[hr]ATTN: [@The Irish Tree] (Eula/Liliana) & [@Rezod92] (Kerry)[hr][hider=Binary Decisions on Mercy and Murder, Checked and Balanced (Collab w/ The Irish Tree)]A fair distance away, still in the midsts of her minor preparations for Takeshi’s mission to liberate his father, Eula would suddenly feel an intense surge of mana encroach and try to consume her core…or perhaps direct it, before she placed her hands over her shoulders and stunned herself, momentarily pulsing demonic energy of her own make to flush out the foreign presence before the feeling faded. Then, a colossal reading spiked on her sensors, sending the automaton running towards the potential threat. 

It took a moment of processing that would be verified by her eyes soon enough, but this was definitely Dinah activating…and lo and behold, she would find Alice with her eyes closed, wounded slightly and bearing a scar while also cradling…something against her bosom. 

Sort of a round, floppy, pinkish looking thing that was perfectly spherical, perfectly contented, and was now lazily floating in a small orbit as it digested whatever had filled its belly. [url=https://i.imgur.com/H7wP80n.png]It looked slightly familiar,[/url] but Eula pushed that thought out of her head in order to check on Carroll.

[color=f49ac2][b]"I can’ eat ‘nymore honey Marigold…"[/b][/color] the sphere of a fairy complained, metabolizing the foreign hatter milk rather slowly.

[color=C48BD3][b]"...I believe there was a fairy in the task force but…I’ve never seen one gorge enough to become a bowling ball,"[/b][/color] Eula noted, before grabbing Liliana and poking her stomach, causing the fairy to wince in her sleep.

"[color=808080][i]At last, someone with sense in their head, and not thoughts of milk.[/i][/color]" Carroll sighed, stuck in her sword form, as Alice was unconscious and she was weakened herself. "[color=808080][i]Though, you were the last I expected to be curious.[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"Carroll,"[/b][/color] a soft smiled crossed Eula’s lips as she reached out. [color=C48BD3][b]"You haven’t forgotten me in just a few hours, correct? I may have to force-feed you again to make you remember if that’s the case."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I remember you just fine.[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]I’m not food, so I don’t expect you to just become curious enough to investigate.[/i][/color]"

Eula would lift Carroll up in her blade form, saying: [color=C48BD3][b]"You make it sound as if food is all I care about."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]You memorized what I taste like.[/i][/color]" Carroll says, flatly.

Eula would flick a finger along the dangerously sharp vorpal blade. [color=C48BD3][b]"And you didn’t memorize how I taste?"[/b][/color] she retorted.

"[color=808080][i]I’d plenty of time to do that.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]Though, with you stripping me like this, I’d not pass up a reminder.[/i][/color]" Carroll teased, as Eula drew her from her scabbard, which was, essentially, her clothing, "[color=808080][i]Sadly, I’m sure you didn’t come here for that, did you?[/i][/color]"

Eula shook her head and then sheathed Carroll. [color=C48BD3][b]"I came to investigate the mana surge. I thought something dangerous had to be close…but…all I found was the two of you and her,"[/b][/color] Eula said, before bouncing the floating spherical Liliana in one hand. 

"[color=808080][i]Less my drama, more between them.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]Also, careful, or she might throw up on you. She drank, like, a lot of milk.[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"Noted,"[/b][/color] Eula said before gently putting her down to decompress. 

"[color=808080][i]Interesting that you felt that for such a short period of time. That could be problematic in the future. A theoretical downside to that form...[/i][/color]" Carroll hummed.

[color=C48BD3][b]"More than a theory if it was tangible,"[/b][/color] Eula said. [color=C48BD3][b]"But, I did receive that invitation. Heavenly Strike, was it?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]If that’s what she wrote, I suppose.[/i][/color]" Carroll says, simply.

Eula would do due diligence and show Carroll the bachelor party invitation, before asking: [color=C48BD3][b]"Is it truly necessary to have the entire task force attack three men?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]It far exceeds the original three.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]It would seem, someone had taken to bootlegging, and passing this technique around like a cheap Succubus at a party.[/i][/color]" Eula could feel her frown, "[color=808080][i]We have much more to do than just stop a handful of bandits with a fancy new trick. We have to kill them, and cull the weed at the root, before it spreads further than just this island. If the Varjans were to learn such a powerful piece of swordplay...[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]”Shizuyama wouldn’t be the end of it. They’d take all of Zipangu next,"[/b][/color] Eula finished. 

