3437/Back At the Museum

Back At the Museum
Date of Scene:	23 November 2015
Location:	Tokyo-52605 <NXC>
Synopsis:	While visiting the Tokyo National Museum to check on things, Xiaomu runs into Lina, who'd returned to the scene of the Confederate raid.
Cast of Characters:	707, 889

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Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo-52605, is closed until further notice for repairs.

That's what the signs affixed to the glass doors at the main entrance say. Most entrances to the building are solidly locked and have the alarms keyed to go off immediately if anything tries to open them; the only legitimate way in (or out) is through the back door which leads into the museum's administrative offices, with the tightest security that can be managed. The only OTHER way in (or out) is a certain hole that got blasted through a main wall courtesy of some horribly inconsiderate visitors, and that hole has been a major headache for several offices - including Xiaomu's own.

Admittedly, there's a gradually-spreading awareness within Tokyo-52605 (and to a lesser extent, throughout that Earth generally) that the Multiverse exists. Shinra has mostly been trying to keep it quiet, but Shinra's authority ends at Japan's borders and there have been warpgates popping open in other countries. The Japanese government *outside* of Shinra has been working on how to explain this to the world, and Shinra's mandate technically only covers protecting the civilian populace from supernatural rampages in the first place, so warpgate stuff is likely to end up in somebody else's hands before long. For now, though, the story is that the museum was breached by a group of terrorists who wanted to loot artwork and artifacts - which is technically exactly what happened. The en-masse mind control had the side effect of befuddling most civilians' memories, so nobody's arguing with the official story.

Xiaomu is at the museum for an almost completely unrelated reason, and leaves the curator's office with a look that's about nine parts dejection, one part irritation. Rather than leaving right away, though, she makes her way to the now-vacant exhibition rooms where all of the Hokusai stuff had been on display ...

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    Tokyo-52605... the one that Lina assisted Vega with for a robbery. She gives a light sigh and shakes her head, what the hell was his problem. "I really didn't sign up for that shit..." she mutters in her currently vanished state. "Meh, today was just a bad day..." she muttered, looking around a bit before heading to the hole she made. That tarped up hole.

    Dropping out of her vanish state, she taps her foot in front of the tarp. Bow on her back and arrows in the quiver. "Well, maybe I should take a look at the damage Vega did. Maybe I can fix that mistake.." with a flourish, her knife comes out and she looks at the tarp with a frown. "Vega, you idiot..."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The tarp is basically duct-taped down around the edges, but it's an ordinary tarp. If Lina wanted to slice through it, nothing would really stop her; any guards who are posted at this hole are presumably inside, and nobody's set up added security cameras or anything. Of course, what's INSIDE behind the tarp ... she won't know until she either pries an edge loose or slices her way in.

If her hearing is really, really sharp, she might hear footsteps on the other side of the tarp.

The footsteps belong to Xiaomu, a slow-cooking anger replacing her dejection. "Confederate *jerks*," she mutters, kicking at an empty spot on the floor.

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    With a quick flourish, a cut is given to the tarp and... then the voice of one of those that was there causes her to freeze. She shakes her head and gives a brief nod, well, here goes nothing, right? She sheathes the wing edge and makes her way through the hole she made, "I know that fustration... I'm sorry." she starts, keeping her hands raised, "I'm sorry for what he did to your people, it wasn't supposed to go that way..."

    She takes a deep breath, shaking her head, "I didn't sign up for that, I thought it was going to be a smash and grab but, well, when people don't tell me anything. And I couldn't stand to use people as a shield... that's.. just inhuman..." Lina moves up against a wall and leans back, "Umm, so hi."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
If Xiaomu hadn't checked her staff with security when she came in, she would be readying it for a swing. But she isn't, so she doesn't, and she doesn't reach for her handguns either. "You're the least jerky of the bunch that came in here," she says to Lina. "And there was smashing enough already." She tilts her head at the hole. "It's the 'grabbing' part that's bugging me .. all the footage we've got says Shadowlaw didn't get anything except a beatdown. You were the first one to leave, did you snatch anything on your way out?"

Her tone isn't accusatory, which is likely to be a good sign for Lina personally. The sage fox clearly wants to know, though.

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    "Nope, didn't get anything. Heck, I even released your kittyperson there. I couldn't stand what Vega was doing so... I bolted. Sorry." she gives a bit of a bow. "There's a lot of nice art here... well, there was. Glad you got it out okay at least." she gives a bit of a shrug and looks towards the hole, "I was responsible for the hole though. Admittedly, I am a bit proud of it. Didn't think that combination of spells would do that." she gives a nervous laugh, trying to defuse the situation...

    "So, umm.. I just came by to see the place, I'm... sorry for actually helping that jerk of a person..."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"If you feel that badly about it," Xiaomu replies with a perfectly straight face, "then I can dig up the estimated cost of repairs, and you can pay as much of it as you can afford without stealing from anybody else."

She looks and sounds COMPLETELY serious, too.

"But since I doubt you've got that much money, I'll settle for thanking you for that info and accepting the apology." Xiaomu shakes her head, running her fingers along a now-bare pedestal. "Don't expect me to gush or anything. This exhibit meant a lot to me. We may never get that much of Hokusai's art together in one place at the same time for a few decades, or longer."

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    Lina shakes her head some, "I don't expect praise for that or gushing... I honestly didn't expect him to do that, man, was he crazy." she shakes her head a bit, a sigh, "Sometimes the Confederacy worries me... I haven't done much with them but... Vega's..." she shivers and shakes her head one more time. "Ah, if you want I could help out a bit... I mean, I was responsible for some of this, least I could do is make up for it..."

