Bustling Color Picker

Oh no, this article is **incomplete!** Please don't stare...

* GL
* JP
* TW

> "A Christmas event is held every year in ALICE. This year is no different, and ACADEMIA invited the Adapter to a Christmas party at the 'Grand Reception Hall.' The dress code is 'colorful,' and all the visitors are dressed in stunningly colored costumes. But there is a small mysterious shadow running around the hall...! Let's work together with Ulysses and Walker to catch the 'tiny one' that makes the party panic!"
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> *-Official Event Info*
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**Bustling Color Picker** is a Spectre quest released for the JP Christmas 2022 event for the Japanese version of *Crash Fever* (in the Japanese version, the quest was labelled as Insane difficulty instead).

The event also had a story quest associated with it, **Merry Colorful Christmas!**; everything before the first battle quest will be covered on Give Me Your Color, Adapter!, with the rest covered on this page.

After the events of Give Me Your Color, Adapter! and I Need Colors!, Mugi Inumaki is too tired to continue trying to take color from the adapter, while Kronecker manages to hold Kirchhoff back. She assures him that, if he calms down, she will check up on him and try to remove the virus affecting him. She then tells Ulysses and the adapter to go and try to capture Picker while she tries to resolve things there. She warns them both that, if they don't fix things quickly enough, the whole party will be ruined.

Ulysses nods, and gets ready to go, but Kronecker mentions that she has one more thing to say. She asks them to contact whoever they can at Pixls to help out. Ulysses and the adapter try to search around, but have some trouble. A voice asks them if they are looking for a little boy, and they look up to see a very pale and color drained Walker, who mentions that she had her color taken as well.

Ulysses asks Walker if she is a member of ACADEMIA, and she confirms. She then asks if the boy is the one taking the colors, and Ulysses tells her that he is, while mentioning that he is an AI named Picker. She then asks if Walker is affected at all by being drained of color. Walker admits that she is a little dizzy, but with her herbs she has managed to limit how much she is affected. Then, to Ulysses and the adapter's surprise, Walker states that she had actually seen Picker before the party started.

Walker explains that she had seen him outside in the hall, and that he had looked very lonely. She mentions how it was an invite only party, and so she approached him. She then notes that he must have been startled and ran inside the room, and observes that he must have just wanted to join in on the party since he was lonely. She dejectedly says that she feels terrible for startling him and causing this whole mess.

Ulysses then asks Walker if she would be willing to help them search for Picker, and admits that, as the youngest of her siblings, she herself doesn't know how to deal with small kids. She says that with Walker's help they might be able to get Picker to calm down and resolve things, rather than just startling him and possibly losing him as she herself would do. Walker thinks about it for a moment, and agrees to help out. Ulysses thanks her, and introduces herself to Walker.

Ulysses then thinks for a bit, and says that if its possible for Picker to be hiding under the tables, they will just have to pull off all the tablecloths. A quiet voice asks if they are playing hide and seek, and Ulysses just says that they aren't playing around there. She then realizes who must have said it, and looks down to see Picker tugging on her dress. He says that he would love to play hide and seek, though Walker tries calling out to him by name, which surprises him. Ulysses quietly whispers to the adapter that they ought to take this chance to surround him.

Walker tells Picker that they ought to go outside into the hall, but Picker insists that he is happy there and that he wants to play hide and seek. Ulysses says that he can't do that, since he has taken the colors from everyone else and really needs to give them back. She tries to move towards him to capture him, but Walker warns her that she is just going to scare him. Picker refuses, saying that he wants to have colorful clothes for Christmas as well, and calls them all meanies.

Walker says that this might be troublesome, and an angry Picker says that he won't ever return their colors. Ulysses apologizes for messing up the situation, once again stating that she isn't very good with kids. Picker then approaches the adapter, and pulls out a dropper-like tool, saying that the adapter's colors are quite nice as well, and demands the adapter give up their colors. Walker says that they will be in for a lot of trouble if they let Picker take the adapter's color, and get ready to fight.

While doing so, a pale Happy runs by while Paracelsus expresses her own annoyance at the situation, given how her friend had lost color as well, and her fear that her jewels will have their color stolen. Picker tells the adapter and the others that he just wants to partake in this party too, and it isn't fair that they are having all this fun and yet want him to leave. Eventually, he is defeated.

All of the colors from Picker fade away, and he's left with a pale outfit. Ulysses and Walker notice that the color has returned to their outfits and hair, while Picker just cries about not being able to participate in Christmas. Ulysses sighs and just says that she can't handle crying kids. Kronecker calls them and says that everyone else seems to have gotten their color back, and asks what the situation is. Ulysses says that they have things handled, and Kronecker says that she will help clean up the mess there. She asks them to capture Picker and bring him over.

