1985/Heaven or Hell - Paramilitary Branch

Heaven or Hell - Paramilitary Branch
Date of Scene:	09 April 2015
Location:	Urbania
Synopsis:	Agents of Heaven or Hell investigate a break in at House Everille.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Lowell, 253, Riva Banari, Ayako Hasekawa, 626, 720, 747

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Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Heaven or Hell has been contracted out to serve their role as paranormal investigators to a recently unified, though not fresh off the boat, interation of Earth. Specifically, the United Kingdom, local year 2095. The client is a magus who is paying far too much money for a seemingly petty job, not requiring an investigation into who the perpetrator is, but rather a critical opinion of how they had broken into their private estate in the first place.

    It's fairly obvious why they'd be willing to throw around so much money from the sight the destination comes into view. Built out in the coastal countryside outside of the capital, the manor isn't something passed down through old money from the victorian era, but relatively new construction. Some homage is paid to the classics of ostentatious mansions of old, but the modernized layout and liberal use of large windows and cleverly hidden solar panels means it should be 30 years old at most.

    Though from outward appearances it looks just like an especially expensive piece of unnecessarily large private land, the moment everyone is let in through the front gate, they can briefly feel a sensation like an elevator accelerating in both directions at once, abruptly cut off as they cross some sort of invisible boundary line. More specifically, Arthur is immediately able to detect a high level distortion in space, Riva is able to feel something vaguely analagous to Anima, Madoka's soul gem would react ever so faintly, and Psyber's eyes will immediately pick out erratic, undefined movement, like chasing an especially energetic floater in the corner of his vision.

    Predictably, the investigators are met by house servants, lead through a spacious foyer through several hallways decorated with more digital art than physical pieces. They aren't immediately lead to 'the scene', instead taken to a reception hall that seems to have been pre-prepared for visitors, with enough free-food to expect an all-day case

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is used to more high-end clients in the years since his business really took off. After the Viridian Sunrise incident, 'saved the Multiverse, literally' had been a great tagline to his business. This was a pretty expensive contract, in a PRETTY nice area, so he was dressed in an actual suit. Normally he'd be in jeans, with a t-shirt and a witty slogan.

    "Mmm, this world is definitely not a mundane one," Psyber notes, a notepad in his free hand as he looks around the premesis. It looks professional, even if he doesn't strictly need it in many cases. Makes clients feel like he's more obviously working than if he was just staticly hanging around.

    "So here's the deal, people. Someone cut me a big fat check-a-roo for a pretty minor job about a break-in. I'm here and I brought a bunch of you so they really feel like they got their money's worth. We wanna find clues to the theft, clues to the culprit, and that sort of thing."

    He blinks his eyes several time at the bagic distortions, trying to parse it because it is really annoying him. He looks over the free food, but will conspicuously wait for someone else to eat it first.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    This is not a job that's going to need a medic or healer of any kind yet Kyra still wanted to come along if only so she can get an idea of what it was like to actually see Heaven or Hell in action. It's one thing to read after action reports-another thing to see it and, if anything, Kyra was always pretty hands on.

    She doesn't say much, not yet, but she does sneak in a few pictures here and there, especially of that nice house via her mPhone. She's trying to be covert about it too since she knows people sometimes get testy when their property is photographed without permission.

    "...is that...really all for us?" Kyra asks, gesturing over at the food set up in the hall they've been lead into.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    ARTHUR LOWELL is here.

    The Infobroker King, Rocket-Powered Jerk, and general Swaggering Mage Extraordinaire, actually looks sort of mundane and neutral here, you know, not anything extraordinary. He's wearing street clothes. He looks like Just Some Kid. He likes money, honestly. He doesn't need a lot, but money makes people happy. And so, he's come along.

    Swaggering and grinning, he strides on through the front gate, noting but not apparently reacting to the sudden change in sensation. An eyebrow going up is all that shows that he realizes there's something distorting the space.

    Hmmm.

    He keeps his coolkid expression on the whole time, though. "GOTCHA, BOSS." He says, simply, doing a cheeky sort of semi-salute as he heads on in and grabs too much of that free food to be really polite in any way, and takes a relaxed seat, prepared for any briefings or information they need about the nature of the break-in and what needs to be done to investigate it.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    It's almost hard to believe after all that happened a month ago -- wait, only half a month now, right? -- that this is her first time officially participating in an investigation with the members of Heaven or Hell. It's also pretty hard to believe that the last time she spoke to Psyber at any length was at that party in the office a while back. She often saw him when he would come in, even greeted him sometimes, but he always looked so tired. Anything beyond a simple 'Hello' seemed intrusive, and since he never had the energy to take the initiative and she didn't have the courage, she's still a bit shy around the guardian angel.

    Same goes for the rest of the Heaven or Hell members in attendance, really. She gives everyone their waves and smiles of greeting, acting as warm for them as she's able, but in all truth she feels a bit lonely. The atmosphere's so different when people are 'on business' like this, and it's not really conducive to friendliness. There might be some exceptions to that, like Riva maybe, but as it stands she's going to let the others make the introductions and cover for her own lack of presence. This decision colors her every step and gesture, her feet remaining close together in their piecemeal, soft gait, her hands remaining folded ever at her waist. And of course, whensoever she is not called upon for response, her eyes stay glued firmly to the floor ahead.

    Even with her nose to the ground, though, she notices the lavish nature of this abode. The decor drags her eyes to the ceiling a few times, then to the walls, and eventually the furnishings. She unconsciously trespasses upon her humility just enough to allow her mouth to hang agape at some of those things she sees, but this lasts no more than a second before her thoughts wander to places more... reticent. It's so posh, yes, but not in a purely classical sort of way; there are those digital art pieces, for example, and likely so many more modern amenities. In that capacity, this place reminds her of Mitakihara. It's cutting edge, rich, spacious, warm...

    ... it's like being home. Her mind flashes back for an instant, but the moment she notes Psyber's presence again, she realizes that she's still in the 'present'. She has to pause a moment to take a breath.

    Though, mercifully, there's something here to distract her more wholly: food! There are tables upon tables -lined- with the most extravagant display of delicious things that she has seen in ages. Her mouth drapes open again, but this time she lacks the willpower to suppress herself. She bounds directly over to a table, snags a plate and, sparing no more than a quick, furtive glance, steals away as many sweets as she's able to get her hands on. Some soup, too, if there is any.

