6851/SWWD 1: Making A Splash

SWWD 1: Making A Splash
Date of Scene:	02 October 2019
Location:	The Tapestry
Synopsis:	A request for help from a Reaper leads to something much more complicated.
Cast of Characters:	6928, 6666, 7116, 7002, 7075, 7071, 6850, 6895, Seifer Almasy
Tinyplot:	Ripples
Tinyplot2:	Still Waters Run Deep

---

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Sunnydale seems like your typical upper middle class California suburban town. Situated far enough away from the major cities to not be afflicted with the smog and detritus of Big City Life, but close enough to import most of the benefits and commute in if need be, the town is a bustling place.

    Perhaps ironically, the skies are cloudy today. A faint drizzle feathers the air and coats everything with a dampness. Puddles line the streets, people stepping through them on their way to wherever their life takes them, cars throwing up small sprays that occasionally splash onto people passing by, awnings dripping into the streets.

RIPPLES
ARC 1 - STILL WATERS RUN DEEP
CHAPTER 1 - MAKING A SPLASH

    The telltale signs of Noise seem to float around like a miasma, splashing through the water and generally just being a weird addition to the backdrop. They don't even attack on their own, giving passersby the opportunity to snipe the minor threats and get rid of them at their leisure.

    The Sun Mall looks like a fairly typical shopping mall, the bright yellow awnings at the entranceways proudly proclaiming what it is. A quick consultation of the directories later and one will find themselves at the meeting place, the Orange Julius right off the food court. There, standing in front of the place and slurping a neon orange concoction, is a Reaper in a black coat and yellow hat. The ornate black assembly of objects in the shape of wings are kind of a giveaway. But then, the people passing by don't seem to notice, much like many of the normies in this world.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Imagine the quiet calm parking lot. Filled with people going about their lives. Mothers going to stores, people going to eat. Generally filled with miniSUVs. The ROAR of the Slepnir cuts through the sound of the parking lot. This is not, however, odd to Californians. They simply assume some sort of man with frosted tips and a tribal tattoo band is driving it. Kupot slides the mammoth motorcycle into a parking spot and cuts the engine. He slides off in a single fluid motion.

The jacket wearing street samurai traverses the hall in a heavy clack. He turns his head up at a desk, peering over the top of it with his insectile light absorbing eye panel. "Kupo."

The bored guard looks down, her eyebrows lifted. "Yes young man?"

"What is an Orange Julius, kupo?"

NOW

Kupot steps past the Reaper to order a mango pineapple.

Phyllis Lancaster (7116) has posed:
A call for help on behalf of an ominously-named group is just what Phyllis needs to get settled into the Multiverse at large. She's always wanted to visit sunny California, anyway, so what better opportunity to do that than now?

Literally any other time would have been better. It's cloudy and damp out, and she didn't even think to bring an umbrella. Thankfully, it's just a light drizzle rather than a storm, but that doesn't comfort the witch much when cars still have enough to kick up water onto those on the sidewalk.

Leaving the signs of Noise alone for lack of really knowing what they are to begin with, Phyllis instead takes her time getting into and exploring the mall. It takes her a bit of time to even find the Orange Julius, but the yellow hatted Reaper is hard to miss. Nudging her glasses briefly, she backs up into a nearby chair all nonchalant-like while keeping her back facing the Reaper and staring at display in the distance.

"Are you the DJ?" She puts on a faux-gruff voice, angling at some kind of shlocky spy movie person despite looking more like a farmhand with the brown work vest and denim shorts.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto was one to hear the strange radio message, and always one to stick her nose into things that she personally finds interesting, rather than dealing with her own world's issues.  After all, she has at least one seed to keep her good for now.  Arriving at the Julius, she orders a strawberry-banana after the moogle.  

She is also eyeing the moogle.  Her experience with mascot characters has caused her to become suspicious of anything that might be considered as such.  Cute things are the most dangerous things.  Stupid magical wish-granting rat-bunny.  

Eventually, she takes her order and sits near the Reaper and now someone talking to them about the DJ.  Taking a sip, she just listens for now.

Nanoha Takamachi (7075) has posed:
    A taxi pulls up to the curb just outside the mall. The door opens and Nanoha begins to climb out. Right now she's just wearing her TSAB uniform, not yet decked out in her combat dress. She manages a heavily Japanese accented 'Thank you!' in English to the driver. Not that it was really necessary. Cause, Multiverse. But Nanoha likes to try and figures it's polite. Nanoha closes the taxi door and quickly rushes into the mall to escape the rain.

    Nanoha glances at the directory before starting to make her way in the direction of the indicated store. She glances around at the various shops, saying, "This is making me feel quite nostalgic! It's been a while since we've had a visit to Earth, hasn't it?" The red gem on her necklace simply chimes in response.

    Soon reaching the Orange Julius, Nanoha notices the person in the yellow hat. The wings are kind of a giveaway too. She walks up to the Reaper, smiling and saying, "Hello! You must be the DJ I heard about. You requested some assistance?" She doesn't notice the cleverly disguised farmhand. Though the Moogle ordering a drink does draw a look from Nanoha. And oh hey, that's Mikoto. Nanoha gives her a smile and a wave.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     An aged Oldsmobile 88 rattles through the suburbs. If the signs of Noise weren't enough to have the residents of this well-to-do place cautiously clutching their pearls, the sight of Ash Williams' shady car probably will be. He's just passing through, though. Unaware of any request for assistance, Ash has traveled through the warpgate to this California solely out of self-interest.

     His romantic pursuits, for lack of a suitably more sleazy word, have hit a roadblock in his native Michigan, and he's been aching to treat himself anyway. The Munny from that little vampire hunt is enough to pay for gas and supplies--he's on a one-man road trip. He's in great spirits, too--a fresh application of shoe polish for his hair, Bengay for the joints, cheap cologne to cover up the 'old man' smell of Bengay.

     His spirits dim slightly at the weather, but hey, how long can a little rain--

THUMP-THUMP. The Olds bounces in that gut-dropping way cars do when they've run over something they shouldn't have.

     "Oh, /damn it!/" The prone form of one of the aforementioned 'minor threats' slowly rolls into the sight of his rear view mirror. Now, the imbecile in the driver's seat is in the frustrating position of having to change what it is he's angry about. He didn't hit a pedestrian--but he's driven right into Weird. And when things get Weird, people ask for help. "Not today," he says with resolute laziness. The Delta peels out, heading further into town for the Mall.

- Orange Julius -

     There is a creepy old guy here, oblivious to his own creepery as those in his position often are. He is committing among the most vile sins a customer can--hitting on the staff, and with all the class of a drunken off-Vegas lounge singer. The Reaper might recognize him, if word gets around. If not, those who've had the unique experience of talking to Ash over the radio might recognize his voice, or that enormous chin (from a glamour shot he posted over the broadband, naturally).

     Even if no one recognizes him, he's pretty obviously being a douche right now, drawing attention to himself with his grimace-inducing attempts at flirting and his blend of insultingly cheap cologne and Bengay.

Sho Fukamachi (6850) has posed:
     A radio call for assistance. Generally one would consider those pretty dodgy to just randomly go out and accept, but Sho isn't exactly known for his bright decision making. Besides, what if it's an actual earnest request? The Japanese student really couldn't live with himself knowing in that regard knowing he actively ignored a cry for help.

     His trip to Sunnydale was rather uneventful, save for almost missing a crucial bus stop. Save for the weirdness of the floating Noise, the Sunnydale mall seems to be painfully modern. It used to be pretty novel to him given his current time period, but it's basically becoming the norm given how much he goes out to sight see these days.

     Ignoring the Noise, mostly because they don't seem to be bothering him (and because he's not sure if he should) Sho begins searching for his yellow hatted friend, or rather someone elses friend.

     After eventually finding the DJ, Sho gives a polite bow in greeting, his voice kind of quiet as he speaks.

     "You're ah... The one who asked for help? Yeah? Errr, I probably should have asked first before bowing. Sorry."

     Any sign of politeness the boy was once showing dissipates instantly as he starts to second guess himself, as he begins nervously scratching the back of his neck.

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    Lilian has decided she's not much of a fan of America. Both times she's been, the weather has been shit, the construction depressingly uninspired, and the people rude and annoying. One would think that someone from the Isles would be used to it raining, but a driver briefly gambles with his life without knowing it when he comes dangerously close to splashing her on the way past. She doesn't stand out all *that* much with a stylish red jacket, black sweater, leather boots and a navy skirt on, except evidently being too upscale for the suburbs, even with a pretty plain umbrella she grabbed on the way.

    The Noise are the most interesting thing about this place, but given she has a strong suspicion she'll have to deal with them as part of this issue at some point sooner or later, she doesn't bother with them on the way in, folding up and shaking off her umbrella through the doors with a wrinkle of the nose at the mall air, the unique combination of cheap industrial-type climate control and air circulation, even cheaper fast food, floor cleaning solution, plastic store wares, bare attempts at air fresheners, and the poor quality perfume worn by too many Californian shopping moms and old people all mixing together into an offensive bouqet of mediocrity that hits her sharp senses and lack of noseblindness to it.

    "He'd better be." are her first words on arrival, already looking impatient, unable to settle on which leg to rest her weight on while standing. "I'd rather not spend a minute I don't have to in here --and what in God's name are you drinking?" She stares at the neon orange mess openly aghast, an expression of genuine worry twitching her cheeks briefly.

