everyone. Mainly by announcing that you will be allying with the Ebony Strykers, the Black King, who I will claim to be, more or less when Tsugumi-san does. As for why I had to destroy your chip, it was because it can be used to record what we're talking about. It has come to my attention that someone from the other guilds are also employing hackers. For all I know, you could have been bugged when you went to go meet with the other kings."[/b]

Retsu walked around the table and stood in front of Michael. The light from the window casted her shadow over him and made her facial features difficult to discern. But Michael could feel her stern glare. [b]"While you are gathering your guild, I want you to find the Green King. See if you can seal a personal alliance with her, and your decision to leave the your alliance with the other kings. Once the assembly is over, I will find you to give you a replacement chip."[/b]

Michael looked over to Yoshino for a sign of reassurance, a solemn nod, any recognition at all really. He rubbed his eyes furiously, when he opened them again they darted around the room, his HUD didn't display at all. No way to tell the time, no way to check messages, nothing but raw sight. In a word - frightening. Michael blinked a couple of times through Retsu's speech, he nodded and gulped, "Alright... where's Lucy- er... the Green King now?"

As Yoshino saw the fearful and wild look in Michael's eyes, a wave of guilt washed over her. It was necessary to destroy the chips, no matter how disorientating their new foresight was.

"It's alright," she said to him soothingly, giving him some hope for reassurance. "You'll get used to it," she lied.

She hoped that was the case.

"Retsu. Since we are no longer connected to the World Interface, doesn't this mean that others still connected will notice our new chips? They won't be able to register anything about us without information being fed back into theirs. It's now a one way terminal, and they'll catch on quickly that something is misplaced."

[b]"I have a bit of a counter measure for that, though it'll only really be useful for you and I."[/b] Retsu handed Yoshino her glasses while pulling out another pair from her shirt. [b]"I actually don't need glasses for any prescription reason, but with them I can access the world interface as normal. And I have the option to turn it on and off so that no one can trace me unless I'm using them. It's not perfectly like the chip, but for the intent of interacting with the World Interface it'll have to do. So long as it is on it will serve as our replacement chip so that others would be none the wiser. Of course it's only useful for you and I because we normally wear glasses. The technology to fit them into contacts is... Nonexistent at the moment. So Michael is on his own."[/b] But now it was time for part two of her crazy scheme. The part that Retsu would have to make sure works perfectly, otherwise things would get hairy real fast.

[b]"Tsugumi-san, know that if you reveal your identity to the academy, there will be people who will attack you for the perceived belief that you killed the other kings. True or not, the fallen kings had fanatical followers. To that end, after today's announcement, I want you to move into my family home. I don't live in the academy's dormitory, but I do have a large estate where me and some other girls live. For your own protection, I want you to live with me. Not only will we have better privacy, but this way anyone who wants to try to bother you would have to go through me... And everyone else I command."[/b] This wasn't how Retsu wanted to offer Yoshino the idea of moving in with her, but at least this plan had logical reasoning behind it. 

[b]"Revealing your identity may also bring in some nasty types from legal to investigate you. While I'm sure they have no evidence of your involvement, you're probably a suspect in the king's death. I will provide a legal team for you to keep them off your back. And that should give us more time to..."[/b] Retsu glanced over at Michael for a moment. He likely already knew what Yoshino wanted to do, but Retsu still didn't like him. But he was involved now, and like it or not, Retsu was going to have to interact with him more in the future. [b]"More time to destroy Deep Ground and the Silver Jester as well."[/b]

"Wait, you're not objecting to me revealing my identity?" Yoshino asked as she placed on the glasses. Sure she knew Retsu was loyal to her, but this was practically suicidal. No, after today, the Student President would be a target for everyone's death wish, player, student, and authority alike. And by extension, those dangers would reach both Retsu and Michael.

[b]"Of course I don't want you to reveal your identity! But... Given the circumstances, this is just a lesser of two evils."[/b] Between choosing to reveal Yoshino's indentity as the Black King or to let the Silver Jester kill off others, Retsu was choosing what she believes Yoshino would want. Of course Retsu, now that she and Yoshino more or less freed from the Silver Jester's normal means to kill them, she would have plenty of incentive to condemn everyone else for her own desire. But that would only be a short term victory. Retsu was certain that if they truly were facing the World Interface, it would only be a matter of time before he would discover other means to harm the both of them. And besides that, if Michael does his part of the plan right, no one would believe that Yoshino is the Black King.

[b]"And besides, that's why I want Michael here to swear his loyalty to the Ebony Strykers during the announcement, along with anyone else he can find. Specifically, I want him to swear loyalty to me. While many people believe you are the Black King, I'm sure that they're more likely to believe that I am the true Moon Rider if I reveal myself and put on a bit of a show. I'll order the Sweepers and those loyal to the Ebony Strykers to rally at the assembly to further cement my claim as Moon Rider. I can reveal some generalizations and things that only the kings would know, effectively drawing the heat away from you."[/b] Retsu was willing to stick her neck out for Yoshino, to the point that it was starting to look like a double-suicide if this doesn't work out. Regardless, Retsu smiled confidently at Yoshino.

[b]"Trust me Tsugumi-san. I'm not stranger to people trying to kill me. And at least this way the fights will happen on my terms. You'll need to be protected still, of course; even if I'm successful and I can convince everyone I'm the Black King, they may target you to get to me. Of course, that's what my Sweepers are for. And as Michael can contest, I have plenty of other... Operatives who can ensure your protection."[/b] Retsu said, casually referring back to the janitor from before.

Turn to Michael Retsu briefly turned on her glasses to track down the Green King, turning it off when she got what she wanted to know. [b]"Lucy is at the gymnasium still. Seems like Sten found her as well, and may have some clue as to what's going on. Good. That should make it all the more easier for you to convince her to join the Ebony Strykers, seeing that she's aware of a common enemy."[/b]

As the two continued to discuss their plans, Yoshino dug out her phone and flipped it open. It was strange connecting to the school’s mainframe manually instead of already being wired into the system, but hopefully Retsu was correct in her predictions of no one noticing. Typing out her message, she promptly sent it out to the entire school. Once that was done, she moved to get up and prepare for what the future awaited them.

[b][center]This is your Student Body President. There will be a mass assembly shortly after your lunch periods. All students are required to attend. Please be sure to make yourselves present, as this assembly will regard the current developments of Deep Ground Online. That is all.[/b][/center][/hider]