    So undignified! Let's hope she realizes the delicacy of the situation before the owner of the house shows themselves. But then again, delicacy... so many delicacies...

    ... sorry, you might've lost her already.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako is here, hoping that she can help in some way. You never know if you need to check plumbing, drainage, or need someone to go into vents! Or if you need someone sensitive to magic or spiritual things around! Much like Psyber, Ayako happens to be dressed up in a business suit, and at a glance, would look quite serious. Of course, Ayako being Ayako, she's too cheerful to let that kind of air dominate.

    The water spirit quietly walks just behind Psyber, her amber eyes slowly looking about for any clues. Idly, she releases water vapor as she moves about to help spread out her awareness.

    When the group arrives at the reception room, Ayako just blinks her eyes slowly at the food there. She doesn't eat, so... she's a bit curious as to why their host would put out something like this even after paying them.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's totally here and ready to help out!

She's dressed in her Templar outfit today because she's On Business, and when you're On Business you need to make a good impression. Nevertheless, her eyes are bright as she looks over the manor, and she has a big grin on her face as she enters the area. "Wow, this is awesome!" she calls out to the others, hopping along without any real sense of decorum. Crossing the boundary, she pauses for a moment and looks around curiously, "Huh. This place... Has a lot of energy. Maybe there's an Anima Well here? Crossed ley lines? Something like that?" She glances over to Psyber and nods as he responds, and she calms down a bit, though she takes a deep breath, like one might do to breathe in the air after a thunderstorm, or a fresh spring breeze.

Riva smiles to the house servants and is pleasant, chattering immediately with them. "Hi there! It's so nice to meet you! Oh my, that outfit is wonderful! So traditional!" It's these things and others that she says to the servants as they are escorted, Riva chatting with them to begin establishing pleasantries and possibly working towards getting names.

It's always smart to be on a first name basis with the hired help.

The large, food-laden table causes Riva's eyes to practically sparkle as she closs in on the FEAST TABLE, accumulating a selection of delectables. "Sure thing, boss." She says to Psyber as he outlines what they're here for. Is she even paying attention as she plucks up a few fruits? "I have no idea, Kyra!" Riva says cheerfully, but this isn't stopping her from getting together a plate. She helps Madoka locate sweets too, and grins to Ayako. "This is going to be an /awesome/ job." she proclaims. "I can't wait to see who actually hired us."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    The signs of movement disappear momentarily as Psyber steps inside, as if escaping from an annoying cloud of insects, only to intermittently resume at certain points along the walk. He gets the distinct impression of things moving through the adjacent hallways, as if the house were simultaneously haunted by a very large number of very quiet, very respectful ghosts. The reception hall is thankfully free of those presences. Riva's escort seems a little self conscious at the attention from an off-worlder, but maybe also a little glad to have someone to talk to. Getting them to like her is easy.

    "Indeed it is~" are the first words that reach anyone's ears, specifically in response to Kyra. In from the opposite side of the hall walks who must obviously be the client, and yet is clearly not either of the names signed on the deed should someone have taken the time to look it up. In fact, judging by the expensive uniform, it looks like she's only just gotten home from school, though whatever brand of fancy academy or university it belongs to is up for guessing. "I apologize for not being able to meet you at the door. The translocation circle at school was being redrawn today and I didn't find out until it had already made me late." That certainly sounds like magic.

    The immediate reaction upon laying eyes on her is difficult to put one's finger on. Aside from obviously being rich, pretty and well mannered, something about the passionately sincere tone of voice she uses lends a certain je ne sais quoi to the first impression she makes; a kind of impossible to place factor in that snap judgement that makes her 'feel' likeable. Whatever specific qualities the gathered people especially like to see in other people, they get the distinct sense that she possesses them.

    "I don't know how long this might keep you for, so I've made the necessary arrangements in case you need to come back tomorrow. Feel free to ask for anything you might need as long as you're here~" The cherry-red metallic choker around her neck flicks on a tiny blue light at the front, after which she begins drawing her fingers across a series of invisible menus. "There. I've transferred half the funds up front. I'll field any questions you have now."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber takes out his phone when she talks about transferring funds. He swipes his fingers a couple times and inspects his business accounts, "Congratulations, you just put the Multiverse's premier paranormal and private investigation firm on the case," Psyber notes in a somewhat dull (or perhaps just tired) tone. As if to affirm he might just be tired.

    Of course, offering him whatever he needs is never a great move, as he immediately says, "Yes, I'll take a 35 year Scotch, no less. Preferably Glenturret, but Benriach is acceptable too. Neat, in a glass. And if you have an energy drink, I'll take that too." He absentmindedly makes this request, as if it's just an automated response to the phrase 'ask for anything you might need' or similar wordings.

    "Oh. And your name. That would help with mission reports and whatnot."

    The tired investigator looks pretty amicable to those present, Arthur and Madoka getting faint half-waves via a raise of his hand. Ayako and Riva both get half-tired nods. And Kyra gets a: "Oh hey, glad to see you deploying with the team." Never know when medical care might be necessary.

    "I'll start with some basic questions. Do you know what they took? And they they didn't go for objects more valuable, or perhaps try to steal more? Were those items of sentimental value to any enemies?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Gotcha, gotcha!" Arthur says, swinging back up off the seat and finishing off his quickly-taken snack. "Pullin' out ALL THE STOPS, huh? Must be a BIG DEAL kinda BREAKIN. Well, we're BIG DEAL kinda PEOPLE, so!" He has the posture of someone that's both stretching after waking up, and perhaps limbering up. Then he takes a few steps forward and squints at her, as if trying to figure out a puzzle. He seems to give up, shortly before saying, "YEAH, first thing's FIRST. Drop me a line on WHERE exactly this BREAKIN happened. Can someone lemme SEE the site?"

    Stretching and popping his neck, he gives a little wiggle of all his fingers. "Work best lookin' at the site MYSELF, y'know? Oh, yeah, any data YOU'VE gathered so far? Figure you guys know YOUR SHIT best, we just gotta get some EXTRA then PUT IT TOGETHER." He plants his hands at his waist dramatically and confidently! And nudges his head towards Psyber, as if saying that his questions are just a reinforcement of Psyber's. This covers all the critical elements of his part of the investigation without ever seeming like he's ever a nerd! In any way. He'll follow along, though, if anyone is gonna get him the site of the breakin.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Of the other Heaven or Hell members here, Madoka remains the only one she hasn't yet met in person. Madoka's cheerful greeting gets a cheerful wave in return from the redhead, plus an equally cheerful, "Hi." If anything, Kyra wasn't quite yet 'professional' enough to drop into the noir detective sullenness quite yet. Furthermore, Madoka's behavior inadvertantly answers her question.