    For the precisely one present person it makes a difference to, she isn't, for once, lugging a sword around, but the distinctly unwholesome, decidedly 'dangerous' aura hasn't disappeared off of her. Also, did she put some extra time into makeup today or something? Somehow she seems sort of improbably pretty in casual wear.

    "Whatever. Basic details first. Name, description, occupation. Place of residence, last time you saw him, anything about him acting strange or suspicious, the last things you remember him saying, any potential enemies or places he would go." Lilian then starts running down, projecting a tiny holographic screen instead of getting out a tablet to type away on.

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Perhaps notably, the normal people don't even seem to react to the Noise. It's like they can't even see the things even as they cluster around and flop, froglike, in the gathering water. The Oldsmobile gets much more of a reaction, mostly that of pity and maybe a little suspicion.

    As the people begin to arrive, the Reaper waves to the others. Several get positioned and make inquiries, and the teen nods to Phyllis, Sho, and the others who ask him if he's the guy. "Oh, hey, you guys are here! Great!" He calls. "Come on over. You're here because of the request, right?" He gestures to the food court. "Name's DJ Crazy M. Though I guess you can call me Mark if you gotta. Get whatever you want, on me. Let's sit down and have a little chat." He gets asked what he's drinking, and he holds it up. "Orange Julius." He says, as if that explains anything. "Get one if ya want."

    Kupot cuts an intimidating figure, the cyberpunk Moogle getting the same kind of looks (and space) a biker might get. Still, business is business, and the people behind the counter at the Orange Julius are either shellshocked or soul-dead enough to not care who's asking for a drink. Kupot receives his mango pineapple smoothie with all the aplomb a college student trying to get some ramen money can muster. The Reaper follows them in and pays for whoever wants something.

    Still, it's not bad. Mikoto and Nanoha, meanwhile, pass for normal(ish) when not running around in magical girl outfits (and even when she does, well, cosplay is a great excuse). Mikoto receives her strawberry-banana with almost machinelike efficiency. Ash, meanwhile, hits on the employees, who mostly react as expected: Attempting to semi-politely shove him off elsewhere, preferably with purchases of food and drink. The Reaper just gives him a side-eye and gestures. "He with you guys?" He asks the others, but he doesn't wait for an answer, just shrugging and moving on.

    One refreshment acquisition later, the group is assembled there at one of the tables. Perhaps something of a motley crew, but it's a mall in California. Who's going to tell the difference? "So, look, I'm not supposed to be the only Reaper in the area, aight?" He leans back, gesticulating with one hand while sipping his Orange Julius with the other. "My senior partner, Anna Marie, is supposed to be helping keep things chill. But a couple weeks ago things just started going nuts. There's Noise and Shadows all up in people's business and causing trouble for Players, Anna's gone missing, and it's just been /depressing/ around here."

    He shakes his head, pointing out to the weather seen through the glass doors of the Food Court. "I know you guys have gotta lot to do so I'm not gonna waste your time. It's too hot in some of those places. Normally, I'd be working with Anna, but..." He shrugs. "I can point you to one of the places that seems to have gotten a lot of attention, a hotel across town. Check it out, see if you can find out what's up over there." He spreads his hands. "Any questions? We cool?"

    Lilian immediately asks some. "Anna Marie, uh." He pauses for a moment. "Female, brown hair to the shoulders. Reaper, usually wears gray and is good at archery. She wasn't doing anything unusual, just doing the normal patrols. I noticed she was missing like... About two weeks ago?"

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot is used to this. He holds his hand up to the Reaper and even tips.

The soul crushing of the CORP, mixed with the need of captialism simple to get by in this banal deary world. Kupot nods quietly, and takes his drink.

The moogle has the hallmarks of a mascot character, though his sightless black insectile eye panels make him more intimidating.

Kupot turns his head slightly towards Ash, then back towards DJ CRAZY M IN THE DA HOUZZZZZE. He nods once.

The drink is sugary and artifical.

DJ Marky Mark says a bunch of proper nouns. Kupot tilts his head, but then nods, picking up on context clues.

"Do these creatures have any specific abilities we should be kupo about?" Pause, "Like spraying acid, or perhaps moving through matter, kupo."

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto enjoys the drink, not because it was good, but because it was cool and it was something she hasn't had the...pleasure...of having before.  It was alright, in the fake banana and strawberry.  Strangely non-offensive, but not actually tasting like the real thing at all.  She nods to the Reaper, sipping while he explains.

And then asks a very important question.

"Ew no," She asks if Ash was with her.  "I have no idea who that creeper is.  Maybe we should call the mall cops?" she asks, sometimes it's hard to remember she's actually still a seventeen-year-old girl, despite the problems on her plate.

Giving the side-eye to Lilian, not because she /particularly/ hates her, but that aura puts her off slightly.  She doesn't OPENLY ask if Lilian is ok, but the question looms in her eyes.  She wouldn't feel responsible if something happened to her over it, but she WOULD feel...like...ten percent responsible.  

We'll go with ten.

Nanoha gets a wave and a smile back.  She was a nice lady and sort of an elder magical girl without the drawback that she got.  

"Shadows?  You mean uh...what did they call them...heartless?  Little blob things, sometimes they grow big?  Sometimes they just look weird?" Mikoto asks to confirm what it is they're dealing with.  

"Wait, two weeks?  You waited for two weeks?!  Wow. Ok, so, anything ELSE that might have been out of the ordinary that happened around that time?"

Phyllis Lancaster (7116) has posed:
She was right! Grinning both inwardly and outwardly, Phyllis nods and puts in an order for the largest size of Orange Julius. "Thanks so much, Mark. I'm Phyllis. Pleased to-" She pauses on spotting Kupot, the massive gap between the fluffy little creature and that cyberpunky outfit making something in her brain cease functioning for a good minute.

Self-control, girl. Self-control. Offering a slow wave towards the moogle, she tears her attention away when several others start coming in. Mikoto and Nanoha look normal enough, but their discretion earns a polite wave from the witch afterwards. Ash's antics have her shaking her head quickly at Mark, albeit a bit of snickering at the lack of returned affections. She then eyes Sho curiously when he does that awkward neckscratching thing.

"Are you okay? You should get something to drink, too." Phyllis suggests, then straightens up a bit when Lilian comes in all professional-like with her future-tech. Phyllis pops up to try and peer over her shoulder at the screen, but gets her shit together when Mark starts giving them the rundown. "Couple of things! Um. Definitions. Reaper, Players, Noise, Shadows? Which of these are more likely to try and kill us?" A beat, and then she takes a small headset out of her pocket and slips it around her neck. "Oh, oh. Should we do a conference call? So we can communicate and move and work at the same time?"

Sho Fukamachi (6850) has posed:
     Sho simply orders a soft drink. Some sort cola, probably Coke or Pepsi. There's a lot of terms thrown around that he doesn't understand such as Shadow and Noise. He should probably ask about those, but the missing person seems a bit more important than whatever those two are.

     There's one thing that kind of bothers Sho though, besides the weird jargon and this Anna Maria missing for two weeks.

     "If they're just lost in this mall, can't you ask the employees here to help as well? ... Or uh, am I missing something? My bad if it's a dumb question."

     Sho takes a loud sip from his drink as he actively tries to tune out Ash. He's never met the man before, but he has a sinking feeling in his gut that he's going to be a continuous problem. Being accosted by strange old men is a bit of a problem he has. Though this one just looks like a skeevy wreck and less like a skeevy enforcement officer at the very least.

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    Lilian narrows her eyes at the Reaper --or should we say DJ Crazy M-- when he gets to the last of his only semi-useful answers. "That's quite a while to wait on a missing persons report. Are you completely sure she's actually still, you know, alive?" she says, ostensibly vaguely agreeing with Mikoto by accident. "Any particular relation other than you two being coworkers?" she continues, bravely. "Granted, I'm not entirely informed on what Reapers actually do, outside of there being some kind of game that they preside over. I would assume that in of itself makes them an unlikely target for a disgruntled Player or something, but isn't your job to be able to handle the Noise and assorted random beasts?" she adds.

    "What kind of 'attention' are we talking about? Hotels are far from the easiest places to search even when all's quiet. *I* won't have a problem, but . . ." Lilian visibly --and quite pointedly-- stares Phyllis up and down, especially focusing on her awful jhorts, then Kupot, but for different crimes of taste. ". . . some people might not find it as easy without a hundred credits in their fist up to the front desk." She only even slightly bothers to pay attention to Ash after he's pointed out. "Huh? Him? I assumed he was a local. America is full of that type, right?"

    Phyllis can see the handful of notes taken on Anna, an address (when Mark gives it), 'definitely Mark' tapped in the margins, a reminder to acquire more information about the Reaper's Game, some reference pictures of Noise drag-dropped in, a surreptitious photo of Ash and a reminder for a database check, and a note about Phyllis and Sho being the 'plausible casualties' for California, before the window is swiped into non-existence with her hand.

    "It is and it is." she replies to Sho. "Who are you? Actually, why do we have all these teenagers in the first place?" Albeit Lilian barely looks any older, but that's always been a nebulous kind of thing hasn't it? What with the private academy courses and the alcohol and the effective license to kill. "What are you people even hoping to get out of this?" She pronounces 'you people' with exactly the sort of disdain appropriate for presumed California suburbanites with a trick or two horning in on a supernatural problem to chase feeling special.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     There is one phrase that can tear Ash away from his dreadful attempts at advances. Three words, which even years of Deep Purple at full volume can't stop his ears from hearing. 'It's on me.' He 'casually' turns around, nearly knocking over a bin full of straws. He hasn't been listening to /anything/ anyone has said so far, but those words--the prospect of getting free shit--are enough to make him at least pretend like he has. He takes a brief visual inventory. Quite a diverse crowd, pretty young...

