WEEK 2

[akudamods]

Saturday passes uneventfully save a little rain. It's on Sunday that you get a little notification of probation for new areas: Neo-Nipponbashi and Chuo. It'd be possible to investigate, to check out some anime, or to worship the defunct Shinkansen. But maybe it's hard to get excited about any of that when Friday’s events suggest that you have simply been provided some additional photogenic places to commit murder. Are you going to bother either overseer after their participation in some mockery of justice? Troll the internet? Get a bat out of Hyper Zone and just take out your frustration on everything?

Those of you who entered the pods will experience fewer “painful bursts of color” as your body is unaffected below the knees, though the same amount of “slight teleportation” glitches. Those of you who abstained from the pods will continue to experience all of the above as well as electric shock sensations occasionally when touching metal objects.

INTERNET | SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

((Internet investigations of any kind go here, and for all IRL areas, please use "investigate" in the subject line of your top-level comment, or link the thread to a moderator!))

Comments

WEDNESDAY

[akudamods]

MEETING....... MINGLE?

[aggelos]

[Do you remember last Wednesday, before the Loremaster's demise, how she had slipped notes under the doors of everyone's rooms asking to meet and discuss with everyone about the motive or about anything interesting that was found?

Well, it seems that someone has taken up her mantle, because when you awake today, you find a note just like last week. It seems someone either recreated or stole the Loremaster's invitations from last week... except this time there is a pawprint on the note now.

Should you decide to investigate and see just what is going on, unfortunately you will not find the Loremaster waiting for you. She is dead, after all.

Instead, you will find no one there other than a black cat that is sitting here overlooking the proceedings, tail swishing back and forth as it watches everyone coming in. It just sits there, staring at you, until everyone appears to have arrived.

And then... the cat suddenly speaks.]

Greetings. I'm glad you could all make it.

[If you strain your ears, the voice sounds like it's being run through a filter in an attempt to disguise the owner, and yet... it should still sound familiar to everyone. It is in fact a voice you have all heard before during your stay here, but it may take a few more conversations to possibly identify the owner, as the cat continues.]

Last week, there was a meeting here to discuss what to do. Now that three of this group have been eliminated, I felt that it may be a good idea to continue with these sessions discussing anything of interest you might have found during your stay here.

[ooc: just like Loremaster's meeting mingle from last week, this one is also a meeting for characters to tag each other and discuss findings or feelings about the motive! the strange cat will also try to answer any questions if asked, though don't be surprised if it is vague about them.]

Re: MEETING....... MINGLE?

[conways_retribution]

...okay, Physicist, very funny... _{[He just sort of says a name hoping it's true, without even being sure. Why is he suddenly drawing the line at a talking cat? Is it because there isn't any such among the X-Classes?]}

[aggelos]

Bzzzt. I'm not the Physicist.

[The cat did in fact make a "bzzzt" noise imitating a buzzer when saying this.]

You've seen what the Physicist is capable of, during that trial. If she really wanted to interfere, she likely would not need a disguise to be here.

[metamere]

[ Well of course Wizard is here, perhaps for obvious reasons and perhaps for not. He's brought with him his own black cat though it's easy to tell the two felines apart given the ornate collar and bright blue eyes on his charge. Meeting black cat is getting a straight up death glare from the other feline with a low hiss. ]

Now, now can you call this fair in any sense of the word? You're allowed to speak and my companion is not. Really, on top of all the other injustices here...

[aggelos]

If it is any consolation, this is not the appearance I normally have, so it is not because of the gods being unfair in allowing me speech, and not offering the same courtesy to your feline companion.

[woodeneye]

[ The appearance of the note makes Ragetti's heart skip for a moment. He knows Loremaster's dead, but she did say she'd try to get back in touch with him, and, well. He does know firsthand that coming back from the dead isn't the most impossible feat out there. It could happen... right?

But, no. Sure. Talking cat. Not any weirder than a talking flower, Ragetti supposes. ]

Nice kitty.

[ He reaches out a hand for scritches. ]

[aggelos]

[The cat will allow head scritches! It feels like petting a normal cat as opposed to a hologram or a robot...]