    Though encouragement from the other members and their host herself does seal the deal. Kyra indeed helps herself to the offered snacks, watching the woman that has yet to offer her name. She can easily recognize a private school uniform, having to technically wear one herself. Not only that but the air around the girl gave Kyra the impression of 'confident and popular class president." Maybe it was a combination of the tone and poise.

    Casually, she shrugs at Psyber. "I came to observe. If I need to bust out with the heals, then something has gone really, really wrong." She goes silent again, listening as the other members start in with the questions about the break-in.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is all smiles to the nice woman, and seems to have no problems with taking the bull by the horns (figuratively). "Oh, there's nothing to worry about! We're all here to help! If you have any questions, just ask! I'm just dressed up for the occasion, you know? I can't just show up here in jeans ans a T-shirt (even if I bet the Boss would want to)." She chuckles. "Anyway, don't worry about a thing. We'll get the job done, and everything will be back to normal."

Meanwhile, she's munching incessantly, trying all kinds of foods, both ones she likes and things that look different. It's when the woman of the hour arrives that Riva looks up, a big smile on her face as she bows politely to the fancy-looking woman. "Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss! We're here to give you a hand with the recent incident. Don't worry about a thing, we'll have everything taken care of for you in a jiffy."

Riva pulls out her smartphone, preparing to take NOTES on everything. "Could you give us any details about the incident itself? Did you file a police report, as well?" Arthur takes up what she was going to ask next, and she grins to him. Hell yeah, teamwork!

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Madoka's feast is promptly interrupted by the ring of a voice. She nearly leaps in place, rushing to chew and swallow whatever food may still be in her mouth whilst she hides all the rest - including her plate - behind her back. It's a small relief for her to see that the one who had asked them here (or at least the one greeting them) is fairly young girl herself, but by the time she arrives her cheeks are still decorated by a gentle flush of red. She affords the 'hostess' all due attention as she makes her introductions, her heart lightened considerably by the air of implicit candor and friendliness she exudes. Honestly, that... makes her want to say something, but for the time being she's still a bit too shy.

    The next thing that gets her attention is fairly insignificant, but: 'translocation circle'? She cants her head to one side. That... definitely sounds like magic, yeah; probably something this world has in lieu of a train system. But... wait, so that means magic is a more open thing in this world? If she recalls correctly, that's the way it was Ysabel's world, too. And... come to think, lots of the members of Heaven or Hell seem to use their magic in the open. It makes her want to blush a bit more when she realizes that she'd never given any thought to this before, but yeah, it apparently isn't such a big deal that magic exists elsewhere. That makes her feel a bit warm inside, especially when she notes that it doesn't seem to be laden with consequences of its usage like mysticism from her world happens to be. Still, key word there is 'seems'.

    But all that miscellaneous stuff aside...! Madoka came to help solve a problem, right? Right. This girl's apparent niceness only encourages her further, and in fairly short order the task at hand is again in secure dominance of her every thought. She would look to Psyber and nod as she asks for the girl's name, but the moment the more pertinent questions begin to flow, she begins to shift in self-consciousness. As far as she knows, investigation is not one of her very few talents, but she wants to contribute -something-. So with an abundantly tremulous, wavering, uncertain raise of her hand, she requests permission to speak. If some gesture grants her this, she shuffles another moment before asking:

    "U-Um. Can I ask if there were any people around where this thing was taken? We might wanna start by asking anyone who might know something about what happened." In a much more muffled tone, she tacks on a 'Maybe'.

    She holds an arm firmly behind her back and crosses her fingers.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    "My name is Scarlet. I believe you already know the family name. And you are Psyber, correct? A pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you!" Scarlet doesn't even have to wave for a butler to fetch him is drink. When someone already has a full knowledge of the cellar, that kind of gesture is unnecessary, reserved for when one is trying to look impressive in front of guests. The young mistress doesn't appear to be trying to make a show of commanding presence, and so the nearest man in a white suit goes unbidden. "The Edrington group was bought out fifteen years ago, and Highland Distillery went with them. I know for a fact we have some stock from well before they changed hands, however I regret to inform you that the modern stuff isn't nearly the same quality it once was." Is she actually old enough to drink? Odds seem 50/50. Bizarrely, the energy drink arrives first, though maybe that shouldn't be surprising with a student in the house. It's some brand Psyber has never heard of.

    "'Attempted' to take, actually, via familiar. It was killed by one of the guards on the way out, but the fact that it got in at all is concerning. As for what it tried to carry off . . ." she begins listing on her fingers. "350 grams of iridium vapourized by celestial impact, the complete skeleton from the seventh member of the seventh brood of an albino viper berus, 46 slivers of steel from a sword used to draw the heart's blood of a human, and 300ccs of water that has never seen the light of the sun, moon or the stars. Expensive components, but if they had the skill to take them in the first place, they assuredly don't need them. I'm afraid that there's no point in filing a report with the local authorities for various complex reasons. However many people were around is also sadly irrelevant. None of the staff here are mages, thus they can't see familiars." She seems completely unbothered by anyone going through the food at any pace (even Arthur's), going so far as to give Madoka an encouraging smile when she sees her hide the plate.

    "Hmmm, I believe it might be best if I simply showed you to it. You seem very eager to work!" Scarlet says, as if she is pleasantly surprised that she seems to be getting her money's worth, whatever object it might be. That said, as soon as everyone is ready, she leads them through the back end of the mansion, passing by a courtyard big enough to fit a hotel building in and kept like a perfectly groomed nature preserve, before arriving at an area where panoramic glass opens out onto the rolling countryside and orchards behind the main property. An outer wall divides the primary from the secondary land, partially overgrown with climbing ivy and juniper.