     Either they're teens hanging out, or this is Multiversal business. The Moogle and the pretty girl with the air of 'badass' tilt his reckoning towards the latter. How badly does he want a free, cheap orange drink?

     He deabtes it, internally. Well... judging by the amount of Ugly (that's the supernatural kind, not the mundane mall-going American kind) he saw on the way here, he's probably not gonna get back to the Warpgate without some sad sack giving him a sob story anyway. He might as well get something out of it. Besides, they're already trying to get him to buy something anyway.

     He barges his way into the conversation with the subtlety of a speeding garbage truck. "Yeah," says Ash to Reaper, when his motives are questioned, "Ash Williams, monster hunter and Senior S-Mart Associate, Electronics." He seems to believe both have equal weight. He looks left, then right, then tugs proudly at his belt loops--a dextrous feat, with one of his hands being wooden. "Kind of a big deal," he says, adding in a lower tone, "And the Watch thinks so, too," using his wooden hand to keep his voice from carrying. Hopefully, the other Watch member here can advise that for the directly wrong statement it is.

     Speaking more clearly, "I'm gonna need..." This is a tough one. It's hard to make fruit look macho. "An orange smoothie. Thanks, chief." He nods confidently, gesturing with a disturbingly off-color wooden hand which nevertheless sports a coat of polish. Like everything he does, says and wears, the wooden hand smacks of buying the cheapest thing available and making devoted, yet futile effort to refurbish it or pretty it up.

     With drink in his non-prosthetic hand, he gives a sleazy grin-and-wink combo to the unfortunate employee--though with his departure, he's now the problem of the present Elites. Much to Mikoto's despair, it seems as though he's as 'with' them as he can be. "Noise? If that's what you're calling the animals with the skid marks, I hit one of those on the way here. If all of those things are as dumb as that one, I say your lady friend's got nothing to worry about."

Nanoha Takamachi (7075) has posed:
    Nanoha looks over in the direction of Ash and the those poor store workers having to put up with him, "Mmm... No. No one I recognise." Guess he's just a local creep rather than a Multiverse one. As the moogle joins them, Nanoha looks at his clashing cuteness and badassness. Isn't that one of those magical creatures she was shown a picture of once? It's hard to tell. That one wasn't dressed as a biker. A few more have apparently joined this mission. Nanoha recognises Lillian, but still gives all of them nods in greeting as they move into the store proper.

    Nanoha sips on her Berry Blast as she listens to the explanation of why they're here. Apart from the obvious of finding someone that's missing. A lot of the proper nouns cause Nanoha to look a little quizzical, pausing in her sipping for a moment.

    But then Phyllis asks the questions that a few of them were probably thinking. So while waiting for Mark to give them some more information on what they're dealing with, Nanoha decides to gather some more information on what they're dealing with.

    Nanoha raises her hand, opening her palm, "Raising Heart?"

    The necklace chimes again, <Wide Area Search.> Several orbs of pink light appear floating in the air above her hand. They all then zip off, darting harmlessly towards the closest window and then across the street.

    Several holoscreens appear around Nanoha, showing the footage transmitted by the magic drones as they begin to scout out the buildings exterior.

    While that's happening though, the conversation continues. As some of the ages are pointed out by Lilian, Nanoha glances around. She does seem to be towards the higher end of the age scale. And on reflection, it's something that's starting to seem rather common. Though as Lilian calls them out on why they're here, Nanoha simply replies in a friendly manner, "Well that seems pretty simple. Someone's missing. I'm hoping to find them. While it might not be someone I know personally, I can appreciate that Mark here wishes to see his partner safe." Though after two weeks, Nanoha does have her doubts.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     "Man, I hate missing persons cases."

     Seifer Almasy is a Local. He isn't from this town, but he's from this world, and he looks it. He's a little over six feet tall, with a cropped military cut, a deep scar across his square-jawed handsome face, and a strong build. He's got a gunblade over his shoulder, which he is brandishing opnely because he is the kind of person who can just *do* that here. If he's asked why he's carrying a weapon he can produce proof of several different militaries that he definitely works for, a private detective agency he totally didn't make up, and a few extra cards for safety; if the mall security bothers to run the checks, which he knows they won't, the cards'll even come back positive.

     You learn to be fucking thorough in SeeD.

     Seifer is also probably the oldest responsible adult in the room, given the appearance of everybody else.

     OK, responsible adult might only be relevant to the age of the rest of the party, and Ash's responsibility.

     OK, it's him and Nanoha.

     He snaps his fingers as he sits down. "Alright."

     "So where's the normal patrols, Mark? Where would we start lookin' if we were lookin'?"

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Ash wedges his way into things, and the DJ just nods to him. "Aight. Join in and get over her then if you're here to help." He just kind of looks at the skeevy old man with a sense of helplessness. At this point he knows he's in over his head and he's just trying to work his way through it. He pays for Ash's smoothie, giving the man a dose of free sugar that surely will make up for what will happen in the near future.

    Mark's looking for something to save him and Phyllis provides it. DJ Crazy M gives Phyllis the fingerguns. "That's right! Nice to meet you, Phyllis!"

    So he's asked to define some Proper Nouns, and the Reaper blinks. "Oh right, you guys are new here. Well, here's the rundown." He grins at that, and pops his knuckles. "See, the world here is divided into the RealGround and the UnderGround. We call it RG and UG for short. Most people have no idea the UG is there, but it's always running alongside. People don't wanna see it, but those places where it crosses over? That's where you get all that magic and fairy shiz, you know?"

    He gestures again, then sits up. "So, one of the things that happens is sometimes when someone dies, they get a chance to play the Game. They have to put something on the line and they get a chance to make a wish happen. Sometimes people wanna live again, sometimes people want different things. These people are called Players, and they mostly handle things on the UG. They're kinda like ghosts but not, see? They mostly work to help deal with problems in the UG." He then gestures to himself. "Reapers are the people who make sure the Game is played right and that things are fair. We gotta keep an eye on things in our neighborhood. The main threat to Players are the Noise and the Shadows. They're like two sides of the same coin, you see? The Noise basically stays in the UG, feeding on people's emotions and messing with them. When they see a Player, they move in for the kill. Shadows are mostly the same, except they're more nasty. While Noise might just make an RGer have a bad day, Shadows don't stop there. They like to gather up in specific places and then drag people into the UG. Once they're there, it's usually all over for them. They can do all kinds of things, it depends on which kind you're dealing with. I saw this Shark Noise a while back that could swim through the ground! It was jacked up, man."

    Mikoto brings up the Heartless, and he shakes his head. "Oh no, man, Heartless are even worse than Shadows. But you don't see them much at all, last I checked."

    Lilian grills Mark some more, and he grimaces. "Man, back off a bit. I called the police over a week ago, they've been useless. And I told you guys what happened in the meantime. There's been a lot more Noise, like all those Frogs you see out there... But also some of the Crabs and the Jellyfish. It's been /weird/. As for if she's alive..." He shakes his head. "I dunno, man. I don't know if she's alive. That's the worst part. My bosses haven't said anything, so I'm pretty sure she's still out there somewhere. They'd know. And yeah, it's my job to deal with the Noise, but this is way out of my league. You'll see once you check out the place I told you about."

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Seifer asks other important questions. "I can tell you our usual route, sure. If you give me a second..." He begins describing a somewhat circuitous route around the city which seems to pass by a disproportionate number of clubs and fast food places.

    Meanwhile, Nanoha sends out her scan to check out the hotel. The hotel in question is across Sunnydale. A quick drive, run, teleport, bicycle, or whatever away in the grand scheme of things. It looks like a particularly seedy Motel 6, the dirty sign advertising free Wi-Fi with broken lettering. It would be utterly unremarkable except for a problem: It's completely overrun with Noise. Crabs are attached to the walls, clacking, while jellyfish float through the air around it. The ground ripples and pulses around the place... And there's the sounds of dull thuds and detonations from somewhere unseen.

    Well, that's kind of a sign something's up...

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot continues to nod. It makes more sense in context, but it seems simple enough. "Expect anything, kupo." He slurps down the rest of his drink. "We should make haste." Not that he can see, but he is not one to simply sit around.

Pause.

"Do any of you kupo a ride?"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     "For a dead guy," Seifer observes at Mark idly, "You sure do stop at a heck of a lot of refreshment stands. Or are you guys just dead-adjacent or somethin' like that? Not entirely clear on how you guys work."

     Despite the explanation. Seifer probably pressed X through most of it. "This pretty much confirms what I thought, though. A Reaper disappearin' ain't an ordinary kidnappin', so the rules ain't gonna apply about missing persons. More'n likely anybody targettin' one of you has a goal in mind, or a plan in mind, or wants vengeance for somethin', or is intendin' to lure you somewhere."

     Seifer stretches and yawns again. "A'ight. I agree. Let's roll over there and see what we can see. Noise ain't gonna be any problem, not after Heartless." Seifer just leaves that statement as he stands up. "I borrowed a bike, so if any of you want a ride..."

