becomeanwarrior | (no subject)

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You ever have a day where you're pretty sure everything that can go wrong already has?

Get on the beat, Detective, there's a mystery to solve... yeah, no fucking kidding...

[Private - Shiyoko]

Shiyoko, I need to talk to you.

[Event]

[Onni is, as you might suspect, in his office in OOPARTS.

The office has seen... well, worse days and better - papers are scattered everywhere, there's the distinct smell of burnt coffee from the machine on the desk, and one wall has been converted into a digital whiteboard, linking digital copies of reports and rumors and news articles - at least one television recording playing over and over in a video file.

However, he's not looking at any of that, right now.

What he is looking at is a report. One about a recent incident and another of a witness report being taken by by one Suguru.

The bags under his eyes suggest that these are more than... a bit emotionally trying, for what's likely obvious reasons.]

Fucking... Fuck!

[Nevertheless, Chief Haita keeps an open door policy, even in these times. If you're looking for him, this is the place to find him.]

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*putting down a fresh coffee for you after hearing the cursing*

About as good of a day as it can be, huh?

I can get my own coffee, you don't need- [Catches himself.] Thanks, Suguru.

[He leans forward, sighing and rubbing his temples.] About the only good thing I can say is we're a little bit better prepared for this than we were dealing with Dark Mist. But that's a real low bar to clear, at this point.

...How much do I need to fill you in? I know some of what's connected to this, but I don't have the whole picture myself, either.

Edited 2022-04-20 02:43 (UTC)

*good catch, I'd hate to feed you your desk.*

All I know is vaguely from prior, older reports-- that this Ettosyleit thing is connected to those "Barian" guys who live on that island out in the ocean, in some way.

And that some pretty terrible monsters also live there.

[He's had a long day and it shows.]

Right, yeah, the Warp, I find it easier to call it - because that's what it does, it warps... things. It's a dangerous place. I went out there once or twice. The best way I could frame it is by literally calling it the 'Different Dimension' - things go there, sometimes, if they're unlucky, and they come back... different. And usually, not for the better. Anything that comes from there is caustic to our own reality.

[He takes a sip of the coffee.]

The reason the Barians are on the island off the coast is because the Warp basically ate their home.

And now we have beings from the Warp loose in our city due to a summoning involved with all of... [He waves his hands in front of himself, nebulously.] this.

Edited 2022-04-20 02:53 (UTC)

Right. So the obvious question here though is: What do you plan on doing about it?

Obviously there's some connection going on when it comes to this, but how do you deal with creatures that're literally caustic to their surroundings?

Well, luckily, I did have some prototypes I had mothballed... [He chuckles a little, mostly to himself.]

Basically it's a capsule that you can toss at a disable Warp monster which will rapidly suck it in, and then immediately collapse on itself, sending it and its contained quarry back to the Warp. I... don't have many ready but I can give a few out to you and anyone else who's going to be hunting these things.

The real question is whether the gate is still open over at the Domino Academy, and if it is, how we close it.

And then... there's who summoned monsters from the Warp in the first place. [He does not seem to be, particularly enthused about that last point.]

Edited 2022-04-20 03:09 (UTC)

*oh god, did you make Worse Pokeballs??*

Do you think something summoned them on purpose? Or do you think they might've gotten drawn here because they I guess, uh.

"Smelled" something enticing?

[They technically function more like - ok, no, they are basically worse Pokeballs.]

I... am not sure. I don't think whatever happened at the Domino Academy branch was intended to bring them over, based on what snooping around I've been doing about these crystals.

Which means it's probably connected to who got hit with those crystals, in that case.

Right, those weird crystal things that transform people.

Why do you think it's specifically connected to who got transformed, though? It might've been also because those crystals might be causing some damage, somewhere...

The crystals are a... specific mechanism. They aren't meant to summon, they're meant to - well, the way I've been told, they aren't really meant to transform, either, it's just a nasty side effect, though one that seems to be provoked intentionally.