    The room obviously hasn't been touched since the incident. There are black, hermetically sealed canisters all over the floor with estoric labels in old gaelic on them, presumably the reagents in question. One window has been smashed open, and a full day's worth of flower petals have blown in from the orchard, scattered all across the floor. Peering out across the grounds directly opposite of the breach, one can see a space where the climbing plants have been ripped up, as though by hasty descent on sharp claws. "The familiar somehow managed to slip all of the perimeter wards and escape notice from any of the sentries. It broke in through the window, got into one of the store rooms, and was chased out by one of the domestic familiars before being killed on this spot. Unfortunately, most of the evidence in phase space. I will need to perform magic to show you the full extent, and it may not be entirely pleasant. Is this acceptable to you?"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako giggles softly when she notes Arthur digging in without any hesitation. And then notes Madoka going into the sweets! And Riva is plucking up some food as well! Her eyes blink slowly. Wow. Food really does things to people. She just shakes her head slowly as she waits.

    Her amber gaze turns straight towards the unfamiliar voice as their employer arrives. Ayako quietly notes the expensive uniform and the seeming method of transportation. Of course, she prefers to let Psyber handle the questions. She doesn't really know much about detective work!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "That's a shame. The naive part of me always hoped men would never abandon their love of fine alcohols," Psyber says in a bit of a forlorn tone. He won't comment on her drinking age for two simple reasons: Rich Kids Drink. College Kids Drink. Scarlet appeared to be both, "And yes, I have people call me 'Psyber'. As good a name as any. You will understand I never give out my real one in this line of work."

    "Mmm," Psyber says as he listens to the list of ingredients, jotting them down in his notepad, "An interesting list." He pauses and then looks to the others, "In simpler terms: Star metal, the skeleton from a pure-white viper tied to the power number of 77 OR seven represented twice, pieces of a sword that drew the purest blood, untouched water by any higher power. Essentially, very high-end components for wizardry, but likely unused for a single spell unless they were going to turn it all into, say, a bullet." He waves his hand vaguely, "Individually, though, any single ingredient could be used in numerous things. Star metal is very rare and the subject of many legends, including famous ones such as Genghis Khan's sword. Pure white indicated rarity and albinism has always been a sign of prophets in many cultures. Not to mention 7 reciprocated twice indicates spiritual awakening, enlightening, and mysticism. Weapons that draw the blood of the heart can become more deadly as life essence is steeped into them. And the water makes it truly pure."

    He jerks a thumb towards Kyra, "You're an Alchemist. What do you think?"

    He looks to Scarlet, "Could be a scrying spell, actually. A lot of the pieces would add up in that case," He walks along with his hands in his pockets, following and listening to other explanations. He'll let the others, particularly Madoka since she seems to need to come out of her shell. Arthur and Riva already make a good enough team and Ayako seems content to hang around.

    "Discomfort is a minimal worry. If we can see more evidence by some action of yours, we should take that."

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Madoka definitely notices that smile! All it really does, though, is make her fluster more. The closest thing she can compare the reaction she's having to is what one might feel about a 'cool' upperclassman or some other such thing. One would think she's lived through enough and known too many such people to be capable of experiencing that sort of emotion with such vividness any longer, but nevertheless it lingers in full force even as she turns to lead them to the scene of the crime. Their short trek through the gargantuan garden does very little to mitigate this feeling, and in the end she's left wondering, with some hint of playfulness albeit, whether Scarlet's parents are the empress and emperor of this entire planet. But only some! This display is pretty appalling! ... in a good, positive sort of way.

    When they arrive at their destination, though, her expression droops just a little bit. The word 'familiar' brings to mind an -exceptionally- negative mental image -- she doesn't want to picture such malevolent things running through such a pretty house. She might give Psyber a bit of a look as if to ask, 'Are they that bad here too?'. Other things are different, so many familiars are too. She really hopes so, but the fact that the only one she's heard of was stealing something isn't exactly promising. Still, the thing they were taking wasn't a life! So that's a plus. And there are apparently 'domestic' familiars, too, so maybe these ones can be tamed!

    But, is it okay? Of course it's okay! Madoka would nod her head rapidly in response, a renewed smile coming to her face. "Of course! I definitely want to help in any way that I can! It's fine if it's a little uncomfortable." What she doesn't have in situational insight, she aims to make up for with zeal and moral support. So she braces herself with a deep, deep breath, a brief puffing of her cheeks, and a resolute nod to Scarlet.

    Ready!

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "SCARLET! Nice t'meetcha. Name's ARTHUR LOWELL! ROCKET-POWERED JERK and INTERGALLACTIC HOOLIGAN." He'll offer a firm, eager handshake! And then... "HUH." He says, squinting. "Things they were after sound like good PUNCHCARD ALCHEMY mats where I come from. What's the VALUE for YOU GUYS?" He follows along quite well, though, with that same confident swaggering stride. "Figure it's something MAGICAL from the sound of it. I'm talkin' SPECIFICS, I mean; best way to figure out WHO DID this sorta thing is a CROSSREFERENCE of all the types of SHIT you can do with THOSE SPECIFIC MATS and figurin' out who DOES that kinda business and who SUPPLIES 'em. Or figurin' out what kinda CRITICAL SHIT you're doin' with 'em that someone wants to put a DAMPER on."

    Before he answers Scarlet's query about if it's okay to expose his brainmeats to "phase space", he checks over at the window, at where it was broken. Broken INWARDS or OUTWARDS? Is this the breach point or the exit point? And then he responds while he looks. "LADY, you got the PUNCH to give me an EYEFULL of the HARD SPACE SHIT, I got the GUTS to take a LOOK without GETTIN' MAD, dontcha worry. HIT ME with the GOOD SHIT."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako glances upwards and taps her cheek with her pointer finger as she thinks over what the familiar tried to steal. The last on the list makes her incline her head to the side gently. That doesn't seem so rare to her. Then again, water spirit!

    "Nice to meet you, Scarlet." Ayako bows politely towards her. "I'm Ayako Hasekawa. Despite how I may look, I'm a water spirit. Please call me Ayako." Ayako smiles softly and nods her head. "Discomfort's just part of the job, really. If we can get a better idea of what happened here, it would definitely help." She lifts a single hand to her glasses to gently adjust them.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    A magically inclined world such as this one doesn't come off as 'strange' in the least to Kyra, more accustomed to worlds where magic existing was the default, being from such a world herself. Familiars, however, were a concept not common to her except in fiction stories, so it was rather exciting to hear that they were a thing here. Calmly, she takes in the questioning, what sorts of questions get asked, and what Scarlet has to answer.