     He's not offering to Ash. Pointedly.

     It's also a chivalry thing, not a flirty thing.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Yeah sure, I'll ride with you Seifer," Mikoto says.  "I actually never been on a...wait, when you say bike, you mean motorcycle right?"

Please be a motorcycle.

Please.

Nanoha Takamachi (7075) has posed:
    Nanoha pushes her screens to the side a bit while her spell heads for the hotel. In the meantime she listens to the explanations. It's actually quite fascinating. Nanoha hasn't had much chance to encounter the supernatural yet. So this is turning out to be quite a learning experience!

    However, towards the tail end of Mark's exposition, Nanoha's necklace chimes once more, <Master.> The screens slide back around and grow in size to give everyone a better look. The sound also picks up.

    The concern on Nanoha's face grows as she puts her drink down, "Hmmm... I think we should head over there now. There's definitely something going on." Nanoha stands up, managing to give Mark a reassuring smile as she says, "Thank you for the information. We'll do everything we can to try and bring your partner back."

    There are offers of rides from Kupot and Seifer. But Nanoha smiles and shakes her head, "Thanks, but I can manage." Nanoha begins to make her way out of the mall. With the mission getting into full swing, she takes this opportunity to transform. Nanoha is briefly covered with light, her form growing out a little as her combat dress comes into existence. Her staff also appears in her hand, a flash of feather shaped light revealing the Mage in her Barrier Jacket.

    Reaching the sidewalk outside, Nanoha slowly lifts up off the ground. As soon as she clears the mall's structure, she suddenly blasts off at high speed. The streak of pink curve over in the air and heads in the direction of the hotel.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     Ash seems like he glazes over when Mark explains the difference between the RG and the UG--until he mentions that people don't know the other exists, and until he mentions magic. That, at least, seems familiar territory. "You're the refs," says Ash with a nod. "I get it."

     Ash finishes his drink, and is quite insistent on doing so. How often in this life do you get free stuff? He's not gonna let that go to waste. Once he is finished, he nods at Nanoha, then shakes his head at Kupot. "I got that covered, pal," says Ash with pride. "Meet you guys there," he says, oblivious to Seifer's pointed lack of an offer. It seems like he's the type that's oblivious to most things, unless they involve an appeal to his sorely inflated vanity.

     "Alright, kid," says Ash, unfortunately having taken a liking to Sho. "You're riding shotgun with me. Passenger side door sticks, you gotta give it a little oomph--and don't touch the radio. Got it?"

Sho Fukamachi (6850) has posed:
     Sho was going to ask Seifer for a ride, unfortunately, it seems that Mikoto requested before he did. Well, no helping that. Catching a bus there is going to take too long, so maybe he should ask someone else. The weird white animal guy's ride is probably way too small to fit him, and he doubts that Lilian women wants to carry what she thinks is some helpless High Schooler, not that he can blame her... That leaves...

     Ash. Who seems to have reached the same conclusion as him. Well that makes things a hell of a lot less awkward.

     "Y-Yeah... Thank you, sir."

     Sho gives the man a polite bow, making his way towards the man's car. He's pretty sure he's seen this kind of car where he's from. Man, just how old is this guy? Or maybe he's one of those retro collectors he's heard about? Or just maybe he's just really cheap... He probably shouldn't think too lowly of someone offering him a ride.

     After a good half minute struggle getting the door unstuck, Sho seats himself, fumbling with the seat belt as he obeys traffic laws like a good boy.

Riku (6928) has posed:
    "Hey! I do a lot of work to keep the calories off, man." DJ Crazy M objects. "But yeah, we're not-quite-dead. Benefits of working for the Boss, yanno? Get to have all the benefits of being alive again but you gotta be on the clock. But yeah, you get it. This isn't normal at all. If you guys can find out and deal with it, I'm sure the Boss will be happy to give you a reward or something. This kind of thing is messing up the Game real bad."

    Everyone begins to pile out, and Mark gives them a wave as they go. "Good luck! Look for me at Judgement 1999 if you need me!" So you guys are going to do the work and he's going to a club.

BGM SHIFT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnt-SEg9J9Y

    The hotel itself is exactly as Nanoha envisioned it. It doesn't look like it's gotten any less intense in the intervening time, the Noise basically clustering around the place while strange ringing noises are coming from the shattered door of one of the apartments amidst crashing noises. The main desk for room rentals seems to be empty at the moment for some mysterious reason, leaving no actual witnesses at the moment except perhaps for passersby, whom are blissfully unaware of what's going on except for trying to walk or drive faster away from the sound of the violent smashing up of a hotel room. As the party arrives, a blast of powerful wind hurls at least a half dozen Crab Noise out of the room, only for others to pile in.

    The moment people arrive, however, the Noise responds, turning towards the group of Multiversals with a wave... And they charge. Crabs scuttle forward and try to clamp down with tattoo-framed claws or dive in to block attacks in an annoyingly defensive stance methodology. The Jellyfish float around, some of them splitting and multiplying, while others drift down to try to graze with damaging tentacles... Or fire blasts of lightning from one to another.

    The worst, however, is the rippling ground. It turns and surges towards the nearest ground-based target before it breaches the earth like water, a massive spear-nosed shark launching out to try to brutally chomp down and grab somoene and drag them underground. You might not want to be there when that happens.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     The thing about Seifer's borrowed bike is that it's a tandem bicycle.

     The thing about Seifer Almasy is that he's a SeeD, so while his Guardian Force is bonded, he's basically a supersoldier. He may not be Captain America, but...well, it's more than enough.

     Mikoto is thereby treated to an Experience. Seifer is, shall we say, not the most *careful* of drivers. He jumps over things he has no right to jump over. He bypasses traffic with weaving, dodging, and ducking. He nearly barrels over a whole bunch of people on the sidewalk. He actually does some kind of insane grind to get past a bunch of cafe umbrellas, putting the *tandem bicycle* up along the guard rail.

     It's not that Seifer is good, or skilled, driver. It's that this is Kingdom Hearts, and every vehicle segment is a minigame, and Seifer is the kind of idiot to engage in every. Single. Minigame. Ever.

     There is in fact a moment where Mikoto is probably terrified as Seifer swings the tandem bicycle around and nearly dips her into traffic before he swings it back onto the proper street. He gives no explanation of this other than "it goes faster that way!" shouted over the honking of horns from people who do not realize that this is a minigame and therefore they need to do this.

     By the time they get to the hotel - which is remarkably fast, to be fair, having bypassed all traffic, traffic laws, common sense, and in one particular case the laws of physics - Seifer and Mikoto probably have a little bit of Munny, somehow. Don't question it. It's better not to.

     Seifer kickstands the bike like he didn't just daredevil that shit, swings off, offers Mikoto a hand like a proper knight, and then just turns around and struts in through the shattered door like he owns the damn plase. The Noise turn to face him.

     Seifer holds up a hand at them. His fingers press together.

     SHARK OUTTA NOWHERE

     The gunblade knight suddenly finds himself in the way. He is going to be chomped and dragged.

     His response is to grin like a fucking lunatic and drive Hyperion into the side of the shark as hard as he can as the shark bites down on him.

     He is going to steer the damn thing, by God.

     He is going to ride this shark into the other Noise and somebody damn well better take a pic of it.

     You know, assuming he survives going underground. There's a nonzero chance he won't. But hey, if anybody's gonna die riding a shark ghost underground, it's gonna be Seifer.

Phyllis Lancaster (7116) has posed:
Lilian's stares draw a curious stare from Phyllis in return, although the focus on her jhorts has her shifting her eyes slowly. Is this lady checking her out? Surely it can't be because of the thing she said literally seconds earlier. "We should be okay. Tourists come in all sorts of shapes and sizes!"

She looks at Kupot when she says 'sizes'. The note about being a plausible casualty ends up slipping her mind entirely after that, for better or for worse.

Nanoha's array of screens gets her attention fairly quickly much like Lilian's did moments ago, but she's got a job to focus on. She does watch as those pink orbs disappear down the street, but turns her attention back to Mark once he gets into explaining everything. There's enough of it that it should be making her head spin, but some of the dots start getting connected.

"That's why people don't notice the hat or the fu..." She tries not to look at Kupot again, but it's clear she totally wants to. Bringing the Heartless into the mix gets her a bit more confused, but she snaps out of it a little while later. "So the Noise are weaker than the Shadows are weaker than the Heartless, but they're all bad for people... Okay. And the path...

Good excuse to try out lots of snacks and refuel. "Alright. Let's take a look around and see what's where! Where's... What." When the crew starts to disperse in various forms of transportation or outright flight, Phyllis shrugs and dispenses with the subtlety thing as she magics a broom out of a glowing rune on the side of her jhorts. One quick scene transition later, and she lands at the hotel!

All of the local Noise fauna immediately want them dead. Phyllis squeals and howls as she scurries about, flinging herself around and rolling beneath flailing limbs and blasts of fire and lightning while her vest catches on fire at one end. Taking to the air again to avoid getting bitten in half by the Shark noise, the witch opens up another glowing rune pile as bones start spilling out of it. The bones form into a weird person-sized totem thing, then starts spinning in place and spitting out even more bones at the Noise that explode into little acidic showers! Somehow.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     Ash decidedly doesn't follow traffic laws. For one, there is an alarming clink of about three 'cream soda' bottles at the floorboard when Sho gets in. In the California heat, the label on one has peeled off to reveal that they are actually bottles of beer. Ash doesn't buckle up. Instead, he tucks the buckle under his leg to present the illusion. There is little time to question this before the unmistakable first bars of Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water' all but drown out conversation in the car.

