#Episode 9: Thread and Heart

#Scent -- Battlefield at the Fingertips

Wind blew. The fortress was visible from the hill. Wooden walls and stone ramparts wrapped it in layers, and fires burned in the watchtowers. The sun was sinking, and the fortress shadow stretched far across the plain. Heavy footsteps rang inside the fortress. Not human footsteps. Heavy, uneven sounds, carrying the smell of iron.

Ayame sat on the hill. Her legs were folded, her back straight, her eyes closed. She was a girl of sixteen. Her layered kimono had sleeves cut short, leaving the fingers of both hands exposed. Ten fingers spread out in the air. From those fingertips, strings extended. Thin, transparent strings. Strings visible only when sunlight brushed them. They grazed the grass on the hill, rode the wind, crossed the plain, and continued beyond the fortress wall.

At the end of the strings, there was a puppet.

Kage lay flat on top of the fortress wall. Hidden in the darkness, he looked down into the courtyard. The puppet was moving. It had a human shape, but it was not human. Wooden and metal joints, glass eyes, the sound of gears. The puppet was walking across the courtyard. Its steps were smooth. Smoother than a person's. It moved as if its joints had no friction, as if it did not know gravity. A short blade rested in the puppet's hand. Torchlight from the fortress reflected off the edge.

Kage saw thin strings leading from the puppet's back into the air. Ten strands. Strings tied to fingers, elbows, shoulders, knees, and waist vanished beyond the wall. When the wind blew, the strings trembled slightly. Each time, a tiny shiver rose in the puppet's stride, then faded.

"It's in," Kage whispered. There was no way his voice could carry on the wind all the way to the hill, but Ayame nodded. Not because of Kage's voice -- because the feel of the puppet's foot stepping on courtyard soil had traveled through the strings into her fingers.

Ayame's fingers began to move. The index finger of her left hand drew in by a fraction. The puppet's right arm rose. Her middle finger twisted. The puppet's waist turned. Her ring finger quivered. The puppet's knee bent. Ten fingers moved in ten different rhythms, sending motions to the puppet inside the fortress. The distance between hill and fortress was two zones. That was the limit of the strings. When the wind strengthened, the strings shook and the motions blurred. So Ayame was counting the wind. Direction, speed, the interval between gusts. She moved her fingers while calculating all of it.

The puppet crossed the courtyard and entered a corridor. The darkness deepened. Ayame's eyes were closed, but through the strings she felt what the puppet's glass eyes saw. It was not a perfect image. Boundaries between light and dark. The difference between moving things and still things. That much came through the strings. It was enough.

A guard stood at the end of the corridor. A Kooni. It was dozing with a club over its shoulder. The puppet stopped, because Ayame's fingers had stopped. The girl's lips moved. Not words. Breath. On the inhale, her fingers gathered; on the exhale, they released. After the span of one breath -- the index and middle fingers of Ayame's right hand moved together.

The puppet leapt. There was no sound. Wooden and metal feet slid as if skimming the floor. It passed beside the Kooni and drew the blade across. The Kooni fell before it could even twist aside. The puppet was already running beyond it. Ayame's fingers did not rest. As one finger pulled, another released; the released finger pulled again, a motion like a wave. The puppet rode that wave deeper into the fortress.

Kage descended from the wall and moved along the corridor. He was not following the puppet -- he was taking another route. While the puppet drew enemies toward the front gate, Kage circled toward the rear gate. Puppet and human moved in different directions inside the same fortress, splitting the enemy's gaze in two.

The puppet cut down the second guard. A disturbance broke out. Kooni poured out from deeper in the corridor. Three, four. They charged the puppet, swinging clubs. The puppet retreated and raised its blade to guard. Ayame's left hand began to tremble. Defending with the puppet was harder than attacking. She had to adjust the strings in real time to match the enemy's motion. In attack, Ayame led. In defense, the enemy led. That difference strained her fingers.