    What she wasn't expecting was to be put on the spot, though. "They could be used as reagents in anything, though I'd expect combining the vaporized iridium and water to have a very interesting outcome. More importantly, all those components seem to have a lot of investment into just /existing/. I'd be pretty annoyed if any of those were stolen from me before I got to use them."

    Kyra can't keep a straight face when Arthur is his usual self right here during the investigation. It's at that point she assumes that the whole detective business must be a lot less serious than she thought. "Arthur's got a point though. What're these components generally used for on this world?" Sure, Kyra could guess on a few of them but it was generally a bad idea to assume stuff about unfamiliar worlds. "Oh, go ahead and perform your magic. I don't think it'll bother me."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva takes notes dutifully. "That's some magic stuff all right. Thanks, Miss Scarlet." She smiles, nodding again politely to her, and follows along, munching off of the plate she made for herself while she's not having to take notes. She pokes around at the room, puttering to take pictures of the area with her phone. "I can't think of anything in common all those components would have offhand." She says. Psyber brings up a good point, and Riva looks over to Kyra for her opinion on things while she works.

Riva nods to Scarlet as she offers. "Whatever you think is best, Miss Scarlet." She says pleasantly. Apparently she trusts her just fine! Kyra's still super on the case though, Riva takes notes on her opinion so far and keeps things rolling.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    "Unfortunately, the love of money usually wins out." Scarlet responds to Psyber in a very solemn tone. It'd seem drink-spittingly hilarious given the surroundings if she hadn't 'somehow' delivered it in a tone that is simultaneously humble and sympathetic. It'd probably just feel bad to snark at a shared mourning over good liquor. Her expression brightens up immediately as he begins reciting his occultic knowledge, enthralled by the savvy of this professional detective. It could be that. Perhaps. "I'm very impressed! People tend to be much more scientific about it these days, but your grasp of the essentials is well outside what I'd expected!" This is about the time the butler returns with Psyber's real drink, exactly as he'd ordered it.

    Amazingly, Scarlet actually accepts Arthur's handshake. Her grip is far more delicate than his own, but she seems to immensely enjoy being exposed to his enthusiasm. "They have a multitude of uses, but iridium is typically used in evocation school magic as a gain medium in the transfer of heat or in augmentation as a conceptual enhancement to the stopping power of a weapon. The skeleton would be used in conceptualization school rituals of roughly spell rank eight or higher; the minimum necessary to see reliable, factual information pertaining to the immediate future. The steel is generally used as a penpoint for certain kinds of adjuration magic where a contract is formed with conditions that stipulate the death of one or more parties. The water is a general use agent, mixed in with the materials the circle is being marked with to eradicate background noise, which is especially useful in remote viewing. Miss alchemist is correct in that combining it with the iridium could be used to make an explosive. As for the value, the estimated market total is two hundred and fifty thousand credits, last I checked the exchange rate for the pound." The window has definitely been broken inwards. The hole is large enough for someone to walk through if they stooped a little.

    Scarlet lets out a faint sigh of relief as the representitives of Heaven or Hell universall agree to the procedure. "That's good to hear. I'm going to augment your senses with magic until you can see into phase 7; as high as it will go before you're staring directly into Nowhere. If you begin to feel a headache or like someone is trying to get your attention, notify me immediately and I'll disconnect you. Be aware that you'll probably all look very strange to one another! Phase space recontextualizes your personal essence in a way that might appear disorienting, especially to those of you with . . . unique, auras." She clears her throat quietly, apparently having senses Ayako, Kyra and Riva for what they are ages ago, but having declined to comment on it out of politeness. "Beginning." is all she has to say on the subject further.

    The diode in the front of her smartcollar flashes, projecting straight onto the floor rather than as a one-way reflection in mid-air, laser tracing the outline of a spell circle that would have taken an hour to draw by hand at the bare minimum. Magical science must have also found a way to skip the verbal components, because the effects take place immediately. At first, nothing more happens than the surrounding room becoming dimmer, as though a cloud had gone over the sun. Very quickly, the outlines of objects begin to blur slightly, becoming somewhat indistinct. Only once the people inside the circle can start to perceive dark shapes flickering in the corners of their vision do things become weird.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Crossing phase 3, the Auras of the present elites are directly expressed as visual, audible and tactile phenomena. Glancing at a higher dimensional intersection of Scarlet is unnerving already, as there is no longer just one of her, but seven, the original of which can be distinguished by the traces of red flame that flicker silently from her eyes. The air surrounding her is filled with a cascading torrent of whispers, each too quiet to hear, but clearly and individually ecstatic, terrified, and furious. Some manner of circle reminescent of a celtic cross bearing a ring of eyes shines through the collar of her blouse. Whatever everyone else looks like . . . well, they can find out for themselves.

    The spell has functionality other than imitating a bad trip however. As everything is cast into off-colours and the silhouette of an entirely different landscape can be dimly seen overlayed on top, the mansion's grounds are suddenly full of life and activity. Everything from the walls inward is now covered with a multi-layered dome of shimmering energy, inside of which float a number of rotating, hexagonal wards. Inky black liquid runs through the grass like a river, tracing the path of the 'leylines' converging underneath. More importantly is that the place now crawls with familiars. Psyber can finally put a visage to the auras he had sensed before. Non-euclidian creatures of crystalline wings rest perched on the walls and gate; things on four legs stalk the orchard, bristling with dorsal tubes and drifting flagella; something gaunt and humanoid can be seen walking past the next window on the other side of the building, creeping on the hardwood floors on bladed feet. The only common trait among the dozens of creatures on display is that not one of them has a face.

    There is also an utterly overwhelming presence bearing down from directly above the mansion, bearing down as an oppressive wave of heat, but that doesn't seem to be the focus. Now that their senses are properly attuned, everyone can perceive the remains of the thing at their feet, shredded into tiny, identical pieces across the ground, intermingled with the petals and defined splotches of iridescent blood. The torn up vines now drip with some unidentifiable substance, but the ward directly behind them appears intact. The corpse of one of the sentries can be seen in amidst the scattered flowers.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The energy drink is given to the butler in exchange for the scotch. The half-angel smells it briefly and then gives it a gentle sip, seeming to approve after a moment or two, "Mm. Thank you. I try to actually be well-versed in the profession I seek to put forward as my specialty, though understandably the use and meaning of paranormal components can change between worlds and even eras of time."