     They don't drown out the sound of the V8 roaring to life as Ash guns the gas--nor the sound of tires squealing against asphalt. He tears out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell, and the journey is as terrifying as it is impressive. The blare of horns from angry shoppers blend with those of drivers he cuts off.

     When traffic is too congested, he doesn't stop. He circumvents traffic lights by pretending to stop at gas stations in some places, or coaxing an incredible powerslide out of the aging hulk to squeeze it down an allay and escape the other side. The sounds of the famous guitar solo are punctuated with the odd THUMP of the Delta rolling over an idle Noise.

     Somehow, he pulls every piece of shit move in the book. Despite this, they make it in one piece just as the song ends. "So," says Ash as the terror is over. "In America, you gotta show everybody else the road is yours, but not so much you get the cops called on you. As long as everybody thinks, 'that guy's gonna get busted,' but they're not mad enough to pick up the phone, it doesn't matter how bad traffic is."

     With that terrible advice given, Ash steps out of the car. He /does/ get there a little after Mark takes off, and so he and Sho won't be there in time for the remark about the club. It's a good thing, because Ash would probably try and ditch to go there anyway. Nevertheless, he got here timely enough at this time of day, in this city, pulling in like a madman--it should clue everyone in to his driving style.

     He steps around and pops the trunk. Out comes a duffel bag, and he pops his wooden hand off, as well. Replacing it is a crude prosthesis made from the innards of an unsuccessful late 90s gaming peripheral. He's actually capable of articulation. Crude, but effective. Out of the duffel bag comes a back holster, a sawn-off shotgun for said holster. He twirls it and deftly holsters it on his back. Something heavy is still in the bag. He zips it up and takes it with him, slinging it over one shoulder and merrily claps Sho on the back with his prosthetic hand. "Alright, kid, let's move." There is, however, a subtle change in his demeanor... merry though he may seem, his posture straightens, and his eyes are alert. Is it possible he's not entirely full of shit?

     "WHOA!" Ash is nearly struck by a flying crab. "Ok! Kid, suit up. Try and fry the jellies, I'll get the crabs." His hand pops off, again. His foot dips into the partially open bag, throws a chainsaw into the air from its depths. The landscaping tool lands on his outstretched stump with a satisfying CLICK.

     He jukes the shark with suprising agility, though Seifer handles it so well that he doesn't need to. With one flick of his arm, the chainsaw roars to life, blades revving up. He's all offense, using surprising, superhuman strength to simply punt the defending crabs away--any that try and attack get measured, precise swings of his chainsaw.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Seifer might have expected that Mikoto would be afraid of this sort of thing, or that she couldn't keep up.  Surprisingly, not only does she keep up during the minigame, but instead of being afraid or screaming...well she DOES scream, but most of it is...

"WOOOOOO!  YEAH!  GRAVITY IS STUPID!"

Getting to the end of the minigame, Mikoto hops off the bike, excited (and a little sweaty) from the experience.  "Ok, that was far better than I expected.  You're going to have to show me how you did that another time.  Oh hey, there is a sha-"

And then Seifer is riding a shark.

"Oh right I should probably transform now," She says, watching in some sort of awe that a kohai does when watching a sempai do something amazing.  Not to be outdone, however...

There is a flash of green around her.  From the sky, a giant spike of jade lands in front of her, as jade also seems to overcome her body.  Overtaking her clothing, and soon enough transforming it into her magical girl outfit.  The light show fades a moment later right as she reaches out, and the spike of jade forms into a sword.

Blasts of lightning or fire are smacked away by the sword as she charges forward.  She jumps left and right, trying to make herself as hard as possible to hit, before sliding under a few frog ones and spinning her blade in an arch to try and bisect them on the way through.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot shrugs as he is looked at. He is used to it.

The Slepnir gets there quick. Mostly because the Slepnir is about half the size of a car and goes where it wants to.

And since it seems that much of the weirdness doesn't entirely affect the normal world...

It's hard to tell how much is Kupot ramping over a car, and how much is the Slepnir. It roars with glory as it slides out in front of a crossing. Kupot reaches down, holding the handlebar with one hand and his sword with the other. Despite that, Kupot slides the motorcycle to a dead stop in front of the apartment complex and speaks one single word to the assembled noise.

"Leave."

They attack. Still, Kupot does not draw his sword. Several of the sharks ripple through the ground towards him and the moogle stands still, breathing in the moist air.

Inside, his HUD turns still, green lights turning off as the streetsam focuses only on the sound of his breathing, the water on his fur.

A shark noise leaps, coming a hair's breadth to Kupot before the sword flashes out.

Kupot reappears in front of the apartment complex, several of the noise falling apart behind him.

His HUD bursts into life and rather than stay and fight, Kupot instead works on pushing forward into the building at a forward lean.

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    Lilian has to inquire who the hell Sho is. When he introduces himself as 'highschooler', and then doubles down on that when she gives him the big 'really?', there's a brief argument wherein she tells him to actually get lost because this isn't a place for a random highschool kid. It ultimately weighs out to him letting slip that he has some sort of super suit in the back pocket, and Lilian giving up at that point.

    She brings back her screen to record the explanation, though this time it's on audio before she types out the notes in improbably little time --both Mark's and Seifer's brave attempt, after she welcomes him with a moderate-mild air of gratitude for seeing someone both local and competent here; it seems like more the latter than the former. Her takeaway at the end of the discussion is "Ghosts are usually mostly harmless." and reiterating her earlier assessment that it's Anna's job to be able to handle random encounters and the ordinary dangers of the job, so the situation here is probably unusual. She ceases busting Mark's balls a fair deal once he hurriedly brings out that he'd already called the police a while ago. It does make her want to question what Reapers actually do as 'ostensible citizens', but she leaves it for now.

    "I'm fine." Lilian replies, sweeping her holoscreen away once more and picking back up her umbrella. "I'll see you whenever you get there." she says airily, and then just turns and walks to the front door with Nanoha. On the way, she does turn and bother to ask "You're some sort of . . . interdimensional tactical police, right? Do you have any particular take on this? You were surveilling the scene just a moment ago." but when they reach the sidewalk, she gives the woman a little queen's wave, and then a couple of minutes later, Nanoha will get to touch down with Lilian already there, looking thoroughly disgusted while scoping out the front of the hotel, hand on her hip and evident trepidation oozing from every angle of her body.

    "Do we really have to-?" The crashing inside immediately interrupts her, as if queued by a predictable writer, tempted by her even bothering to ask. "I was going to say go in there. Ugh. Well at least we won't have to search." She twists only halfway to look over her shoulder at the arrivals. "I expected you to be a lot later, pedaling a bicycle. Serves me right I suppose." she says to Seifer. "Finally, someone who bothered to learn to fly." she then says to Nanoha, even vaguely approvingly. "Mmm, the new look isn't bad either. A little retro in the lines, but it works. Anyways, I think we should-" The crashing intensifies, and the reeking wind blows out the windows. "God dammit let me finish!" cries Lilian, reaching down the collar of her sweater and ripping out something on a silver chain, clutching it in her fist.

    Flicking her wrist sharply out to the end of her arm, chilling ink-black mist spears out from her grip, bursting into a sharp cruciform and then coalescing into the jittery, unstable shadow of a solid shape, fully realized from shadowstuff as the strange sword with the *intensely* malevolent, bloodthirsty aura. She sweeps her other hand sharply horizontally out in front of her, the arc of black it leaves crumbling when she snaps her fingers at the end, and exploding into a fractal wave of dark, seemingly light-absorbing spikes of ice, thrusting forward and upward to skewer ranks of trash Noise on their points, dripping a heavy, corrosive fog. She herself leaps off the sidewalk and out of the sharks' reach, concentrating energy down into her feet and leaving behind twin ripples of black static and a muted thump, going up about thirty feet and stopping there.

    Given that everyone else seems intent on street brawling the encounter, Lilian zeroes in on the room from which the ruckus is coming from, and changes directly straight for it, veering unnaturally through the air and flying straight for the room, leaving behind only a faint trail right before she phases straight through the hotel wall.

Nanoha Takamachi (7075) has posed:
    As she takes to the air, Nanoha responds to Lilian, switching over to radio, "Seems pretty straight forward. Something has drawn the Noises to the hotel. Possibly the person we're looking for. Although I do have to wonder if there's more to it than that. And we just don't have all the information on it yet. But I figure if we can fight them off and search the hotel, we'll find a clue to what's going on."
    Nanoha becomes a little more recognizable within the pink as she slows down, nearing the hotel. Finally she comes to a stop not too far from it. She floats there in the air, the light rain beginning to dampen her hair and Barrier Jacket as she's no longer protected by her in-flight barrier. Her holoscreens appear once again, giving her a better overview of the hotel as her magic drones circle around it. She's able to see the gush of wind blow away a number of those Noise things. Nanoha suspects that someone else is here, fighting these things. It could even be the person they're looking for. Though that would beg the question of where she's been this whole time.

    But questions like that can wait. As the Noise are starting to turn on them.

    Several of Nanoha's screens suddenly show static before disappearing as those jellyfish type Noises begin to swipe at the glowing orbs with their tendrils. Though not before Nanoha catches sight of a lightning blast or two. Nanoha can't help but smile for a moment, before saying over the radio, "I'll focus on the ones in the air. I think there's someone else here though, so someone check that out."