A club struck the puppet's shoulder. Splinters flew. Pain passed through Ayame's left shoulder. Ayame did not open her eyes. She clenched her teeth. The sensation of the puppet breaking climbed the strings and echoed through the operator. It was not a physical wound. When a being connected by strings was damaged, the connection itself turned into a shock and came back. That was the price paid by the one who controlled the puppet. As long as the strings were not cut, the puppet would move; as long as the strings were not cut, the pain would also return.

Kage reached the rear gate. Heavy breathing came from inside. He pushed the door. In the middle of the dark room sat a vast shadow. An oni warrior. A frame two heads taller than a person. Red skin, pitch-black armor. An axe lay beside him. The oni was meditating. Even after hearing the commotion by the front gate, he had not moved. Not because he trusted his subordinates -- because he was waiting for an enemy worth rising to meet.

Kage drew his ninjato. A blackened blade. It reflected no light in the dark. He took one step closer. Two steps. He read the oni's breath. At the end of an inhale -- Kage jumped.

The oni's eyes opened. Kage's ninjato slashed toward the neck. The point aimed for the gap between armor and throat. Blood sprayed. But -- it was shallow. The oni had instinctively pulled his jaw in and hunched his neck. The blade had only grazed him, drawing blood; it had not gone deep.

The oni grabbed the axe and rose. The room was narrow. One swing of that axe, and the wall would come down. Kage retreated and slipped outside the door. The oni followed him out. As the oni stepped into the corridor -- the puppet appeared behind him.

Ayame's two hands moved at once. Her left hand controlled the puppet's lower half; her right hand controlled its upper half. The puppet stabbed from behind the oni. Into a gap in the armor -- the joint between waist and chest. The blade point drove in. The oni roared and turned. The axe swung toward the puppet.

Ayame's fingers moved frantically. The puppet tried to retreat, but it was one beat late. The axe blade cut off the puppet's left arm. The wooden arm fell to the floor. From the cut, severed strings fluttered in the air.

Pain came. Ayame felt as if her entire left arm had sunk into fire. Her eyes snapped open. She clenched her teeth and swallowed a scream. The shock of the strings cutting. It was the puppet's arm that had been cut, not Ayame's, but -- when a frame joined by strings was severed, more than just the strings broke. The operator's senses, will, and everything extended into that puppet flowed backward and struck Ayame.

Ayame's left hand trembled. Three fingers twisted and would not straighten. Even so, the remaining fingers moved. She controlled the puppet with seven fingers. The puppet stood before the oni, holding its blade in one arm. Its motion was unstable. Without the balance of one arm, it could not move as smoothly as before.

But Ayame did not stop.

Kage moved again. While the oni's attention was caught by the puppet, Kage climbed along the corridor ceiling beams and moved above the oni's head. The puppet stood in front with its blade raised. The one-armed puppet held the oni's gaze. The oni lifted his axe to smash it apart.

At that instant, Kage dropped from above. The ninjato cut deep into the oni's neck. This time it was not shallow. The oni's jaw had lifted. The motion of raising the axe exposed the throat. The puppet held the gaze from the front, and Kage cut the neck from above. A two-direction attack -- the puppet became bait, and the human struck the vital point.

The oni staggered. The axe fell to the floor. Kage took one step back and reset his stance. The puppet thrust its blade with its remaining arm. The oni's knees buckled. The floor shook.

Then the puppet stopped. Its moving joints went rigid, and the light in its glass eyes went out. The strings had not been cut -- beyond the strings, Ayame's fingers had reached their limit.

On the hill, Ayame lowered both hands onto her knees. Her fingers were trembling. Her left hand barely moved. Her right hand had lost its strength too. Sweat ran down her forehead and dropped from her chin. Her face was pale. When the puppet's left arm was cut, the shock that came back was still echoing inside her.

