Nakahama

Haruhi and Sumiko had been hard at work perfecting the life size jimen tori avi-drone prototype. It 'walked' on wheeled feet, and looked as much like a jimen tori as a mechanical drone could.

It could turn its head, and open its mouth, just like a real bird.

And it repeated the actual jimen tori call for 'Follow me!'

It's purpose was to move through the area that the jimen tori populated, gather some, and then guide them up to the secret place. It recorded locational data so they could see which areas had been visited and set it on a new path each time.

The other jimen tori that had been led to the secret place looked so happy there!

Now they just wanted to be sure word got out to others still in search.

Sumiko had brought her portable computer with her, so they could do some final tests before releasing the bird into the wild (so to speak).

"Find a good place Kakita-sama, we'll run some live tests so I can check the code while it's running on less solid ground. Making it move between us will let me analyse the process."

(let me know when you're ready for the results!)

Hatoful GM wrote: Sat Dec 06, 2025 3:56 pm (let me know when you're ready for the results!)

(Let's give it 24 hours since I tagged everyone who has been helping on jimen tori plot. That will give anyone who wants time to join.)

Kiyoshi arrived abd immediately looked over the drone.

"This is amazing work, Kakita-san."

"Susumu-san helped quite a bit! And none of this would have happened without all the work you did talking to the jimen tori and learning of their secret place in the first place!"

"Perhaps, but that outing was also your idea." He offered both women a bow. "Good afternoon."

"That's a really impressive construct for a few days' work, Kakita-san." Today is Sorato's first time seeing the drone, and it's more polished than he'd been expecting. Leave it to a Crane to make an art piece out of a practical object!

"How are you, Agasha-san?" Kiyoshi asked.

"I've slept better." Without much thinking about it, Sorato scratches gently at his right upper arm, where a bandage covers the healing radiant burn under his shirt sleeve. "I'm fine, though." It wasn't actually the discomfort that had kept him awake, so much as the images of the dead and injured fading behind his eyelids.

Agasha Sorato wrote: Sat Dec 06, 2025 10:48 pm "I've slept better." Without much thinking about it, Sorato scratches gently at his right upper arm, where a bandage covers the healing radiant burn under his shirt sleeve. "I'm fine, though." It wasn't actually the discomfort that had kept him awake, so much as the images of the dead and injured fading behind his eyelids.

Haruhi smiled at Agasha's kind words about the drone. But then he caught sight of the bandage.

"Agasha-san, are you alright? What happened?"

Sumiko had given a bow to first the Kitsune then the Agasha, but her focus was on the drone. She had a program running on the computer, and was running a few test movements. Monitoring it as it moved, making sure it could react to obstacles on its own.

Once they were ready, the drone would be off! Using modern technology, its call was a perfect mimic of the jimen tori. Either that, or jimen tori were not particularly discerning. Either way, groups would follow it up the mountain. Peasants cheered the groups of birds along, and Crab patrols kept their migration routes clear.

In just a day, happy birds were already taking up residence in the newly uncovered Special Place. New nests were being built. The birds were thriving. And there was room for many, many more, perhaps even every group that the drone would lead up the mountain.

It would not happen this day, but soon enough, the (sustainable) jimen tori business was booming. Streams and documentaries showed their lives, proving quite popular. There were already jimen tori plushies, but more were made. And it was already frowned upon to hunt the cheerful birds, but with their newfound popularity, it became outlawed.

It was a good day to be a jimen tori.

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Everyone who took place in at least two of these threads gains:
0.3 Glory
A ?/? Ally (jimen tori spirit). It won't come up often, but it might come up sometimes!
As Queen of the Birds, Haruhi gets a 2 point discount on purchasing Touch of the Spirit Realms: Chikushido

Haruhi watched the jimen tori developments with great excitement!

The 'trail cam' made watching the jimen tori a fun thing anyone could do from a safe remote distance and she indulged as much as anyone, convincing herself she could tell them apart and watch their own going stories.

"It.all worked out really well." Kiyoshi couldn't stop smiling.

Sumiko continued to watch her computer screen to make sure nothing flagged up, but eventually she sighed softly.

"Obstacles being avoided without issue. No problems with the wheels manoeuvring. I'd say this is a success."