    He doesn't seem like he's trying to impress, and instead gives the calm tone of a professional talking to another professional. As she goes on about the proper uses of them, they more or less seem to line up with his general theory. He sighs a bit and then thinks, "Mmm. Two hundred and fifty thousand. Assuming that the broker who bought the stolen goods would charge two-thirds to provide a profit margin, that would be one hundred and sixty five thousand credits. You should cross-reference magic users who might have an amount of debt between one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy. Are there any black market component dealers in the area? It's fine if there are, I'm not here to bust them or arrest them. Just to ask them about clients who promised them orders."

    He endeavors to remain calm and placid as the world very wildly shifts around him. He takes a slow breath to stead himself, barely perceptible, before exhaling and slowly looking around. Like any time he goes into a conceptual space, Psyber has actually split into two separate entities, connected by a faint chain. One has six white wings, brown hair, blue eyes, and is almost eight feet tall. The other is only six feet tall, with tanned skin and red hair, along with red eyes. That's the one holding the scotch. These two manifestations are not symbolic of anything, please ignore them.

    Both the Human and Angelic sides of Psyber seem, at the least, tolerant to the conceptual shenanigans of non-euclidian creatures. Blame years of hanging out with Hastur for that useful, if worrying, side effect. He blinks several times and both iterations of him say, "Interesting." "Yeah."

    They stoop over a bit, each leaning down to inspect the corpse as they ask, "Is there any way-" "-to trace its point of origin or summoning?"

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako inclines her head to the other side gently as she watches Scarlet work the magic. However, once Ayako's Aura starts to be expressed as something more material, things start to get a bit weird. Ayako herself looks like the water she's made from. Not only that, there are many, many, thousands of small flying motes that are flying all around the room. If anyone looks very, very closely at them. They're very tiny Ayako fairies. They're all flying around frantically, sometimes landing on something for a moment, and then taking off again.

    A great deal of the little flying motes return to Ayako's body once the heat starts. Ayako unghs suddenly at the oppressive wave of heat. If there's one thing she hates, it's constant heat. She can't really help too much now. Stupid heat. Nonetheless, she still tries to look about.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur Lowell, for his own part, expresses his aura a bit unusually past Phase 3. He appears to be made out of stars. Or, rather, he appears to be at the very least a man-shaped galaxy in terms of the sight one might see when they look at his body. He also looks a little startled at Psyber's strange, otherworldly form. "JEEZE!" He says, jumping a bit. Ayako... Ayako's is okay. Kind of cute, actually. As for the heat, Arthur looks a little stressed by it, but nobody can ever see a coolkid sweat, so he pretends it's not happening.

    Also worth noting: Arthur has often looked into a variety of Horrible Abysses. In fact, the space beyond the Outer Veil is one such awful abyss. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, looking into the horrible abyss of unspace does not actually desensitize you to it, or at least it hasn't done that for Arthur. Instead, you just become increasingly vulnerable. That's why Arthur's wracked with a wave of nausea when he sees the non-euclidean bodies of the strange creatures. It's very clear that he's having a strong, serious reaction to the creatures here. It should also be clear that he's slamming through it with a profound psychological resilience.

    "ALRIGHT! Thanks, Scarlet, let's SEE what we GOT here. From the SOUND OF IT, you're either lookin' at a HEISTER -- in which case, BEST BET'S to scan BLACK MARKETS for anyone who just PULLED OUT and CLOSED DOWN SOME DEALS -- or you're lookin' for a PARAMILITARY type, maybe, the fancy GUNPLAY OPERATORS types, y'know? DEATHLY SECRECY, plus MAGICAL WEAPONS, plus REMOTE VIEWING, plus FUTURE-SIGHT? Well, that's the more DANGEROUS kinda thing. Might be an INDUSTRIAL group too, maybe MINING with ENHANCED INDUSTRIAL TOOLS, maybe some fuckin' HARDCORE SECRECY on PROSPECTIN' and a bit of SUBSTANCE SCOUTIN' and shit like that? Hell. I dunno, we'll FIGURE IT OUT."

    Arthur does the first, VERY first thing someone does in a situation that might POSSIBLY be political though. A failed break-in is a perfect feint, a perfect cover. Why would they be able to perfectly breach, but then be weak enough to get caught and killed? No, that seems wrong, in a way. With a snap, he initiates his own quick spell, searching for magical sources that aren't those creatures here. He's looking for... Unusual artifacts! Bugs, maybe? Or something worse for the stocks of materials? One needs to check that. He actually goes oddly quiet as he begins checking around very heavily for things that /aren't/ corpses, in fact.

    One especially major point is that he's checking the security of those hermetic seals on specifically the reagents that were stolen. If this were a feint and some effort of more unusual sabotage, Arthur intends to go to the most likely possible candidate first.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's eyes almost glaze over as she hears a lot of complicated magical terminology. However, she still faithfully takes more notes.

That ends when everything moves into phase space. Riva looks around, squinting as she wonders what the effect is going to be, but then she starts watching in wonder as everything begins to change. Riva stares at Scarlet, giggles at the tiny Ayako fairies, and then looks at Psyber with an unsurprised smile.

Riva herself is incredibly bright, the sound of a thousand bees humming around her as energy bubbles up and through her like a living conduit of Power. Every so often, that buzzing and humming seems to form... voices, almost, cryptic sounds that seem to trigger half-forgotten, nonlinear thoughts and phrases, dancing along the edges of consciousness.

But Riva isn't looking at herself. She's looking at Arhur, tilting her head. "My God, he's full of stars." She quips, laughing, before turning her attention to the world outside, finally.

She stares at the non-euclidean creatures, the familiars causing her to be paralyzed for a moment as she tries to impress the concept of these strange and terrible entities into her mind, processing it in such a way that she can understand them.

"Wow." She sums it up, not sounding nearly as professional and practiced as the others. "So, um... What do the wards trigger on?" She asks. "And what do the familiars look for?"

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    To Psyber's trained eyes, something becomes immediately obvious on close inspection. The pieces of familiar scattered all over the floor aren't just so finely shredded as to look identical. They actually are identical. They look more like some kind of small leech or tadpole, rather than scraps of flesh, only covered in blood rather than oozing it. Arthur finds that the canisters contain magic sources alright, but they're all individually tiny, and each one is filled with multiples between three and twelve in discrete packets. He also finds that the section of stripped vines resonantes magically. Not the substance on it, but the vines themselves. Staring at it closely, they begin to look like they're arranged a little . . . oddly.