Kage left the fortress and climbed the hill. He looked at Ayame. At the trembling fingers and pale face. Wiping his blade, he said,

"It's over."

"I know," Ayame answered. Her voice was cracked. "When the puppet... stopped, I felt it."

Kage looked at Ayame's hand. The index, middle, and ring fingers of her left hand were twisted. It was not a muscle spasm -- it was the trace of the shock from cut strings. The puppet's lost arm had broken the operator's fingers.

"A puppeteer," Ayame said, looking down at her trembling hand. "I thought it meant sending the puppet while I stayed somewhere safe. At first. When I learned from my master, when I first tied the strings. It was strange to see the puppet move -- that one of my fingers could make a puppet so far away take a step. It felt like magic."

Wind blew. The strings -- the strings not yet cut -- swayed in the wind.

"But the first day a puppet broke, I understood. Something returns at the moment the strings cut. Everything I sent into the puppet comes back. As much motion as I sent, as much sensation as I sent. When the puppet breaks, all of it floods back at once."

Kage did not answer. The puppet was not fighting in Ayame's place. Ayame was fighting as the puppet. There was distance, but that did not mean she was free of danger.

"Even so," Ayame said, folding her fingers. Painful fingers. Slowly. "I won't stop. Wherever my strings reach is my battlefield."

The setting sun sank beyond the fortress. The puppet had stopped inside the fortress. A puppet with one arm missing. To move again, it would need repairs. Ayame's fingers would need time too. Strings and fingers. Puppet and operator. If one broke, the other hurt. That was the price paid by beings joined by strings.

#Law -- Session Actual Play

Kuro(GM) / Hana(Kage) / Mei(Ayame)

Kuro: Episode 9. Puppeteer remote assault. Puppet operation, Backflow, Split Existence, Outside Zone to Core Zone. Scent/Law fully separated. Ichi is the puppet frame as an NPC. Sheet check.

[PC]
Ayame (puppeteer 3rd dan): Wisdom+2, Finesse+2, Physique+1. Energy 12, Wounds 4(3+Physique 1).
 Puppet Control(1st dan): string range 2 zones. Operate 1 puppet. Commander spends Energy.
 Split Existence(2nd dan): puppet and operator can act simultaneously. Action distribution.
 Backflow(passive): when the puppet is incapacitated, operator Wounds -1.
 War of Strings(3rd dan): puppet Wounds 2, Defense 12. String cutting(targeted attack possible).

Kage (shinobi 1st dan): Finesse+2, Courage+0. Energy 12, Wounds 3, Defense 12.
 Shadow Crossing: Outside Zone↔anywhere for 0 Energy. 1/round. Free Core Zone access.
 Ninjato(short weapon): attack Energy 2, base 1 Wound(critical 2).

[NPC]
Karakuri Ichi (autonomous automaton 1st dan, puppet frame): Physique+2, Wisdom+1.
 Mechanical Body: immune to poison/disease/fear/bleeding/curse. No natural recovery. Defense 14(natural Defense).
 Puppet Attachment: natural Defense 14 → puppet Defense 12(lowered by string interference). Wounds 2(War of Strings basis).

Mei: Ichi is the puppet frame? You're using an autonomous automaton as the puppet?

Kuro: The premise is that Ichi consented of his own will. "I will lend my frame." Mechanical Body gives immunity to poison/fear, so he can endure on the line. His pseudo-emotion makes him trust Ayame. Systemically, he is an NPC unit.

Kuro: Core puppeteer rules.

[Puppeteer — War of Strings (3rd dan)]
1 puppet. Wounds 2, Defense 12. String range 2 zones(exceed → automatic cut).

[Puppet Command] operator Energy 2 → puppet acts 1 time. Check 2d10 + operator Wisdom(+2). Weapon: tanto(short weapon, base 1 Wound).
[Split Existence] operator+puppet can act simultaneously. If the operator takes a combat action, Puppet Command +1 Energy.
[Backflow] incapacitated(Wounds 0) → operator Wounds -1. Part destruction → operator Energy -2 + function stops.
 Parts: arm(-2 attack), leg(no movement), chest(incapacitated).