"[color=808080][i]Indeed. Before we even attempt to ship off to the mainland or whatever that foolish child intends, we have to sort out this mess.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]It’s been left to fester, and we’re dangerously close to losing more than just time.[/i][/color]"

Eula nodded. [color=C48BD3][b]"I will make sure to not get in the way, cumbersome as my limitations are."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I was thinking about that, actually, and your “Do Not Harm” rule.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]I want to say, I have a loophole.[/i][/color]"

Eula looked a bit nervous to hear it. [color=C48BD3][b]”…What did you have in mind?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]You just need to use a weapon that isn’t your body.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]It falls back to the idea I had before, about repairing your arm by using mine, and then using my body to restore your original arm.[/i][/color]" she says. "[color=808080][i]Sword Devils were made to integrate into anything, after all, and restore to functionality.[/i][/color]"

Eula shook her head slightly. [color=C48BD3][b]"It isn’t just that my programming prevents it. I was able to use a sword in the earlier attack to fend off Varjans but…even if it were within my programming to do so, I don’t think I could harm humans with a weapon."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]If it were possible, that’d be lovely, but harm is the only option we have to avoid the only outcome we’ll get.[/i][/color]" Carroll stresses. "[color=808080][i]Harm a few, now, or have them hurt the many later. At a point, the tough choices are -- no, the tough choices demand to be made. Irregardless of us personal feelings or creeds.[/i][/color]"

"[color=808080][i]This boils down to: save the many or save none.[/i][/color]"

Eula would look down at her arm and hold it by the elbow, asking: [color=C48BD3][b]"...Then…I really am useless unless I can take a life?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]That’s not a fair question. Any answer I could give you, regardless of truth, subjectivity, or objectivity, isn’t going to answer you in any satisfactory fashion, and will only put me in a corner.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]It is the same as asking me, am I useless without someone to swing me? Do I have value as a sword that cannot swing herself, and must rely on everyone else? Can you answer that question in a satisfactory fashion to me?[/i][/color]"

Seeming to realize her mistake, Eula would hang her head. [color=C48BD3][b]"...I…but…I can’t help but think…that if I do accept needing to kill humans, that I’ll lose value for everything I cherish."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I don’t disagree. The act of talking a live is something that shouldn’t be made trivial. It is to be measured, understood, and limited to the last act...[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]However, are we to be given that same thoughtfulness? Those swordsman aimed to cut us down, and have choose to incite force for profit, regardless of the lives they’ll ruin.[/i][/color]" Carroll sighed, "[color=808080][i]At the end of the day, I’ve plenty of blood on my hands, so forgive an old woman her yammerings, but... I believe that killing that saves lives and brings reform for the better does not detract from one’s own justice. Heroes make the decision that civilians shouldn’t have to, and that includes killing.[/i][/color]"

Eula still looked hesitant. [color=C48BD3][b]"...The guards that…fought beside me…if I’d have fought to kill…would more have survived the Varjans?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I don’t know. If I hadn’t left Alice alone for so long, would Io still be alive?[/i][/color]" Carroll asks. "[color=808080][i]I can’t dwell on the past, any more than I can ruminate on the future. All I can do is this: protect you. If killing is what that takes, so be it.[/i][/color]"

Balling a hand, Eula would then ask: [color=C48BD3][b]"...Am I…going back on saying I love humans too much to hurt them, if I kill some in order to prevent harm?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Pragmatically, no.[/i][/color]" Carroll says, simply, "[color=808080][i]The idiom goes, ‘Sometimes, we have to hurt those we love,’ after all. It is a matter of when and where you draw the line, ultimately.[/i][/color]"

Hesitation would get cut through along with the tension as a loud belch sounded from beside Eula, the formerly spherical Liliana now having processed the milk back down to her normal size and would stretch and yawn. [color=f49ac2][b]"Plus, it isn’t like just because you kill a bad person that you hate good people. That just makes no sense."[/b][/color]

A living being’s logic was different from a mechanical ones. A bruised pear was fine to the farmer to eat, but the machine saw the defect and tossed the whole thing. A pointless distinction, but…humans were like pears. Easily bruised and hurt, and discarded cruelly by the machines far above them.

…Wait, no, maybe that was Liliana’s lack of brain power affecting the narrative space around her.

"[color=808080][i]The former blob, still dummy, has a point - even if it’s stunted in it development, like her...[/i][/color]" Carroll sighed. "[color=808080][i]The validity of your worries are not overshadowed by the pragmatism of my experience. However, it is something akin to shades of gray.[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=808080][i]To put it in more “you” terminology, an apple does not stop being an apple, just because you took the core out, but a bad apple will spoil the bushell, if you don’t take it out.[/i][/color]"

Eula would grimly nod. [color=C48BD3][b]"...Then…what will it take?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Whatever you need to put it right between you and yourself.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]Killing is no easy starting affair. It gets easier, true, if you have the aptitude and the time. And, a cause.[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=808080][i]As long as you can adhere to that, and measure yourself... it really is case-by-case from there. The Varjans cannot possess the knowledge of the Heavenly Strike. That’s what I know. I won’t force you to follow me.[/i][/color]"

"[color=808080][i]...I’ve lost my whole life, forcing someone to follow me.[/i][/color]"

Looking at her left arm, Eula would nod. [color=C48BD3][b]"Then, I’ll follow you anywhere, of my own will. And if I think you’re going the wrong way, I’ll grab hold of your hand."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Sounds like a plan to me.[/i][/color]" Carroll says, before joking, "[color=808080][i]Even if I don’t have hands, right now.[/i][/color]"

Eula took hold of Carroll’s handle to show she was serious.