    "Regretfully, there certainly are." Scarlet replies to Psyber, clearly not seeing the same things they are, though she seems to be maintaining the spell even when they leave the circle. "However, there are also a great many legitimately owned dealers of magical reagents who would buy them with few questions were they simply to switch the labels around, so to speak." She frowns faintly at Arthur, instantly communicating the vagueries of implicitly trusting him and yet wishing he was wrong. "'Paramilitary' is a word for it, and also unfortunately, far more likely than mining." She seems a little more amenable to Riva's prompting. "They're very extensive. They'll recognize even the lowest grades of magical reagents, any kind of spell within their borders keyed by caster, and they'll block any familiar coming in from the outside, which should have been more than enough on its own. The guard familiars look for the obvious: other familiars, other mages, people writing circles, people delivering things to the premise. If you throw a rock over the wall, they'll examine it."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "So here's a theory." Human-Psyber says as he looks over the remains.
    "You do not have a theory." "Yes, I do."

    After the brief disagreement between them, Human Psyber continues, "What if this job wasn't meant to rob you? What if it was meant to just prove a point? Like when people vandalize a government website or something. You're clearly very well off and your facility is top notch. Therefore, just getting inside of some claim to fame."

    "That is not a theory, that is a guess." "It's an educated guess." "That particular phrase contains the word guess." "I'm not putting up with your shit today." "I am just informing you."

    They both look up from the crouching position. Carefully, the two look over the gathered individuals, taking in their Concept Plane forms mostly because you never know when that might come in useful.

    And then they both start to head over to those vines, wanting to mess with their arrangement and see what they're covering.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    As Scarlet elucidates the various uses of the almost-stolen spell components, Kyra realizes she'll never get tired of learning about materials from other worlds. She beams a little, especially when Scarlet confirms that the iridium and water mixture would have a very 'interesting' (explosive) outcome. "-lots of money all around, though, but no chance to collect it since the heist wasn't good enough, hmm."

    She finds herself further fascinated by the advances of magitechnology here, quite distinctly noticing the lack of verbal components which appear to be a common thread (and weakness) in most magical systems. Where some might be disoriented and unnerved by the shift brought by the crossing into phase 3, Kyra seems fascinated by it, looking at everything. She'll even attempt to photograph this phenomenon with her mPhone which appears to share in the aura that Kyra possesses. Speaking of that aura-Kyra's in particular is blatantly noticable now. It is double, maybe even triple her size and teems with heat and humidity. The surface crackles and writhes like the surface of a red giant sun, were the sun made of magic particles, and it seems to only be barely Kyra-shaped. It's difficult to look directly at her for long periods of time.

    And that professionalism? Nah, "Whoaaaaaaah..." She's become extremely distracted by the otherworldly forms of /everyone and everything/. Non-euclidean creatures especially so. Then, as Kyra is wont to do, she examines the familiar bits a little more closely.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako just whimpers. She can't really do much thanks to the oppressive heat. Not to mention the heat coming from Kyra as well. Most of the tiny water fairy Ayako's have retreated back to the main, large girl-shaped one.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Okay, magical vines. Huh. Wait, is that a pattern? "HEY." Arthur says, fussing with the vines after confirming that no, there aren't sabotaged reagents. "How MAGICAL are these vines, exactly? Like, REAGENT-WISE? And maybe WARDING-WISE?" He tries to run the arrangement through his INCREDIBLE GOD-MIND to see if there's any particular pattern to the unusual arrangement. If it's possibly a magical reagent, and possibly been rearranged... Maybe they broke in to craft a sort of magical circle part?

    Hmmm. Maybe. "PARAMILITARY then, pro'lly. So you're lookin' for HEISTER types on BLACK MARKET who just pulled DEALS around ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND of the market, or you're lookin' for maybe SELF-SUFFICIENT PARAMILITARY with a focus on INFILTRATION, since they got in. Maybe DISASSOCIATED INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES, maybe CORPORATE. Anyone with a focus on ENHANCED GEAR like that you know about? That narrows it to a PRETTY SMALL RANGE." He says, as he runs his mental processing.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva nods as Scarlet explains the situation, and Riva looks back out at the area beyond the window, squinting as if in thought. "What if it was hiding somehow? Like in something your wards wouldn't be able to check?" She pauses. "Or even someone? Is possession a thing here?" Riva's just throwing ideas at the wall at this point. "I mean, the best way to sneak past security is to use something they expect to see, right?"

Riva then looks back to the room and blinks at Kyra. "Man, we're all pretty unique today." Absently, Riva slides over to Ayako. She reaches behind herslf. The power running through her pours into a point behind her and irises open, creating a small hole, a connection that shines with the same golden light she does. Through it is, again, the faint sound of bees buzzing, and maybe a glimpse of great branches.

From it, she pulls out an chemical cold pack. She flexes it, activating the chilling chemical endothermic reaction and hands it over to Ayako. She looks like she can use it.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet crosses her arms with a sigh, moving to tap her chin pensively as Psyber speaks, like the idea had occurred to her earlier, but she hadn't wanted to consider it until now. "I can't deny it's a possibility. Unless there is a middle class magus out there somewhere with phenomenal abilities I don't know of, anyone capable of this would have more than enough money already. It's not as if we aren't well known either." She turns to Arthur. "Unfortunately, a great many mage families here could be considered to have a paramilitary influence, and a great many more have corporate ties. If they were indeed here for the reagents and not as a statement, it wouldn't be an unreasonable choice." She blinks abruptly as he mentions the vines, her expression of intense contemplation broken immediately. "Those? Not at all. They just grow there every year or so. We have the gardeners cut them down once the flowers start dying. Why?"

    Arthur recognizes a pattern almost immediately. When he blocks out the vines that have been ripped open entirely, and tries to imagine what's under the leaves, the green latticework forms the shakey approximations of what could be considered a spell circle, albeit simplistic. More importantly, it appears to have simply grown that way. The shape resonates with magic based on the metaphysics of the world, but it is not magically charged itself. Psyber will find on closer examination that the over layer of vines don't appear ripped, so much as eaten through, which corresponds to the lack of claw marks in the dirt or on the floor. The unidentified gel seems to have splattered all over the place, but a keen forensic eye can tell that the splashes originate from what appear to be ruptured flower bulbs rather than totally random. The petals all appear to have blown directly forward in the wind, scattering in a straight line between the wall and the window.