Mei: Backflow is harsh. If the puppet breaks, I take damage?

Kuro: That's the puppeteer's price. Incapacitation costs Wounds -1; part destruction costs Energy -2. War of Strings is not comfortable. Let's see the battlefield.

[Zones]
Outside Zone: hill(Ayame). Flank Zone: fortress wall(Kage). Enemy Front Zone: courtyard(Kooni 4+2). Core Zone: oni warrior's quarters.
String range: Outside Zone→courtyard = 2 zones(limit). Outside Zone→Core Zone = 3 zones(exceeds! cut!).
 → Core Zone reach: Ayame must advance to the Flank Zone(Flank Zone→Core Zone = 2 zones).

[Enemies]
Oni Warrior (Elite): Physique+3, Courage+3. Energy 10, Wounds 4, Defense 14. Iron-Axe Smash(Attack A, 3 Energy, 1 Wound+Domination-1). Crush(license, 4 Energy, 2 Wounds+part destruction).
Kooni Squad (6 Minions): clubs, Defense 11, Wounds 1. Uncommanded, frenzied. Energy 10 base.

Hana: So puppet clears the Front Zone → Ayame advances → extend strings to the Core Zone → Kage+puppet pincer attack.

Kuro: Round starts. Count 12. Kage waits in the Flank Zone. Ayame gives Puppet Command.

Mei: Attack a Kooni with the puppet! Energy 2(12→10). 2d10 +2 = 15 >= Defense 11. Hit! Minion dead instantly(Wounds 1→0). 6 units→5 units. Maintain strings for defense, Energy 2(10→8).

Kuro: Count 10. Puppet 2nd action. Energy 2(8→6). Hit, additional Kooni defeated(5→4 units). 2 Kooni counterattack. 1 club hits(total 13 >= Defense 12). Puppet Wounds 2→1. 1 misses.

Mei: Wounds 1... one more hit and it's incapacitated.

Hana: Kage enters! Shadow Crossing, 0 Energy. Enhanced surprise ninjato, 2 Energy(12→10). raw [7,8]+2(surprise)=17 >= 11 hit. No reaction, so the Kooni cannot use a defense technique. 1 Wound — Kooni dead instantly(4→3 units). Extra attack 2 Energy(10→8). Total 11 — hit, 1 Wound — 1 Kooni defeated(3→2 units).

Kuro: 2 Kooni frenzy. 1 attacks the puppet, total 13 >= Defense 12. Hit! Puppet Wounds 1→0. Incapacitated! The other 1 cannot break Kage's Defense 12.

[Backflow triggers] Ayame Wounds 4→3. Puppet cannot act(strings can be maintained).

Hana: Kage counterattacks. 2 Kooni remain. Ninjato 2 Energy(8→6), 1 defeated(2→1 unit). Another 2 Energy(6→4), miss. The last 1 flees to the Core Zone.

Kuro: Front Zone cleared. Ayame advances.

Mei: Move Outside Zone→Flank Zone. Energy 2(6→4). String range reached!

Kuro: Oni Warrior awakens. Report from the fleeing Kooni → enters the corridor → finds the incapacitated puppet → Crush!

[Crush → Part Destruction] 4 Energy. Extra attack against the incapacitated puppet destroys the left arm!
Backflow: Ayame Energy -2(4→2). Left-arm string function stops(puppet attack -2).

Mei: Energy 2! Almost exhausted!

Kuro: Count 8. Core Zone combat. Oni Warrior vs Kage.

Hana: Ninjato! Core Zone short-weapon bonus makes it 1 Energy(4→3). Total 16 >= Defense 14. Hit! 1 Wound. Oni Warrior Wounds 4→3. Oni counterattack, Iron-Axe Smash 3 Energy. Total 14. Kage Defense 12, hit — improvised parry 2 Energy(3→1). Total 16. Success.

