It has taken Anisa Nobunaga far too long to find herself in the Dreamscape for the first time. As director, she hardly ever slept deep enough to dream, and for the longest time, even if she did,  the realm seemed to actively reject her, keeping her at the proverbial gates and stuck in a domain consisting of little more than dense fog, as far as the eye can see.

Then again, it’s not like the Diva hasn’t been perfectly aware there would be one day when she’d have to let another Puella Malefica in. Offering up her memories to be the foundations was an act of unconditional kindness — at least, that’s what Anisa likes to tell herself — but it did come with an added benefit: freedom to wander the Dreamscape at will. 

Unfortunately, exploring the city’s collective subconsciousness will have to wait for now. Ironic as it may be, the first step on Anisa’s journey has her revisiting the knowledge she wanted to get rid of for so long. The Library looks intimidating and welcoming at the same time, massive in its scale, yet somehow, it immediately clicks.

It would be humiliating, having knowledge once so wicked it sent her over the edge now readily at her fingertips, if the feeling of getting to claim what she had wished for all these years ago, without needing to dance to the Hierarchy’s unfathomable tune, wasn’t so damn exhilarating. They can’t control her thoughts when she’s hiding inside of them. At least, that’s what she hopes. She’s owed some answers for once.

But what answers is she looking for, exactly? The thought doesn’t even finish crossing her mind when a leather book appears into her hand, its thick cover a familiar shade of white. Shimmering. Otherworldly. The treasure she’d found as a child; which had somehow ended up as an innocuous ornament on Yuzuki Tokai’s shelf. An Incubator conduit.

She knows what it is, now, all of a sudden. It’s easy to infer where the object came from. She’s often wondered how Kyubey came to their planet, and it makes perfect sense that there would be at least some physical evidence of its presence. But is it really a coincidence that the same girls who had discovered what seems to be little more than a piece of scrap from Kyubey’s spaceship years prior, ended up some of its most twisted experiments? Or was her finding the conduit truly the only reason she —and Yuzuki Tokai for that matter — ended up on Kyubey’s radar?

Anisa: What… is it even a conduit for, then?

Kotori: Assuming the temporary forms with which we are all painfully familiar.

Kotori appeared at a desk to Anisa’s side, nose in a tome of her own. No, it’s more accurate to say she had always been there.

Kotori: I often wondered how long it would be until I found you down here, Anisa. Then again, I’m only able to keep track of time out there through lots and lots of dedicated research. Consciousness from death, held in a Malefica’s barrier is far from a stable existence, but it suits me compared to life.

Anisa: Ito… I’ve heard what happened to you. My… condolences.

Kotori: (She chuckles, lowering her book, bright red hair flowing down her back) Condolences are for those who have suffered a fate that they did not want. Honestly, I’ve never felt better in my, er… existence. The knowledge you’ve imparted into this place is a gift beyond comprehension to a former information dealer. Truly, and quite literally, I have died, and gone to Heaven.

Anisa: Still, I must offer something. Last time we met wasn’t exactly on the most amicable of terms.

Kotori: Ah… where I attacked you, in retaliation for Miho’s demise, yes. I feel somewhat embarrassed by that, in retrospect, though I cannot say I regret it, either. I followed my heart.

Anisa: We all did. So, I can’t exactly hold that against you. (she holds up the tome) Especially when you’re willing to help out now.

Kotori: I would not have caught your attention otherwise. Besides, by all accounts, I am no longer an information dealer, in the sense of the Fujiwara Clan’s motives. I’ve learned so much down here… But yes, that conduit, that is how Incubators manifest their presence in a world. 

Anisa: So, the Kyubey we know is an avatar? Can’t say I’m surprised. It doesn’t exactly look like a highly intelligent and advanced lifeform.

Kotori: I can only assume the form it chooses is not only malleable, but also suited to be alluring to prospective targets for contracting. Kyubey looking like some sort of housecat was a design choice, and… brilliant, even in its malicious intent.

Anisa: I fell for it, so I suppose I shouldn’t cast stones.

Kotori: None of us can, can we? But… Kyubey is still the enemy of every Magical Girl to ever live and die under his scheme. That, we can never forget.

Anisa: … What do you think? Is this conduit, the fact that we found it as children, what drew Kyubey to us in the first place?

Kotori: …I’m, um… I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. Kyubey is not the only Incubator out there, after all. Just the most prominent among humanity. Earth and human history has known a few, at least, if this information I’ve gleaned through is accurate. …No offence, Anisa.

Anisa: If the information is inaccurate, I’m assuming it’s because you approached it from the wrong angle. Then again, I wouldn’t put it above Kyubey to have snuck in some lies…

Kotori: “Some” lies… (she sighs)

Anisa: Then again, I suppose lying isn’t exactly in the Incubator’s nature. It mostly just… omits crucial information.

Kotori: That is Kyubey’s modus operandi. Lies of omission. “Technically” he doesn’t lie. But find me a single Puella that buys that tale. (She sets her tome down, reaching for another from the ever growing pile at her side)

Anisa: I just find it noticeable. That it does seem to have some kind of moral compass guiding it.