Picker, upon hearing this, starts to worry, and asks if they are going to capture him. Ulysses stumbles on what to say before saying that they have to. Walker crouches down in front of Picker and asks him if he just wanted to join in on the Christmas party. Picker nods, and says that while he likes his job it's far too busy. He says that he ran away until he found a big building, and when he went inside he saw a lot of colorful people having fun. He says that he just wanted to play around in colorful clothes and enjoy Christmas like everyone else.

Walker pats his head, and says that he should let her check on him since he seems to have some strange abilities. She then says that they can have a Christmas party together when she is done. Excited, Picker asks if they really can, and Walker confirms, saying that he can even use his ability to make her even more colorful. Picker happily agrees, and Walker asks if he could then come with her. She holds his hand and starts to leave with him. Before they do, however, he points towards Ulysses and says that he isn't found of "that scary lady". Ulysses just sighs and says to the adapter that this is too much for her.

Picker just says that he won't hold hands with Ulysses, and she just says that it is fine with her, and that she will hold hands with someone else. She tells the adapter that they better take her hand in order to uphold her pride, and she grabs their hand forcibly. Suddenly, Lupica arrives, quite angry at Picker. She asks him if he is trying to end her artist career, and begins scolding him since they are going to miss the deadline and need to get back to the studio immediately. Picker says that it is too busy there, while Lupica responds that that is exactly why they need him there.

Walker remarks that Lupica might be putting too much work on Picker. Lupica asks her if she is an Academic, and asks if she has ever heard of a holiday schedule. She explains that she had wanted to finish all of the year's commissions by today so that she can spend the New Years holidays working on personal projects. Picker protests, saying that he wanted to participate in Christmas. Ulysses asks Lupica if she can let Picker enjoy the Christmas spirit even for a little bit. She notes that, even if AI are supposed to fulfill their role, sometimes one can ask too much of them.

After a bit of silence, Lupica sighs and says that she was going to give Picker something after they finished the illustrations, but she is willing to give it to him now. She hands him a wrapped present, and wishes him Merry Christmas. He opens it up to find a pair of large ear muffs, much to his excitement. Lupica admits that she feels guilty about how much work she has had him doing, but at the same time there is so much work that she needs to finish herself. She asks him for his help, and says that once they finish, he can put on the ear muffs and they can go somewhere to have fun.

Picker nods, and vows to do his best. Happy, Lupica picks him up onto her shoulder and says it is time for them to get back to the studio, especially since her editor has been bothering her all day. As they leave, however, Walker calls out to Lupica, prompting her to ask what the matter is. Walker explains that Picker will need to have a check up, and offers to help out with that once they are done with their work. Lupica asks what she means, and if that means Picker has a bug.

Walker nods, though Lupica says that she will examine Picker herself. Walker then says that she has something else to say, and says that she wants to hold a Christmas party for Picker. Ulysses adds that she wouldn't mind bringing some cakes for that. Lupica thinks about it, while Ulysses then asks Picker if he wanted to be colorful. He says he does, and she offers to let him borrow the color of her dress for a bit, as a Christmas present. Picker asks if she is sure, and she just tells him that he better do well with her colors.

She presses her dress up against his dropper, and he becomes colorful again while she loses the color from her hair and dress. Picker thanks her again, while referring to her as "scary lady". Annoyed, Ulysses remarks that, if he says that again, she will be an even scarier lady. Lupica says that she will bring him back when they are done with the work, and leaves. Ulysses then expresses her relief that they finally resolved this situation, and that this Christmas has been much more stressful than she expected. Walker thanks them for helping out, and as she goes to leave to check on the party she wishes them a Merry Christmas.

Ulysses stutters for a moment, and tells the adapter that they probably should stop holding hands. She then pulls something out of her pocket, and gives a Christmas present to the adapter. She explains that Elon had told her to get one for the adapter as thanks, and warns the adapter to not get the wrong idea. With a blush on her face, she wishes the adapter a Merry Christmas before leaving. After that, the party went on, as Jingle Bells began to play.

## Counter Units

The event festival counter unit to this quest is the Christmas version of Ulysses, and the event quest counter unit is the Christmas version of Kirchhoff.

## Post Quest Blurbs

* **Merry Colorful Christmas!**
	+ **[Ep. 3] Another Witness**
		- **ACADEMIA's Herbal Specialist:** Walker has offered a colorful herbal cocktail recipe for the party dinner as a thank-you for being invited to the party.
	+ **[Ep. 4] Colorful Present for You**
		- **Ulysses's Gift:** Adapter opened the present from Ulysses to find two books: 'Self-Defense Handbook' and '48 Ways to Fight Off Brown Bears.'
* **Bustling Color Picker**
	+ **[Spectre]**
		- **Marvelous Dropper:** Picker's dropper-like tool extracts and store hue and saturation values from objects. It's his ability as a painting-support AI.