Mei: Emergency Activation! Force Energy 2+Wounds 1 into the incapacitated puppet. Ayame Energy 2→0, Wounds 3→2. Tanto with the remaining right arm!

[Emergency Activation] operator Energy 2+Wounds 1 → puppet acts 1 time. Then complete shutdown.

Mei: 2d10 +Wisdom(+2) -2(left arm destroyed) = +0. Raw 2d10... 9, 8 = 17! Defense 14 hit! 1 Wound. Oni Warrior 3→2. Puppet complete shutdown.

Kuro: Oni Warrior Iron-Axe Smash. Kage only has Energy 1, so improvised parry(2) is unavailable. Take 1 Wound as is. Kage Wounds 3→2. Kage wounded, but still standing.

[Scenario Result]
Oni Warrior: Wounds 2/4 (retreats). Kage: Wounds 2, Energy 1. Ayame: Energy 0, Wounds 2, cannot act.
Puppet(Ichi): complete shutdown. Left arm destroyed. Repairs required.
→ Partial success. All 6 Kooni annihilated. Oni Warrior spent 50% of Wounds and retreats. Follow-up troops can be deployed.

Mei: Not a complete victory.

Kuro: Victory isn't the core of Episode 9. The structure of puppet operation -- range, Backflow, the Energy burden of Split Existence. This episode is for feeling that puppeteers are strong, but the cost is high.

Kuro: Three Ways and Six Hearts.

[Three Ways and Six Hearts — Episode 9]
Ayame: 覇(will to expand the battlefield as far as the strings can reach) / 慈 temptation("Is it right to use Ichi as a tool?") → maintains 覇.
Kage: 忠(loyalty to the party that accepts the bait role) / 虛 temptation("Is this self expendable?") → maintains 忠.

Mei: Ayame is 覇?

Kuro: Not 覇 as domination over others, but 覇 as the will to expand her own reach. Kage's 忠 is very shinobi-like: complete the operation even if it consumes him.

Kuro: Rule summary.

[Episode 9 Confirmed Rules]
1. Puppeteer War of Strings(3rd dan): 1 puppet. Wounds 2, Defense 12. Strings 2 zones.
2. Puppet Command: operator Energy 2 → puppet acts 1 time. Check 2d10 + operator Wisdom.
3. Split Existence(2nd dan): operator+puppet simultaneous action. When operator fights, Puppet Command +1 Energy.
4. Backflow: incapacitated → operator Wounds -1. Part destruction → Energy -2 + function stops.
5. String range: 2 zones. On exceed, automatic cut.
6. Puppet Attachment(autonomous automaton): natural Defense 14→12. Apply puppet Wounds.
7. Emergency Activation: operator Energy 2+Wounds 1 into incapacitated puppet → 1 action, then complete shutdown.
8. Part destruction: arm(-2), leg(no movement), chest(incapacitated).
9. Crush: extra attack against incapacitated target → part destruction.
10. Core Zone short weapon: base 2 Energy weapons such as ninjato cost 1 Energy in the Core Zone. Only base 1 Energy weapons are returned through combo-fatigue reduction.
11. Outside Zone→Flank Zone advance: operator movement extends string range. Exposed inside the battlefield.
12. Puppeteer direct combat: when the puppet stops, direct combat is possible. Unarmed Combat damage 1. Wisdom-based.

Hana: Ichi's repairs?

Kuro: Tetsu handles that in Episode 14. The left arm lost in Episode 5 carries into Episode 9 too. Ayame appears in Episode 15, operating 2 puppets. Kage is Episode 11, Night Market of Sakai. That's all for today.

"The moment the strings cut, something returns. Everything sent into the puppet. Even so, the girl spread her fingers -- wherever my strings reach is my battlefield."