    She gives another bow, "I really AM sorry. The art was nice, it really was..."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Of *course* it was nice," Xiaomu says bitterly. "Hokusai wasn't a great artist because of his signature - he actually *saw* the world around him, perceived it as it *was* instead of what he thought it should look like. And he learned how to capture that, in ink or in carved blocks for printing ... the beauty of the visible and of the invisible, from myths and legends to the reality around him."

She lets out a long, slow sigh, then turns to look at Lina. "You're with the Confederacy. Would they let you quit?"

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    Lina frowns and looks away from Xiaomu, shaking her head, "Sounds like a few of the artists back home in Odin." she mutters, "Song, dance, things that could be passed on through time." she gives a light sigh and sits back.. "Probably nothing I could do to replace what was damaged huh?" Though, the question about quitting the Confederacy passes through her mind.

    "Mmm. I.. I don't know, I am not an enlisted person in their army. I mean, part of the reason I'm there is my tuition for my school, through my boss..." she gives a bit of a shrug, "I'm not really supposed to say who he is though.. sorry." she shakes her head a bit "I think it might be possible... why, do you want to hire me or something?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Union might cover tuition," Xiaomu muses, "but I don't know who you'd talk to for confirmation. Probably depends on your boss. Which school?" she wonders casually. She's not about to volunteer any school names that come to mind, though.

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    "Alexander Academy." she states, "DO you think the Union would even want me? Especially after this and helping Number Nine?" she gives a bit of a shrug, "Not sure what my boss would say, he's providing most of the tuition... So I do owe him quite a bit..." she shakes her head some, looking up towards Xiaomu, "Heh, kinda feel like a heel right now.. thought this would have been the best for me to join with him and the Confederacy..."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Alexander, huh." Xiaomu folds her arms loosely. "We HAVE got a few of their students in the Union, so there's that. And if you can actually switch to the Union, I'd be glad to have you on our side instead of theirs. Guess it'd be up to your 'boss' - is he in the Confederacy, or back at Alexander, or some other group?"

She still seems generally peevish, a little bit, but being able to possibly ferret someone out of the Feds is at least something productive to do instead of sulking.

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    Lina nods, "Alexander, yes. Oh, that's good, do they enjoy it there?" she questions, leaning back some, a grin on her face, "My boss is somewhat associated with the Confederacy. I hear him on their radio bands as well... and he's part of the Academy as well." she thinks a bit, tapping a finger on her chin. "Well, I would not mind... I think. I'm not... sure how I can get out of the Confederacy..."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"I could ask if someone could advise you," says Xiaomu, "but that's about the most I can do. Maybe you know somebody who's in our ranks from school - well, probably they're allies, not ranking members. Anyway, I can let people know the question's come up."

Her expression darkens again as her gaze drifts around the mostly-empty room. "When I get my hands on whoever grabbed those pages ..."

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    "Pages?" she questions, "I could help you." she replies, "Especially if Vega and his gang took them. I'll just take them from them and return them, would that.. at least help some?" she questions, frowning some, "If I can try to make right what happened here, I'd like to."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"You can ask them, sure," Xiaomu replies. "Maybe they grabbed something and kept the cameras or the rest of us from noticing, and if they *DID* then I'd be glad to get 'em back in the museum's hands. Won't mean the exhibit goes up again ..." She nods at the hole in the wall. "There's other suspects, though. Especially for what *did* go missing according to the first count. Staff has to go through one more time and check off every page and sheet they can account for."

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    Lina gives a bit of a nod, "Alright, I'll see if he took anything and see if I can get my hands on it. I'm no thief, not even remotely close to my job classes. But... he owes me for what he did... Not money but..." she shakes her head, "If you need me fore anything else, I do track things and the like, I wouldn't mind helping if that helps..."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Job classes, huh?" That term seems to catch Xiaomu's attention in a more favorable manner. "What *are* your classes, then? Archer and demolitionist? ... never played an RPG where 'demolitionist' was a valid player class, though. That'd be more of an FPS thing."

Again, she sounds completely serious.

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    "Ranger and Red Mage." she starts, "With a bit of time magic as well, mostly utility magic." she gives a big grin, "What I used was a Fira and Quake infused arrow to blow up the wall. I wasn't actualy expecting that to work but hey, it did its job admirably!" a pause, "Sorry..." she shakes her head some, "I take it you like games?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu grins, "Yeah, big gaming fan. Not that good at some of them, but I hold my own with the stuff I like ..."

She pauses, fishing her smartphone out and checking the time readout. "I'd better be on my way. You got enough skill points in Sewing to stitch up that cut you made, or do I have to explain you away so the guards don't freak out harder than they will anyway?" She pauses briefly, then adds,. "... and did you have anything else you wanted to ask before that?"

Lina Brand (889) has posed:
    Lina shakes her head some, "Ah, well I don't have anything else to ask and yeah, I can patch that up with some ice magic." she grins, "But I won't keep you, and... once again, I'm sorry." she starts to vanish out of sight, a swirl of leaves and wind around her. "OH, the name's Lina. I'll let you know my last name later! Bye!"

    The tarp moves a bit then suddenly freezes over and with that, the girl is out of sight!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"*I* could've done the ice magic with my staff," Xiaomu mutters once Lina's gone. And the ice won't hold forever.

The sage fox takes one more look around, then goes off to let one of the security guards know that the frozen-over slash in the tarp isn't something to worry about. It just needs to be closed up better - duct tape or something once the ice melts.

Five minutes after THAT, Xiaomu is talking to the curator *again*. The possibility of the missing items being returned is the only thing that mollifies her over the breach in security ... or what was passing for it.