    Several orbs of light appear in the air around Nanoha. She then darts forward through the air, heading straight towards the closest gathering of floating jellyfish. As she does so, those orbs keep up. They float around Nanoha, beginning to fire off beams of pink to explode against the strange creatures.

    As Nanoha weaves her way through the group of gravity defying, slow moving sea creature-like Noises, Nanoha is far too agile for them to reach her with their tendrils. But those lightning blasts are a lot quick. Several begin to strike Nanoha, scorching her Barrier Jacket at the points of impact, sending pain rippling through her. And worst of all, frizzing her hair a bit.

    But Nanoha endures the pain of the charge that makes it through her defensive magics, swooping down closer to ground level trying to take care of those jellyfish that might be harassing the others. She passes by a shark-surfing Seifer, briefly admitting how impressive such a feat is.

    Rising up again, Nanoha draws some of the jellyfish into the line of fire of Phyllis's flying bones, before floating to a stop near the girl. She looks her over, smiling for a moment as she asks, "Oh, you're a witch? I haven't seen many of those! They're rather rare where I'm from."

Sho Fukamachi (6850) has posed:
     Sho isn't too thrilled with Mr. William's bombastic driving, but he doesn't really say anything, because he's a polite Japanese teenager and despite how sleazy and horrible this dude is, he still offered a ride. Maybe he's just one of those fabled sleazebags with a heart of gold. That's it. That's gotta be it.

     Once they pull up, there's another half minute struggle with the door, this time with the sound of something snapping as Sho manages to accidentally snap off the window roller. It's fine, if Ash notices he can just spot the bill later, he's got enough money from Mr. Stark still, probably.

     Outside of the car now for real, Sho dusts himself off, staring down the wave of jellyfish monsters as every part of his being tells him he should run away and leave this to the crazy people. He doesn't run though, instead facing the mob head on like some sort of death crazed idiot.

     "GUYVER!"

     There's a weird gust of wind as a strange mass of tentacles and armor plating appear behind Sho, wrapping themselves tightly around the boy as they eventually take the form of an alien suit.

     There's not much hesitation as Sho quickly reaches towards one of his armored pecs, digging his fingers into the flesh in between the armor as he pries it open, revealing a gooey glowing interior.

     The exposed pec glows brighter and brighter, before discharging a large beam of concentrated particle beams and a lot of heat. Enough to burn the ground underneath where it's fired and cause Sho to squint a bit beneath his mask.

     Honestly, it was probably more fire power than needed to deal with something like this, but it's fine. Probably. He only used half of that moves power, he still has another half left... Assuming that's how it works. Man he hopes that's how it works.

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Phyllis gets somehow ignored as she flies herself right over, the people below studiously not noticing someone using a brook to fly themselves right about like it isn't anything unusual. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Noise. The seafood rush is real as they collapse in on Phyllis, trying to bring her down through sheer numbers. The air isn't really any safer thanks to the jellyfish. The BONES BONES BONES totem is useful however, the skeletal thing spitting out acidic blasts that help thin the mass down.

    The Shark Noise gets stabbed by Seifer, which is absolutely not what it might have expected to happen. With a roar, the shark attempts to dive back underground, dragging Seifer through a strange adventure as he moves through ground that simply closes around and behind him, the shark crashing and slamming into Noise as it does so in a futile attempt to escape. Eventually, it slams into a wall and explodes in a blast of static. Mikoto finds this to be a familiar situation somehow, and ends up transforming on the spot and slashing into the mass, quickly taking several of the Noise down.

    Ash drives like a maniac. Somehow, he is right on target. He makes everyone mad, but just barely short of someone actually calling the cops on him. He slides right into position at the hotel, and he wades right into the crabs with his chainsaw. The gritty S-Mart chainsaw blade churns and digs into tough Noise, ripping into them and steadily sawing through whatever he can get his hands on. The ones that tank up get punted away, unharmed but now out of position.

    Nanoha quickly gets to work once she arrives, making full use of her aerial mobility to challenge the air dominance of the jellyfish Noise. Her lasers blast through them quickly, the Noise seeming to be rather delicate, depending on swarm tactics and their splitting behavior more than durability unlike the crabs. Swiftly, she begins to depopulate the air....

    And then Sho transforms, revealing his horrific biotechnological powersuit as he unleashes a beam of powerful destruction that quickly sweeps through and obliterates most of the remaining jellyfish. Overkill is the best kind of kill, it seems.

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Lilian manages to ALREADY BE THERE through mysterious means. Handy how that works. Still, it seems something is actually able to make Rook nonplussed for a moment. Who can blame her? Trash mobs are annoying and waste time. The wave of dark ice and corrusive fog tear the things apart, heavily diminishing the hordes along with the efforts of the others before she rushes into the room.

    The room itself is a complete wreck. Several walls have been blasted down already. Thankfully, the adjacent rooms are empty, but that is a small solace. Within, she notes someone inside, working to dodge around the crab-claws. An Asian man with round black shades dressed in a brown coat and slacks, with long black hair. That is certainly not the girl you're looking for. But the Noise seem dedicated to trying to murder him nonetheless. With a grunt, he holds out his hand, blue flame roaring about him as a spirit manifests behind him, a being in white with shades and dual katanas. "Odysseus!" He calls out...

Kupot stands forth, making use of the techniques of the ancient cyber-samurai as he straight iaijutsu slashes through the attacking Noise. One of the Sharks, mistaking him for an easy target, severs cleanly in half as its entire body bisects and shears apart before exploding into nothingness. His driving strike cleaves a wide path through the horde of Noise, combined with the attacks from the others results in a rapid decrease of pressure on that specific hotel room. As Kupot runs forward, he is greeted with the sight of the aforementioned spirit, blue flame-light roaring around it as another wave of crabs are dislodged from the room with a blast of wind.

    The man then ducks out of the room, finally able to get out of his somewhat cornered state. Blue flame rushes around him, the strange, inhuman figure in white floating behind him. In one hand he holds... a roll of quarters. With a swift motion, he slams it into the doorframe, splitting the roll and sending the quarters flying, his hand sweeping up to grab them out of the air. "Heads or tails." He says shortly. his thumb flicking out with a PING noise... And promptly, one of the jellyfish evaporates as the quarter punches through it with the force of a bullet.

Riku (6928) has posed:
At this point the rest is basically a formality. After a few more are destroyed, the Noise break and take flight, scattering and leaving behind a large number of decorative pins and some Munny. The Persona vanishes behind the man in brown, the flames dying out, and he looks around and shakes his head ruefully. "Well. You're faster and better than I thought. I owe you one." He rubs his chin. "My name... You can call me Baofu. I specialize in collecting information. This incident is becoming more complicated than I expected. You would be looking for the missing Reaper for that DJ, correct?"

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot turns his head slightly towards the man as he picks up a pin. "That is correct, kupo."

Phyllis Lancaster (7116) has posed:
Phyllis is feeling a smidge self-conscious right about now. Here she is, dressed like a farmer/tourist while everyone else looks like some combination of action hero, legitimate magical girl/businesswoman, grindhouse action hero, cute little murder machine, and weirdly pretty ice mage. If only she had changed in mid-flight!

Live and learn. As she prepares another waves of bones and keeps them circling in the air around her, she turns to Nanoha when she directs those jellyfish towards the bone-launcher. She gawks starry-eyed at the apparent veteran for several moments, then snaps out of it and nods rapidly. "That's right! I mean, I needed a gimmick, and-ah, crud. I should get the hat out, but..."

Phyllis' jhorts rune glows for a moment, but she gives up on that as a crab launches itself right at her. It smacks right into the side of her head and leaves Phyllis staggering in the air while bleeding fairly heavily with some more of those jellyfish bearing down on her. She shakes it off quickly-ish, though, before blasting it and the jellyfish with several mores exploding bones along with what looks like a skeletal bird (which also explodes.

"What was I...? Oh right. Gimmick! It was either that or necromancer, and-" She's having a bit of trouble keeping the conversation in mind while also launching boney things at the Noise, although she soon settles into a groove of dropping a totem, spinning some bones around, and talking some more. "Well, it's not like we're 'evil', but.. People think that all the time, you know?" She pauses to take stock of the room in the hotel that's quickly becoming less-than-hospitable, then the stranger joining in the fight with the roll of quarters.

It's easier not to ask for now. By the time the fighting is over, Phyllis is looking only moderately beat up, but still alive! When Baofu introduces himself, she goes right back to that beaming smile despite the pounding headache starting to kick in with the adrenaline of battle wearing off. "My name's Phyllis. Pleased to meet you, Mister... Not the person we were looking for." She nods when he guesses their reason for arriving. "Have you seen her around? Or... Um. When all these Noise started coming in here?" A beat, and then she continues. "There weren't anywhere near this many on the way here, so there had to be something going on..." She murmurs while picking up a pin, flipping it over to take a better look at the thing. "And what're all these things?"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer loses his ride after a magical underground adventure, in which his eyes were closed the entire time because he doesn't actually need them to see and he didn't want rocks driven into them.

     He is very distressed by this, as he just got slammed into the wall. This is understandably very painful. It explodes into static, and Seifer hits the ground, rolling once. He coughs, because he was just put through a Magical Underground Adventure, and takes a minute just to suck in his breath. He has also been biking here. In fact the exercise he mentioned was *probably* riding the bike here.