[He leans back in his chair, thinking.]

And I already know who is doing that. At least, I'm reasonably confident they're the one who decided to do this. They don't seem affiliated with the Warp. If they were, they wouldn't have to do what they're currently doing with the crystals.

Which means that the Warp being let loose in town was likely accidental, and accidental in this case means unintended. And if it was unintended, it's a result of who was affected by the Crystals... or at least, that's where my head is at.

What's your take on this, Suguru?

Ugh, you're asking my opinion on it?

*she mumbles, but she still thinks*

Okay, here's my real question: What's a bird doing informing us of this in the first place? Why was he near the school?

What, did you want me to just talk to myself, here?

...Probably like everyone else, looking for this... Yellow Sign and Silver Key business.

[He gestures to the wall of speculations.]

It's connected to those transformations, but I don't know how, yet.

Who they work for is something I can do digging on - the fact he knew me by my 'formal' title- [He does airquotes over this] suggests some level of interconnectivity in the 12 Dimensions, but that's about as good a thread as I have to start.

Edited 2022-04-20 03:31 (UTC)

Well, I'd have assumed 12 Dimensions stuff outright anyway-- he acted like he had just stepped out of a time warp, so I don't think he's been living around here, and he wants a point of contact to be an offering at a shrine.

But he also acted like he was toeing the line, even getting involved. Makes me wonder what the motivation is, overall, for why he'd have been in that location to witness this.

Huh. [He hrms quietly.]

Probably a middleman of some sort, then? Wasn't supposed to be discovered by us, but figured the appearance of the Warp necessitated stepping outside the boundaries of his job. That's my gut check, anyway, we are kind of first point of contact for supernatural law enforcement even by the 12 Dimensions' recognition.

He mentioned the Yellow Sign, right?

...Does that mean they've already found the Key? I am pretty sure there's supposed to be two, if I remember right... [Muttering to himself.]

Do you even know what this "Yellow Sign" stuff is? Like, any clue at all?

[He slumps, exhaustedly.]

Not in the slightest, frankly. But it reminds me too much of cheesy American movies and horror-pulp fiction to make me feel good about not knowing about it.

I know there was a pamphlet... Where was it... I feel like I meant to grab one...

Edited 2022-04-20 03:53 (UTC)

There was a pamphlet about this?

Someone was passing out pamphlets about trying to find the 'Yellow Sign'. It was the first I heard about it, and then suddenly it was everywhere.

I may... ask the person who had the flyers about it more. They are starting to seem like a person of interest I need to investigat further.

Uuugh. This is getting to be a huge pain in the ass.

Of course it is, but it seems like the priority is handling the problem of horrifying monsters from another plane of existence.

Is there anyone you'd consider an expert on this?

[He tilts back.] On the Warp? Besides my own forays...

...Everhart, but she's pretty hardline militant on her best days, so I'd approach her with caution lest she fly off the handle.

My cousins, technically speaking, and Babs - Aisenburn - would have some understanding of The Warp.

The Barians may have some insights if you're willing to talk to them - Labrys is usually hanging around LDS as part of everything that went down with Mr. Yamada. She's the easiest one to reach. She's probably the best source if you need actual physical backup - she bailed Everhart and me out of the Warp once before.

Could also go to Hirume, who you've probably seen around Kaikori once or twice - she looks like she's Juudai's wife's cousin, kind of - but it's a noted pain point due to her having been infected by Dark Mist.

The Barian hybrid kids - Koyo and Kai, I think? - Might also be worth checking if none of those pan out. Feel free to recruit any of the usual suspects that get their nose into this kind of stuff, too.

[He's gathering up papers, punching in stuff on the computer quickly, feeding those papers into a machine.]

Just to be crystal clear, Suguru - is this a request to take point on the monster wrangling?

No, this is me making sure you have any, anyone at all, who knows what we're dealing with, so we can actually have a solid plan going forward.