[your_best_friend]

Greeting the cat

Oh, golly!

[* Ebott's eyes are lit up, delighted to see a talking cat.]

I don't think I've ever seen you around. What monster are you?

Reviewing info

Have any of you seen the trial video Miraicle posted? I... wanted to go and review it to see if there were any codes or the like, but that simply wasn't feasable. I'd be sitting there for weeks going through it all. But it also still isn't raw footage. In fact, it's heavily edited to put us in the worst light possible. It's not much to go on, but perhaps we should look more into that account. I can even program a keylogger if need be.

Also about these rumors... Little old me had a talk with Physicist yesterday, and she made it seem like the rumors also happened when she was also an X-Class. I didn't ask when those rumors stared, but perhaps those rumors started even before the first X-Class came. You know, when people like Cutthroat were still alive.

[* Flowey brings out a phone and shows off a photo of a human when talking about Cutthroat.]

...Oh! One more little thing I almost forgot to mention. When I was in a shop menu with a robot, it mentioned having a SOUL.

info!

[woodeneye]

Robots ain't usually got souls?

[ Maybe this is a hotly debated theological issue in the future. He doesn't know. ]

[aggelos]

That depends. What kind of "monster" do I look like to you?

[osssuary]

[Kimimaro is mostly quiet for the rest of the meeting after the hubbub about the cat, but at the mention of the video he does pop out his phone to do a search.

And then apparently watches it right there, faint frown over his features — it wrinkles his brow near the end, and he actually puts the device down after some skipping but a considerable amount of watching to just… start making hand seals instead. Hmm.]

[pr159]

[ The pawprint makes Rideaux much less inclined to want to show up to this meeting, because his immediate thoughts are that it's either an invitation from that "Wizard" clown or Julius's stupid cat finally managed to catch its fat ass up to the rest of them.

Apparently neither of those thoughts are right, though, so. There's that.

Still feels like a jackass talking to a cat though. ]

So, what, are you supposed to be another former X-Class or something? And why did you choose today to finally show up — or show up again, if what you've been saying about having already met us is true?

[aggelos]

To the first question, yes.

In regards to the second... what can I say, I've been busy. I didn't have the time to meet again until now.

[This is accompanied by a meow that sounds like a yawn at the same time.]

[thefifthchild]

So you're saying we've met, but we have no memory of this. [He wants to trust the cat. He really does.]

Is there anything you can offer us as a show of faith?

[aggelos]

Seems that way, based on how many of you have reacted to my words. A shame, really.

As such, what would it take to earn your trust? I don't want to bank on something that you may not even remember, after all.

[voidseeing]

[The cat might notice Gai's eyes glowing for a brief second as he stares at it... but it's gone as soon as he blinks, and it was such a quick flash that it may not even really have been there at all. Hmm.]

... is this form just a vessel?

[aggelos]

Yes... ah, quite not like The Vessel there--[And the cat points with a paw at Flowey]--but what I mean to say is that this is a temporary form I've taken so that I can safely meet with you all.

[mrfuckwit]

Why a cat?

[aggelos]

Why not a cat?

investigation!

[osssuary]

I. Yes, We Biriken (Biriken Mart Investigation)

[It's not unusual to find X-Class Akudama hanging around the mart by now -- it is a convenience store, after all, even for inconvenient guests and even at the inconvenient hour of early morning. There's some difficulty in keeping to a schedule in the midst of displacement and glitches and smog and the constant threat of death and dismemberment (well, maybe not that last one).

(Probably not that last one, given that's just another Tuesday, when you think about it.)

So: in this particular instance, it's unusual because this particular X-Class isn't normally seen hanging about doing Normal People Things™ so much as he appears and disappears at his leisure in little cameos. Just now, though, he's perusing the shelves with some attention -- he has been here, several times in fact, but he hasn't taken the time to look at the selection in general. Is there anything interesting being sold here, or any interesting parties hanging about at different hours? What about information on Biriken, because mascots are Suspicious? He might accost the cashier too at some point, but really we're just suspiciously eyeing the endless Kanto stock.]