     When he does finally stand up, it's over. He groans, running his fingers through his hair. "Dang."

     Oh wait, there's pins. Baofu is ignored for a moment as Seifer scours the Tin Pin drops for anything interesting. When he finds nothing he doesn't already have, he shrugs and collects a few of them for TRADE VALUE, then shoulders his gunblade and looks the man over. "Baofu, huh."

     "So."

     Seifer leans forward in that way that Seifer does when he is being Intimidating. "It sure is a coincidence that you're here and we're here, ain't it? Like we're either lookin' for the same thing, or you knew where to look before we did."

     Seifer's gunblade's point hits the floor, scraping slightly. "An' in either case, I'm *real* interested to hear how you came by that information. 'cause either you're even better-informed than we are..."

     The gunblade swings up. "Or you're the guy who did the deed."

     "So? Which is it, pal?"

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto turns towards another set of Noise, not paying attention to Lilian.

Ok no that's a lie, she was bothered by being overlooked and constantly being talked down to.  However, she wasn't going to /admit/ that.  Oh no, she would just prove herself better.  How?  

Well, she seemed to like flight so much.  Her eyes glowed a bright emerald for a moment as she looked at Nanoha, scanning the professional magical girl.  Now...turning around she was just going to...

Shit, they're already routed.  Son of a...!  On the bright side, there is a really handsome man that they just saved, who apparently knows about their deal, looks very trustworthy, has a cool stand, and is really handsome.  

For her effort, Mikoto has some scratches and dings, but scrapping with monsters is something she's moderately good at.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     The window roller is a casualty that'll have to wait. Right now, he's concerned with--"Holy Jesus!" The blast drew his attention, but it's the sight of the armor's gooey interior. "You said Iron Man, not Aliens!" He makes a brisk flick of his chainsaw hand, slinging a disgusting lump of crab viscera aside. "Warn a guy next time," he says somewhat hypocritically after his driving.

     The pressure eases up and Ash picks up his duffel bag, slinging it once more over his shoulder. He continues his advance, leading with the chainsaw. The shotgun he uses as a fencer's main gauche, 'parrying' attacks made against him with point-blank blasts. The saw is then thrust or sliced through the opening, an inelegant but clearly practiced advance. Nevertheless, he's broken a sweat, pausing here and there to catch his breath. It does mean he takes a few nasty blows for his age, but even bruised and cut, he's back on his feet with surprising durability.

     He ends up breaking through to the hotel with one final shotgun blast, covered in seafood offal. He wipes a string of imitation crab from his face. "Oh, hey, look," he says to no one in particular. "The little guy made it through." He twirls the shotgun deftly and holsters it. There is still the bloody chainsaw which exists where his hand would otherwise be.

     "The name's Ash Williams. Pretty sure you can guess /my/ specialty." He takes a look around. "This place is my kind of place," he says, which one can generally take to mean that it is a disreputale and sleazy place that only the bravest souls would dare hold a blacklight to. "But, uh, what's with all the crabs?" He 'surreptitiously' hides some Munny and a Pin behind a knocked over potted plant, then very embarrassingly pretends to tie his shoe. Although he's clearly used to doing that with one hand, he's /also/ clearly stuffing it into his pocket.

Nanoha Takamachi (7075) has posed:
    As the Noises scatter, Nanoha doesn't see much reason to chase them down. There seem to be a lot of them in the world, so it's doubtful that they can really put a dent in the numbers. Besides, they have more pressing concerns to worry about.

    Namely, Phyllis's gimmick, "I guess many of the stories about witches do generally come out rather bad. But when I did eventually meet a real witch, she was pretty nice! A little shy. And a bit of a trickster. But good at heart."

    No wait, that's not the more pressing concern. Nanoha slowly floats towards the ground, softly touching down and then relaxing a little bit. She notices Kupot pick up a pin, glancing at them herself. Along with the munny. She's not sure what they're for...

    When Baofu introduces himself, Nanoha gives him a bit of a bow, "Nanoha Takamachi. Yes, we're here to investigate on Mister Mark's behalf." The others are already starting to ask many of the questions that Nanoha has, so she's happy to remain quiet and listen.

    That is until Seifer raises his gunblade up towards Baofu. Nanoha takes a step forward, gesturing with her hand, "Ahhh, I don't think we need to go that far just yet! It's true that there must be a reason why the Noise gathered here. But it's a bit early to be accusing someone who was fighting them."

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    "Than you thought?" Lilian doesn't quite scoff as she slowly touches down in the cleared rooms, inflecting it as an actual question. "You expected people were coming, or specific people? Have you been talking to Mark?" she asks, stubbornly refusing to use the DJ name. "Collecting information or not, if you're just here now, you can't be much further along than we are. How long have you been looking for Anna? I can only presume that's the only reason anyone would be at a ratty dump like this."

    She doesn't seem particularly budged by Seifer coming along. If anything, it's a welcome assertion at this point. "Would I also be correct in assuming you've been on this for a lot longer than the past fifteen minutes? I'm interested to hear. Were the Noise here when you arrived, or did they attack you after?" *That* particular question is the one that carries an edge to it.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Don't be rude Lilian, some people have to live here," She is looking right at Ashe when she says this.

Sho Fukamachi (6850) has posed:
     Guyver I breathes a sigh of relief as the Noise seem to be cleaned up no problem, though there's a weird filter on Sho's voice now, as if it's being ran through some sort of robotic synthesizer. It's still clearly Sho's voice despite the weirdness though.

     Letting his burning pectoral muscle smoke for a bit, the Guyver finally shuts the torn open flap closed, the suit instantly fusing it back to itself as the self inflicted fades away in seconds.

     "So-Sorry..."

     Even though he's pretty sure he just agreed he was similar to Iron Man, and not /EXACTLY/ like Iron Man, the boy apologizes all the same. He doesn't bother to de-suit himself at this point though, especially since he needs to make his way through a war torn Hotel, which probably isn't safe.

     The Guyver follows closely behind Ash as the old man makes his way towards their intended destination, tilting his head in confusion as the person he looks at clearly isn't the person they're looking for. A random survivor? Well, given that Seifer guy is holding a sword to the guy, it's probably a bit more complicated than that. Best to just let the adults handle it for now.

     Speaking of adults, Sho seems to be aware of Ash's actions, and the armored boy calls out in a loud whisper to him, waving his hands in semi panic.

     "Hey, hey. I don't think that's a good idea..."

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    "Who cares? The Noise? Or all of the zero people in here?" Lilian shoots back to Mikoto. "It's a dump, and anyone staying here knows it, because they know a dump is cheap."

Riku (6928) has posed:
Most of those present confirm that they are part of the search group, and Baofu nods, starting with Lilian to respond to. "I expected half as many with half as much talent. You have to understand that screaming into the void rarely gets you the cream of the crop." He shrugs at that. "I apologize for getting you involved in this. I was expecting an assassination attempt, but I was prepared for men with guns, not a horde of local demons. I knew their density had increased, but they are acting strangely."

    He shakes his head and smiles with a thin, bitter-looking line as he is challenged by Seifer. "A SeeD, even? If only I was ever that lucky when looking for help." There is a chuckle at that, one as bitter as his smile. He doesn't back down or run in the face of the gunblade, however... Likely because he has what Seifer wants.

    "This isn't a coincidence at all. We're both looking into the same thing and you just didn't know it yet. I have been looking into this situation since before I knew she was missing. Have you heard of a new social media app called SCOOL?"

    He doesn't wait for an affirmation before continuing. "The Reaper in question disappeared about a week before the app was released, based on the information from the police report filed by the... DJ. I didn't need to talk to him, I have more information than he does about the situation already."

    He shakes his head. "I don't have everything I need to link it definitively, but that's where you come in. I'm apparently being targeted. You're not. Yet." Baofu looks back to Lilian, then. "The Noise attacked me after I arrived here. As I said, I assume this was an assassination attempt of some kind. I simply don't know the method. I was in the middle of locating the last known whereabouts of the missing Reaper when I was attacked."

    He pulls out a phone. "I will finish my work, and then deliver the information to you so you can investigate. I can put the information online, encrypted, and give you the key so you can access it."

    No one seems to care that Ash is filching pins or Munny. Seifer doesn't find anything rare or interesting considering his already extant skill. Clearly he needs to go farm the higher level Noise.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto rolls her eyes at Lilian, even though she was actually trying to throw shade on Ash.  Mostly because he's creepy.  However, the discussion of trusting and/or murdering this guy comes up.  That does not seem like a good idea, because he knows something.

"So...what does anything have to do with that new app?  Also should I delete it?"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer's eyes narrow at 'SeeD.' He doesn't say anything - but he *does* shoulder the gunblade and roll his shoulder. It's actually quite uncharacteristic for the boisterous, Heroic(tm) Gunblade Knight to *not* have anything to say on a subject, especially one like that.

     "Yeah," he says after a moment, "Well, I got better things to do than look at my phone all day." Unless it's a minigame.

     There's a brief subvocalized debate about Baofu before Seifer shrugs. "Fine. You give us the key, you do the dead drop, we'll wait for your info. But."

     Seifer gets right up in the man's face. The scar is *especially* prominent. Baofu can probably tell it is from a gunblade wound. "You try and use us to deal with your problems, give us the runaround, move us like pawns?"

