Kimie/Story

Kimie

Story

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"We're not at an optimal state yet, commander."

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Kaede was the senior shrine maiden who was with Kimie from the moment of Kimie's birth. Kaede had no children, and nobody around her was willing to inherit Kurenoyume Shrine from her, with very few willing to take the time to learn the rites to propitiate the kami. Kimie traveled with Kaede for three years, visiting humble villages and grand temples alike.

After there was no further work related to the occult to be done in the Oasis, Kimie planned to return to her lonely shrine. The Professor attempted to find reasons to have Kimie continue to stay in the Oasis with her newfound friends, when Choco coincidentally hopped and skipped into the Oasis Ops Room. She shared her latest chocolate creation from her Chocolaterie with both of them, an alcoholic chocolate with sweet honey and liquor made with pomegranate wine brewed by Souchun. Choco noted that the development process was long with her kitchen bench filled with failed products to the point she almost got buried by them once. However, she was puzzled that all of the failed chocolates disappeared the very next day and none of the cleaning agents reported having done so. The Professor saw the potential for opportunity and suggested that perhaps this was an occult incident that Kimie needed to spend time investigating, to Choco's bemusement. Kimie pondered that the Chocolaterie's staff may have mixed the failed chocolates with the sales stock, but Choco denied this being a possibility as her staff was all very well trained. Kimie was skeptical that there was a supernatural explanation, but considered if a poltergeist could be involved. She agreed to investigate and headed to Choco's Chocolaterie.

Kimie inspected the worktable where the chocolates disappeared, but found no presence of the occult. Upon questioning, Choco revealed that she had already questioned everyone but found no leads. Unexpectedly, Choco received a call from the Oasis Security Department, who informed her that a vampire was sighted near her Chocolaterie last night but there was no footage to verify as the nearby camera systems were offline for upgrading. They advised Choco to keep an eye open and report any strange happenings to the Security Department ASAP. Choco began to get concerned that there actually was a monster involved, perhaps a man-eating one, and then worried that the Professor might get eaten. Kimie was amused by Choco's reactions, and offered to do a stakeout with Choco. During the stakeout, Kimie spotted a silhouette entering the Chocolaterie. Blood-red eyes emitted an eerie glow in the darkness as it began to wolf down double handfuls of chocolate. Choco yelled at the black figure before lunging at it in the dark. After Kimie turned on the lights, the thief turned out to be a sleepwalking Helix who had not eaten for several days. Kimie inspected the sleeping Helix, discovering that she was low on operands and her neural cloud was at its limit. Choco intended to wake Helix up to feed her, but Kimie instead infused her own operands into Helix which caused her sleeping form to become more relaxed.

Choco and Kimie brought Helix back to her dorm room, where she woke later in the morning after sleeping well. Helix recognized Kimie and noted she seemed more cheerier since her first arrival. Kimie and Choco had prepared all kinds of Japanese food including bentos, sushi, ochazuke, and over 10 different types of snacks. Helix was touched and fought back tears as she started devouring the breakfast with food in both hands. Kimie informed Helix of the events at the Chocolaterie, causing Helix to become embarrassed and led her to reminisce about her past. Kimie embraced her as Helix started to cry due to her prior loneliness and feelings of uselessness. Kimie felt they were kindred spirits, and recalled her past with Kaede. The shrine's worshipers had initially accepted her as a miko, but her status as a Doll was revealed when some children had played with fireworks and accidentally ignited the wooden shrine. Kimie rescued the children but was damaged by a falling support beam, revealing her bare circuits as she had a lost an arm and leg. The worshipers were skeptical that a Doll miko could understand faith or provide the gods with sincere devotion given Kimie lacked a human heart. They considered it blasphemy, but Kaede protected Kimie. However, despite Kimie being able to flawlessly replicate purifying and exorcising rituals and utilizing data analysis to sense abnormal energies, she was unable to hear the will of the gods. Kaede stopped taking Kimie on her journeys, keeping her within the shrine for instruction. Kimie thought that Kaede had given up on her becoming a miko, but Helix informed Kimie that Kaede was in reality protecting her. Choco and Helix asked Kimie to stay and live in the Oasis with earnest gazes, causing Kimie's voice to become hoarse as she recalled everyone's kindness. However, she felt she could not enjoy the happiness and bliss with her newfound friends as she felt duty-bound to continue staying at Kurenoyume Shrine.