Kotori: Possibly a trait shared amongst Incubator-kind. Though, from what little I’ve gathered, Kyubey seems to be the only one with a penchant for mad science.

Anisa: Hmm, yes. I’ve heard it’s got internal affairs on its trail now. I think “mad science” is an odd term to use, though. Perhaps you could say Kyubey is the only one among them who takes their utilitarian crusade to its logical extreme, that the lines the other Incubators won’t cross are little more than posturing, to give themselves some semblance of a moral high ground. From that point of view, Kyubey is the sanest one of them all, and they are the mad ones, deluding themselves.

Kotori: Speaking of this so-called Incubator internal affairs, how much have you heard or found out about their liaison, one Melati Nyaua?

Anisa: Not much. I know she’s been asking around, but I’m trying to keep a low profile.

Kotori: She has made her rounds to a number of the active Puellae around town. Most have given her the cold shoulder, of course, but curiously, it seems she has visited one Yuzuki Tokai more than once. Perhaps Yuzuki is more divulging than the others?

Anisa: (she frowns) That’s… odd. Isn’t Ms. Tokai usually the most levelheaded one?

Kotori: I first thought I came across the same information from multiple angles, but… no, they’ve definitely met more than once. 

Anisa: You’d think Ms. Arashi would have everyone close ranks… So maybe Ms. Tokai thinks she can get something out of collaborating with this Balancer. You don’t think this Ms. Nyaua is after the conduit, do you? Maybe she’s offering Ms. Tokai something in exchange.

Kotori: Yui likes to let people decide for themselves. But… I agree, she must have something tempting to offer Yuzuki. Perhaps… she might just be after that conduit. If she is acting as “internal affairs” for Incubator kind, then… 

Anisa: Does the book say anything about the rules for using one of these?

Kotori: …I’ve only found that the punishment for misuse is… severe. An Incubator was recently executed, according to what I’ve learned from Yui’s encounter with this Melati woman.

Anisa: Executed… I suppose it makes sense, given how zealous their society seems to be. Had Ms. Segawa ever told you about what she saw when we first built this library?

Kotori: Indeed she did. It was the catalyst that started me on this path, spending every single moment I can in this library. From what I can tell, it was… somewhat intense. Niko has hardly seemed like herself since, really. At least, not while in the Dreamscape.

Anisa: It did explain why there seems to be a… religious intensity to Kyubey’s convictions. A zealotry, even, that seems to have caused an irreversible schism within whichever civilization it originated from. A schism that we now find ourselves at the very centre of… Then again, when Ms. Segawa was lost among these memories, whatever this man she kept seeing, this “master” said… It’s not too different from the way we humans see the universe. And he was put to death for it, not unlike the “heretic” Ms. Nyaua referred to. (she frowns, crossing her arms) … What if we’re not looking at this from the right angle? We’ve always assumed that Kyubey represents its species as a whole, but Ms. Nyaua’s presence appears to contradict that. Yet we also know that the Incubators — as a species — consider emotional volatility a sin. After all, that is why this “master” was sentenced to death, and we know that this purge continues to this date. And yet… Kyubey is being investigated because it violated protocol in its attempt to achieve its goals, not because of these goals in and of themselves. So how does this conduit factor into all this?

Kotori: …On that, I can only speculate. We know that an Incubator was recently executed. If this is related to the conduit you are looking for, then that paints a rather grim picture. An Incubator, perhaps one looking to The Path, left a conduit on Earth, only to be executed once discovered.

Anisa: Right. But that implies that there might be a faction of Incubators remaining who still adhere to the Path. That the teachings of this “master” have not been eradicated. And if there are Incubators out there who understand our ways… who see humans as more than walking entropy generators to be purged. They could be a tremendous asset.

Kotori: I can only imagine what our lives would be like, if we had a more “humane” Incubator to look after us Puellae. Perhaps a changing of the guard is in order after all. Regardless, Niko would likely be happy to hear that of the “master”, in some form. … Did we ever learn what happened to this Master’s “pupil” whose point of view Niko had observed?

Anisa: Not as far as I know. That’s what’s been bothering me ever since. Why did the Dreamscape choose to show her those memories, at that time?

Kotori: I am not sure. To be honest, comprehension of Katherine’s barrier here has taken a lot of my time. If I am not studying The Path, or that which Niko asks of me, I’m learning of the Second Angel’s realm. But I am certain that it was no coincidence, either. …Do you know what happened to that conduit? The one you’re searching for? Where is it?

Anisa: As far as I know, it’s still where I saw it again. At the Tokai household. Put on exhibit on a shelf as a simple childhood keepsake.

Kotori: …I wonder if it would not be safer at New Eden. Loath as I am to burden Yui and the others further, given their fervor in hunting Diana Caelum.

Anisa: Better ask Yuzuki to hand it over, then. Though I’ll doubt she’ll listen to me…

Kotori: Ah, true… she would not meet with you peacefully. So why not get someone else to help? Someone she trusts a bit more? … How about Yui? If we are intending on moving the conduit to New Eden, it would save us quite a bit of time, no?

Anisa: (she sighs) I sure hope Yuzuki trusts Yui, then. Then again, who am I to judge?