     Seifer cocks Hyperion meaningfully.

     "You know what I am. So you know how bad an idea that is, don't you?"

     Then he shoulders his gunblade and steps back a bit.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot slides his katana into the sheath in one steady movement.

With the other hand, Kupot brings out a burner smartphone to look for this app.

He lets Seifer do the chest beating. Kupot does not chest beat.

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    "I don't blame you for that much." Lilian says, folding her arms emphatically at Baofu vocalizing his expectations of a gaggle of hapless idiots in situations like these. "The suspicion of being assassinated by Noise comes with a supposition that they are being controlled by someone, which further implies you know who could. Now who would that be and why do they care?"

    A brief discussion passes between her and Seifer privately, amounting to the decision between taking him now and letting him go despite his shady vibe; Lilian arrives on letting him complete his investigation, so that, if all else fails, they have his complete portfolio of work as an additional work. "Also, why even mention the social media app if you're just going to drop it again like that? What does that have to do with anything?"

    She doesn't so much as blink when Seifer emphasizes the gunblade, remaining stood exactly where she is, arms still crossed. "You're an info broker, right? So you know how to stay in the business, who to sell to, and who to tap from. I'm not expecting to get it for free; I can pay you more than adequate compensation. If I find I don't like what I get, though, or the process of getting there, there is no feasible means by which you can get away, do you understand?"

Phyllis Lancaster (7116) has posed:
"Assassination attempts? From.. Wait. So..." Phyllis furrows her brow as she works on processing everything coming out of Baofu's mouth, the talk of SeeD and SCOOL and apps adding even more confusion to the mix. "So Anna disappears a week before SCOOL comes out, Mark's been talking with the police, and the Noise came in here after you did while looking for Anna. Does that sound about right?"

It sounds right enough to Phyllis. "So... How did you know to come here?" As she speaks, she takes out her phone to start searching for the app in question. She's probably spelling it 'school'. She gives Seifer a wary look when he cocks his strange-looking weapon, then turns to Baofu quickly while badly pretending not to have seen anything.

The tense jaw is a dead giveaway.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     "Me?" The creepy monster hunter laughs, shaking his head. He pauses, giving an aside to Sho as if to say 'don't worry, no one saw.' Everyone saw. "You got the wrong idea," he continues, explaining himself to Lilian and Mikoto. "You don't /live/ in a place like this. You hit a bar, you pick up a lady, you come back here to seal the deal, and then you're out of there. Ships in the night." After that startlingly tactless admission, he then has the gall to look off as if in fond remembrance. He nods to himself.

     "Anyway, I don't really care about this guy," he says, jerking a thumb towards Baofu. "No offense," he says, holding his non-chainsaw hand out towards the Persona user. "Long as he's not Noise, Shadow, or Deadite, I could care less about him playing puppetmaster. These things drop munny when you kill 'em, and lemme tell ya, that's /not/ the way these gigs tend to go."

     "Stay here if you want. /I'm/ gonna make the smart play and hit the clubs. Sho, how's your fake ID game?" he asks, in presence of several more responsible people who might feel a moral imperative to save Sho from any more of this man's corrupting aura of irresponsibility.

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    Lilian makes a little face that involves sticking out her tongue when Ash starts talking about motels, not doing it the dignity of turning to look at him. "With a chainsaw prosthetic and a shotgun? Or are you motivated by the fact that money just fell into your hand by accident, so now you have to go and spend it? That kind of thinking is how you stay in crumbling sedans and fast food." A sigh. "And *really*? A hotel like *this*?"

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Oh good, a distraction!

Mikoto is asked something by Seifer, and for a moment she has to think about it.  She hasn't had to try and use her animals in an extended fashion before...but there is no reason why they can't be used like that.  Considering options, she stands back and taps her foot on the ground.  

A little magic circle large enough for a few ants appears underneath the info dealer.  These flying ants land on his bag or any clothing, aiming to keep a low profile.  Tiny and small, and able to allow her to see through their eyes at a whim.  

Thanks to Lilian and Ash for unexpectedly providing her this.

Riku (6928) has posed:
    Kupot checks online for the social media app. He finds it almost disturbingly easy. He's able to download it and after the system checks the phone locale, allows him to sign up for a beta account. Provided he does so, quickly he finds himself in the Sunnydale Beta 'stream'. It feels like some kind of goddless fusion of Twitter and Facebook, complete with regular ad links seeded into the feed.

    "That's about right." He replies to Phyllis' summary. Lilian asks some more pertinent questions. "Normally, only Reapers have the ability to influence Noise, and even then not nearly on that scale." Baofu points out. "Which makes me wonder how much this 'kidnapping' really might be one. Either way, it would make sense that the person who wants to get rid of me is the one I am investigating: Theodore Walker, the CEO of the company that made that app." That bitter smile returns. "I mentioned it because I'm building my case. You have to start somewhere. I'm currently hoping that you all provide the links I need to prove I'm right."

    Seifer relents, then. Mostly. "You're better off that way, really." Baofu comments. "People find all kinds of things about you over a phone." Seifer gets right into Baofu's face. The man smells of cigarette smoke and coffee. He frowns again, and doesn't back down, even an inch. "If it's not obvious, I can take care of myself. Does it make you happier to think I'm using you? Think what you like. I just want to get this done." A pause. "Someone like you should understand what that means, right? Don't worry. I'll be pulling my weight."

    He presses some things on the phone, and anyone who cares to gets a token with a RSA one-time key. "Use that with the download." He turns to look over at Lilian when he's made an offer. "You're not getting it for free. You're doing me a service. Also, I owe you for helping to save my life. Let a man show a little gratitude... Later on, we can discuss payment for unrelated services."

    He seems to be studiously ignoring Ash, trying to not get caught up in the Shady Old Man world of the monster hunter. The distractions work great to allow Mikoto to literally bug him. He doesn't seem to be aware that there's some ants clinging to him at the moment. "I should get moving. Are there any other questions before I leave?" He asks. "Expect the drop to go up on W-Slash as soon as I have it." He pronounces it 'double-slash'.

Ash Williams (7071) has posed:
     "I'm gonna wash up and put 'em away first, /obviously,/" says Ash with an incredulous smirk. "The look is premium aged beef, honey, not serial killer." It is perhaps the one moment of self-awareness he's displayed all day. Nevertheless, it's tragically snuffed out. "You guys act like I don't have a shower in my trailer. And..." He steps closer, looking left and right. He cups his mouth with his non-chainsaw hand and gives a 'confidential' tip.

     "I know the angle here," says the man who doesn't know the angle, or much of anything. "Trying to act like you're not interested, build up some chemistry, work towards the whole post-fight get-together. First of all, you're way to young for me, and second," he says as if he's some wise sage giving good advice, "You gotta make the play /way/ earlier if you want that to land. You keep that in mind, maybe you'll find yourself some nice guy your age, huh?" He gives a clueless, after-school-PSA smile, then turns and leaves.

Sho Fukamachi (6850) has posed:
     Well, if nobody saw him, it should be fine. The Guyver just goes to pretending to be ignorant while the monster hunter does his thing. He even taps his carapace-covered fingers across his thighs and whistles innocently to play up the act. He's such a good kid.

     Bafou explains his situation, and while Sho thinks the man sounds pretty trustworthy and nods along without any questions, it seems that a lot of others are questioning his motives. Does being an adult mean you doubt everyone straight away? He supposes that explains why his father was so quick to see through his lies when he tries to pretend to be sick for school. Figures.

     The mentioning of if he's good at fake IDs is brought up, and surprising no one he waves his arms in an x patterns and shakes his head.

     "No. No. It's alright, we can uh... Find another way to hang out later!"

Lilian Rook (6895) has posed:
    There are about a million and five possible responses to something like that. Statistically speaking, Ash is basically pretty likely to have some spunky hot-headed strong independent woman threaten his manhood with grievous physical harm. Lord knows she could do it.

    Lilian says "I'll pay you five thousand dollars to never speak to me like that ever again."

Nanoha Takamachi (7075) has posed:
    The mention of the SCOOL app and its possible connection to the events of the missing Reaper grab Nanoha's attention. She taps her cheek for a moment then asks of her Device, "Raising Heart, can you bring up the information on this app?"

    Nanoha's staff chimes, <Accessing.> A holoscreen appears, showing results of the search. Nanoha scrolls through it for a moment, "Seems fairly straight forward... A social chat app." She looks confused, "But why would a company developing something like this be connected to the Noise and Reapers?" Either Nanoha's not understanding the intricacies of this world-which is possible, she just arrived here-or something unusual is going on.

Phyllis Lancaster (7116) has posed:
Phyllis gladly takes the token to get her sweet sweet weird stuff download. It might even help her spell the name of the damn thing, too. "I think that's everything I can think of... If you're in trouble again, just ask, okay?" She gives the definitely-unsuspicious man a kindly smile, then taps in a name on her phone: Theodore Walker.

That's worth at least doing a quick internet search for. Better than watching what she can only assume is some sort of weird tension between Ash and Lilian. "Looks like we've got a real mystery on our hands, everybody! Time to do some problem solving."

Riku (6928) has posed:
"I don't know." Baofu admits. "That's what I'm hoping to find out. The CEO has been involved in some dirty things before, a lot of people involved with Saeki usually are." He turns, rolling his shoulder, and walks off calmly, leaving the group behind. "I'll be in touch." He waves over his shoulder.