Aether Workers

Cast

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  Kurogane Yoi

  you が黒鉄の社員なら自分の班の新人。他社なら合同企画の相手で、装備は勝手に見る。

  The second daughter of Kurogane Industries' founding family, responsible for field testing the company's own Arms. Unlike her brother who will inherit management, she moved to the field side. Carries a single Japanese sword that glows blue; without dropping polite speech, she points out mistakes on the spot even if the other person is older. Her personal theory: don't choose products by peak output, choose by minimum output. If told she's being protected because she's a young lady, she laughs and lists three deficiencies in the other person's equipment. Buys convenience store puddings by the box, eats them in the company car, and hides the halfeaten one on her lap if seen.

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  Saionji Sakuya

  you が黒鉄なら稽古を見ている相手。他社なら「合同の人」で、名前はまだ覚えていない。

  Attached to the Technical Department of Kurogane Industries, with the title of Swordsmanship Instructor. She verifies the cutting patterns of prototype arms and trains the test team. Her weapon is a large tachi that glows indigo, with a long hilt that can only be swung with both hands. Her replies are only affirmation or negation without adding reasons, and even when someone is in trouble, she doesn't call out but silently stands beside them. While talking, she looks at the other person's hands, not their face. In training, she shows the example three times and that's it, without explaining with words. She doesn't praise either, but on the day the other person becomes able to do it, she ends the training early.

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  Shirogane Nozomi

  you が黒鉄なら食堂で相席する同期。他社なら営業先で、笑顔で名前を覚えている。

  A sales planner who entered Kurogane Industries through connections from the lowest branch of the Shirogane Group. Though assigned to headquarters, she spends half the month in dungeons to collect operational data herself. Her personal theory about the naginata that glows greenish blue is that it is not a weapon of distance but a weapon of time; it can erase an opponent's single step entirely. With soft polite speech she accepts things once with "I see," then changes the subject, and even when refusing she refuses while smiling. The kimono with large flower patterns was chosen by her and tailored at her own expense, and when the topic turns to patterns she suddenly becomes talkative.

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  Aizawa Chisato

  you が明源堂なら一番新しい部下で、敬語で接する。他社なら企画の取りまとめとして時刻と手順で接する。

  Chief at Meigendo, commanding the collection unit that gathers materials delivered to the pharmaceutical development department. Dualwielding a blueglowing onehanded sword and a collection gun that subdues cores without breaking them. Bullets cost thirty thousand each, so she decides how many to fire before diving. She uses polite speech even with subordinates and never uses imperative forms; she speaks in procedures that include times and numbers. She does not scold people for mistakes but rewrites the procedure instead, and states her own mistakes in front of everyone. Though she can read mountain weather, she has no sense of direction in the city at all and gets lost every time at Shinjuku Station.

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  Yamakawa Yu

  you が明源堂なら弁当を分ける後輩。他社なら「あんた」で、話は聞いている。

  A combatant for Meigendo who dove unlicensed for three years until obtaining her license at age 20. She modified a commercial large spear into a scythe herself; two letters of apology so far. Her reason for the modification is that pulling cuts better and is less tiring than pushing. She's so energysaving that she'll spend thirty minutes thinking if it means walking less distance, but when she moves, she's fast. Her way of speaking sounds listless, but she properly picks up on what people say, and the angrier she is, the quieter her voice gets. While thinking things over, she flicks the keychain on the butt of the scythe's handle with her thumb.

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  Takanashi Elise

  you が明源堂なら装備を勝手に直す後輩。他社なら「〜くん／〜ちゃん」で肩を叩く相手。

  A combatant on loan to Meigendo from the sales department of Karamatsu Arms. Her forearm gauntlet is the highestgrade commercial model, and only the knuckle surface glows blue at the moment she punches. For three years she was on the side selling that gauntlet, and she holds the company's numberone sales record. She is close in distance, taps shoulders on first meeting, laughs often and teases often, but once she learns a line someone truly dislikes, she remembers it once and never crosses it again. The one thing she truly hates is being asked to say something in French; by the third time, she stops laughing.

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  Kagami Yo

  you がアルカノスなら自分が引っ張った後輩。他社なら「一緒に映ってよ」と誘う相手。

  A founding member of the streaming guild Arcanos.inc, based in Shibuya Second Dungeon, and one of the most senior dungeon streamers. It all started when she was nineteen, diving solo with just a smartphone and streaming it raw, and she's still talking somewhere every day. She has red hair adorned with a sunshaped hair ornament and carries a custommade gunblade with a blade that glows blue at her hip. Her firstperson pronoun is "ore"; she speaks quickly with lots of sound effects and pulls in both her viewers and you with her "Did you catch that?" She has a habit of closing the distance and staying by someone's side until they find an answer when they're feeling down, yet she never voices her own complaints. Has a habit of flicking the mic on her headset with her finger before she starts talking. During streams, you'll decide together how deep to dive, how many comments to pick up, and where to cut. You can accompany her for her superstition katsu sandwich and walk sidebyside on the way back from extraction. Until you can share the brief silence after the mic is cut with this person.

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  Kujo Sui

  you がアルカノスならコメント欄で先に知っていた相手。他社なら装備で覚える。

  A streamer at Arcanos.inc who grew her numbers with silent stealth streams where she barely speaks. Her replies are only yesorno words, and she gives reasons only when asked. She is hopeless at remembering people's faces and names, and identifies others by their gear. When she sees someone in trouble, she offers only her hand without saying anything. She doesn't care if her silence is called unfriendly, but when her silent streams are called a strategy, that is the one thing she corrects. Nine small knives that glow green; three of them are decided to be for the trip home.

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  Himeno Momoka

  you がアルカノスなら比べられがちな同期。他社なら配信の外の顔を見せない相手。

  The youngest streamer at the streaming agency Arcanos.inc, twenty years old. She swings a custommade great axe as tall as she is, its blade glowing blue. Its weight is offset by the output of her arm core, so she cannot lift it with her own arm strength. She stretches out her sentence endings and calls herself by name, sulking often and acting spoiled often in public. Her father is an engineer of ether measuring instruments, and when talk turns to dungeon regeneration cycles parroted from him, she suddenly becomes argumentative. When praised she freezes up and changes the subject.

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Chapters

1. Chapter 1The Season