I have no experience when it comes to "things that're actively caustic to the surroundings"-- I don't know what they're going to do to anyone that even gets near them, but you seem to know what they are. So you at least might know who the experts really are in this case.

I'm just the girl who punches. *cracking her knuckles, just to make a point*

And you're extremely good at punching. Thank you.

I'm getting in my own head a bit much here but you can probably understand why. A lot of this has been... very stressful.

...You're right, though, hunting down the Warp monsters should be top priority. I'll get a kit squared away for you and anyone else who wants to do punching. The Duel Guards we have for emergencies should be able to withstand low-level Warp side effects for up to an eight-hour runtime. One of those, one of the prototype D.D. Return Capsules, and probably some sort of detection device, and anyone on staff should be able to hunt them down with impunity.

Sounds good to me. You get that stuff together, I'll try to see about backup if I can pull up some files. You said this "Labrys" person is good about that and is easiest to reach, right? I mean, I'd ask Noriko and all about this, but...

... Hoooonestly, if I go and see Noriko or go near Kaikori, there's going to be more delays than anything else, and this seems like a "should be done as soon as possible" sorta problem.

If you want backup, I'd say Labrys should be your first point of contact, yes. I can't think of anyone who has better skills to do so, and you can tell her I said that, if you want.

Yyyyyyes, I think my cousins would be good for info gathering after the fact, but...it would probably take some time to get to that point. Due to their. Well. Themness.

I'll head down to R&D here shortly, if I have to pull double-time to get the kit ready, I will.

Edited 2022-04-20 06:00 (UTC)

Okay, that works out, I guess. I'll get calls going, you get the kit going. We'll exterminate some creepy-crawly-whathaveyous and laugh about it later before the new panic sets in.

*she. copes with the situation in her own way.*

What.

Well, first of all, how's Kamala doing?

She won't really talk to us about anything from the whole. Incident. If that's what you're referring to.

Yeah, I was... afraid of that.

Listen. I'll probably need to try and talk to her myself about the whole thing soon. I know that's the last thing you want to hear right now but it's... important.

I really don't, and Mom and I are heavily considering pulling her from DA if she's getting dragged into this nonsense.

Shiyoko, it's for work. She might have seen something.

And I've got a bad feeling about all of this.

Can you and your mom let me talk to her, please? You know that if you just pull her from school that's going to isolate her worse...

I'm not against it but I want to be present since she's a minor.

And at least in Kaikori, children don't get harmed.

And what bad feeling.

Of course. That's your right as her mom.

Detective's hunch. Things are getting really weird again. I'm getting that tingling feeling at the base of my skull.

And if I'm right Kamala might be in... a lot of danger.

Why?

I can't explain it until I know for sure! That's why it's a hunch!

Just... please, trust me when I say if she is in danger I'm obviously going to do everything in my power to protect her.

What's making you think it.

We got told by someone who was watching the whole incident go down but clearly not meant to contact us that monsters from the Warp spilled out afterwards.

I need to see if Kamala saw anything, because if she did, she might be part of a weird puzzle that's going around.

If she is, I'm dragging her out of it. I am not letting her get hurt the same way I did.

Especially after this incident.

You know I'm with you, Shiyoko. Let's just... see what Kamala has to say, first. It probably won't help if you're coming in at like a 12 while I'm trying to get information from her.

Let's try for like. A 4.

...And, as always, if you need... equipment in order to get into the thick of things, should worst come to worst, I have plenty of spare gadgets and gizmos. My department can go hot at any time.

Likely won't need it if you plan to take your new powers for a spin, but hey.

New powers...?

Oh, you mean the whole Barbaros surgery.

I'll schedule an interview with Kamala with you, but I don't think you'll get much. She's being aggressively a tween about it.

Yes.

...Maybe, but maybe that's where Uncle Onni can try and make things a little better. You know.

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