II. Too Bad, Sew Sad (Hospital Roof)

[Apart from mundane shopping purgatory, it's as hard as ever to pin down Kimimaro's whereabouts; especially now that they have twice the ground to cover, and twice the amount of suspicion amongst themselves. He is still sometimes findable at the hospital itself, however, regardless of how awkward things have become in their more-or-less communal living situation and with their hosts. In fact, he spends more time in hospital gown this week...

Sort of just. Drifting about the hallways like a ghost here and there. The best way to find him, however, is always up high: somewhere up on the rooftop in the so-late-it's-early hours, where probably nonstaff isn't supposed to be (but shit like that has never stopped any shinobi that ever lived).

He's mostly up here... doing some mending? That sure is needle and thread and what looks like a bolt of cloth that might have been a sheet or other furniture store or theater donation. It doesn't take him long, however, to sense extra presences and pause.]

An unusual place for a stroll. Was there something you wanted?

[Blunt as ever........]

III. Hyper Zone Hyper Zoom (What It Says on the Tin)

[Alternatively, it's occasionally possible to find him hovering about the Hyper Zone in general thanks to the overall dearth of actually hyperactive children or crowds, along with the sheer variety inside the zone itself. The activities are childish but nevertheless curious, so he's not above just... perching on nearby fire escapes or literally at one of the windows of the place, peering in to observe the inside sports or the crane games.

Seriously, what's with the obsession with crane games, fam.

If there is one spot that he gravitates to himself, though -- it's the Go-Karts! It's probably the loudest part of the outside attractions, and easiest to get to; moreover, does Naruto world have cars??? Do ninja even need cars???????]

... Does this game really teach the skills necessary to operate these?

[He has... put out a foot to stop one of the vehicles with his leg, regardless of who might be driving it. It might even be... you! Or not.]

Re: investigation!

[akudamods]

[Nothing really stands out other than the products all being Kanto-made (though, honestly, this is the case for pretty much everything sold in the city.) The cashier is a robot, and also 'made in Kanto' ​if he's going to be THAT nosy.


​But he can still get info on Billiken if he wants - it will come from the robot. Long ago, before the war, a statue of Billiken was lent to Kanto as an ambassador of sorts to promote Kansai culture. That statue is currently on an observation deck of the "Heaven Reaching Tower" in Old Shinsekai. People put a donation in its box and rub its feet to make their wishes come true. It's also the mascot of a toy company.

....Honestly, this thing has been a part of Kansai's culture for so long, it's hard to believe it'd be relevant. Maybe one (1) mascot can be trusted.]

[osssuary]

[Feels like he's spent more time interacting with robots than the people around here (other than the X-Classes, anyway) -- maybe that's because one of their lovely overseers is literally a drone, or maybe it's just that absolutely everything is automated down to the last detail.

Tourism Value of Old Shinsekai Tower: Noted
Mascot Trustworthiness: Denied

Since we are still on the premises, though, there's one more thing he's curious about, actually -- the supply routes for this mart, and whether it coincides with any of the other stores or buildings around it. Who's restocking these places? How often? Where do they come from?]

hospital roof

[inspiritus]

Not one in particular; this place is simply a good vantage point.

[ Sephiroth isn't fond of hospitals. There's not much that he is fond of in the first place...but this place is easily on the bottom of his preferences. ]

And yourself? You seem rather occupied.

[osssuary]

This city is dense enough to be best viewed from above -- the movement of people and goods. Even if the view is obscured.

[The smog isn't substantially better up here -- they're not on top of one of the skyscrapers, after all, even if the hospital is a fair landmark for the area. Ground visibility is poor all around. Still, there's hints of motion and a good amount of traffic information if you squint; better yet with electronic help.

That's not the point of being here at the moment, but it probably accounts for why Kimimaro spends so much time up around these places. As for the hospital itself... he seems largely neutral, even if he can't be found there all that often.

In the meantime, he continues moving his fingers. His needle is sturdy and his work never quite finished.]

... I was in combat before I was taken here. Keeping one's uniform in shape... is also a duty.

[He really does sound like he's reciting that one.]