Carroll vibrated softly in response.

Eula chuckled and stroked along the handle, slowly with an index finger.

"[color=808080][i]H-Hey, frisky~[/i][/color]" Carroll mewled.

[color=C48BD3][b]"We’ve yet to go on a date yet. Consider this my promise to,"[/b][/color] Eula said before releasing Carroll’s handle.

"[color=808080][i]You could, at least, wait until I’m Human to say that.[/i][/color]" Carroll says, her blade turning a light red.

Eula chuckled softly. [color=C48BD3][b]"Nothing has stopped you thus far. I think you like being handled like this."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]As tempting as that is to say, no, I am stuck like this, until Alice wakes up. It’s her will that transforms me. I can only move freely between forms while she’s conscious.[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]That super-move knocks me out, too, though not for as long.[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"Hm…"[/b][/color] Eula said before deciding to experiment, gently holding Carroll in her hands and trying to will her back to human form, thinking it might work.

Carroll would wobble a bit, and Eula’s connected arm would run a touch warm.

Eula hummed, continuing to think it, wishing for it even.

Carroll groaned, as the heat spread, and cracks formed along her blade and handle.

Eula maintained her focus, imagining Carroll in her arms.

After a few minutes of shaking, Carroll would burst into slime and reform into a body better - no, perfectly - suited for Eula. [url=https://i.imgur.com/O81wdGX.png]Carroll stood taller, taller than Eula, and heads taller than her original form,[/url] yet she bore no malice not discontent - despite her compassionless, disconnected expression.

Eula stared blankly, before saying: [color=C48BD3][b]"You look…significantly taller."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]That’s you fault, dear,[/i][/color]" Carroll says.

[color=C48BD3][b]"I…but, all I did was hope that you would come out as you were…"[/b][/color] Eula said, feeling bad and rubbing her head. [color=C48BD3][b]"Perhaps its finally happening. My memory bank is failing me."[/b][/color]

Carroll would bonk Eula on her head. "[color=808080][i]I did just that,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=808080][i]At least, I did that, as you wished inside yourself.[/i][/color]"

Eula winced as her head was bonked, opening one eye to look at Carroll. [color=C48BD3][b]"...Well…I do suppose…"[/b][/color] she started before raising a hand, gently tracing her cool metal fingers along Carroll’s chin. [color=C48BD3][b]"...I do like this. But I’d rather you be how you want to look."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]My Autonomous Form is one that suit the taste of my... lover would be the right word. I don’t necessarily need to be wielded to change,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]As such,[/i][/color]" she would shift down, back into her AFM for Alice, before shifting back up, "[color=808080][i]Ta-dara-ara~[/i][/color]"

Eula’s eyes would sparkle. [color=C48BD3][b]"I see…I’ve heard of some automatons capable of something similar. Only larger!"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]My kind tend to - well, I tend to, prefer your kind,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, storing Eula’s cheek down to her chin, tipping it up. "[color=808080][i]You’re even cuter short.[/i][/color]"

Eula would be on the backfoot for once in the relationship, not used to the height difference in play as she looked up at Carroll, eyes transfixed on every new detail.

"[color=808080][i]I must say, you’ve quite regal taste,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, leaning down to Eula’s eye level, the huskiness of her voice better matched this more mature form, and her weight was better distributed from her hair to her chest and hips, "[color=808080][i]Tell me, do I look delicious, my love?[/i][/color]"

Eula would look away slightly, a tinge of pink staining her cheeks. [color=C48BD3][b]"...I thought you didn’t like that kind of metaphor about you."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Tell me, what you really think,[/i][/color]" Carroll leaned to her exposed her, "[color=808080][i]chef~[/i][/color]"

Eula gulped before looking Carroll straight on, picking her up, and hugging her. [color=C48BD3][b]"I wish to take you on a date to court you! That is what I’m thinking when I see you!"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Oh, my~![/i][/color]" Carroll giggled. "[color=808080][i]Well, perhaps, we have a smidgeon of time to squeeze in such a thing.[/i][/color]"

Eula would squeeze Carroll’s hand gently. [color=C48BD3][b]"...I don’t want to rush before our mission."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]This is true...[/i][/color]" Carroll hummed, "[color=808080][i]Perhaps, then, we’ll need to be drastic, hrm?”[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"Drastic…?"[/b][/color] Eula questioned.

"[color=808080][i]Think of something absolutely wild,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]Absolutely mad.[/i][/color]"

Eula would look like she had an epiphany. [color=C48BD3][b]"Dine and Dashing!"[/b][/color]

…Perhaps, madness didn’t come naturally to an Automaton.

"[color=808080][i]Then, let’s do it,[/i][/color]" Carroll smirked, before taking Eula’s hand tight, and rushing back to Terauchi Temple.

[color=C48BD3][b]"But that’s illegaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!"[/b][/color] Eula complained as she was dragged along.

Carroll would giggle, as they ran past Kerry, and planned their “borrowing” spree for the evening.

Eula was certainly in for a wild evening, after which she was liable to pay for everything anyways.[/hider]