    Kyra will later find that her mphone has taken some headache inducing pictures. Though what is there is technically captured on camera, the images are a garbled mess that make one feels inexplicably sick to one's stomach to look at. "'Possession' as you know it is . . . plausible to approximate in many forms. You can tie something from Nowhere to a physical object, but it wouldn't be able to do anything until it reverted back." she says to RIva.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako slowly takes the cold pack from Riva and just engulfs it completely, placing it in the middle of her watery body. "Uuu... thank you, Riva." It doesn't seem to help her sluggishness much... although she isn't whimpering as loudly now. Still plenty miserable from the heat.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I think the vines are the source of the infiltration," Human Psyber says in a serious manner as he brushes them with a gloved set of fingers. And then he snaps his fingers and points at Riva, "Bam. She's got it, I think. But not in the way you think."

    He points to the vines, gloved fingers tapping at the goo, "Something came out of the bulbs. It could be that the vines were used to transmit the familiar through them and out the other end so it could manifest right behind your lines and spit out a familiar."

    As the human half inspects, the angel half turns to Scarlet and asks, "Have you noticed things missing before? It would begin around the same time every year, perhaps around the time the vines began to grow. It would stop shortly after you cut them back. Your family seems rather well to-do, so you may not have noticed them missing from your stores for months at a time. Small quantities, perhaps?"

    The human half looks up, "You guys trust your gardener?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "They weren't after your reagents, Everille." Arthur says, whispering as he peers at the vines. "They were after your-- No. No, this isn't yours, this is theirs. I get it." Arthur starts, then Psyber speaks up privately to him, and he nods to the angel-pair. "Hell. Hey. Riva's onto something. Hey. Who do you know who can bind familiars to seeds? Like, plants? Did someone ever plant these? You ever buy seeds for these?" Arthur's up, glancing back and forth. "Hey. Scarlet, do me a solid here. Can you purge stuff for familiars? Run a purge on these plants, all the way down to the roots? Shit... Lady, it's time to bust out some weedkiller spells, you gotta figure out which garden turf is fuckin' /evil/ now."

    He's standing up with a jolt. "Narrows it down a bit, though, maybe? You're lookin' for a family big enough to have a paramilitary kinda branch, but the kind into the agricultural sectors and magical development. What's your feeling there? Any names hitting the brain?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Sadly, Kyra seems oblivious to any discomfort her manifestation may be causing, especially to Ayako. She doesn't feel the heat of her own vast magic particle reserve. Although it won't render well later, she still dilligently photographs everything she can, from other people to the break-in scene itself. Familiar bits at first, but later due to an exchange between some of the other members here, Kyra takes 'pictures' of the vines as well. Seemingly satisfied and unaware she'll be disappointed later, the mPhone is put away, disappearing into her pocket.

    She listens to the exchange unfold in its entirety, Riva's innocuous comment combining with Arthur and Psyber's observations to create a pretty solid theory about what's going on with this attempted robbery. "Wow. So it's possible that there's been other things going missing before this that haven't been noticed. But if this has happened before, would there have been any way that a hatched familiar got out undetected? It seems this time it got gibbed pretty good."

    She pauses, listening to something, and then leans over to Riva, whispering, embarassed, "...what's so funny? I don't get it."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet isn't the type to stare in noncomprehension for a few moments after something shocking is explained to her. She clues into it immediately, her fluid expression suddenly shifting to a hard sort of disgust as she looks at the flower petals at her feet. "No, I can't say I have. This particular scheme would have only started paying off this year by the looks of it. The gardener is now in question." she says to Psyber in a reluctant tone. "And no, we did not. They already grew in the area." she says to Arthur. "Binding familiars into mutable physical objects for years at a time only falls within the purview of two Families I know of. One of them is incredibly obvious, assuming this isn't, in fact, a frame job." It might perhaps seem a little unusual that she so immediately considers that possibility. Is she used to dealing with this?

    Scarlet sighs as she settles on the inescapable reality, leaning down to one of the fallen petals and touching it with her fingertip, silently firing off a low level abjuration spell to break the binding on it. Immediately, the petal, and every other petal like it, transforms into an indentical copy of the limbless creatures that lie strewn over the floor in miniscule puddles of blood, pulsing and shivering as they begin slithering towards each other in an effort to converge and reassert their collective forms.

    "Sevaquiel." she states, snapping her fingers as she calls noone in particular. The response is for the oppressive corona of heat over the mansion to explode, both palpably and visibly, igniting into a wheel of fire over the rooftops that extends six burning wings, at the center of which hovers an enormous humanoid figure of draconic proportions, completely completely in plates of gleaming white chitin or bone. Like everything else, it has no face. The ancestral familiar needs no further compulsion. With the target identified, all it has to do is left off an omnidirectional wave of searing energy that burns the lesser familiars to ashes on contact, selectively incinerating the vine-circle and several more growths like it hidden around the perimeter. The show is short lived, as the perception enhancing spell abruptly ends, leaving everyone the way they originally looked.

    Scarlet is smiling, albeit the kind of smile that implies she had just gotten her way, already going through the motions on her AR display to dump the rest of the funds into Psyber's account, plus a little bonus. "Now I'm really impressed! They don't call you one of the best agencies in the multiverse for nothing! If all goes well, you'll be hearing from me soon. Oh, and take as much food as you want on the way out~."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako flinches when the heat over the mansion explodes and just collapses onto the floor limply unless someone happens to catch her. "Uuu..." Another whimper. Sustained large heat really isn't her thing.

    Once the percaption filter vanishes, Ayako sighs softly in relief. She recovers very quickly once the heat is gone! In a moment, she reaches into her suit's jacket and pulls out the cold pack, handing it back to Riva.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Oh, well, that's fortunate, then, that this was caught the first time it happened." Kyra asides, witnessing the destruction of the remaining unbirthed familiars. It would almost be sad-almost, seeing as it's hard to feel sorry for something without a face. Of course, Kyra will also try to scramble to add a hard to decipher photograph of the ancestral familiar to her collection of bad pictures from tonight.

    That in the way Scarlet speaks indicates she suspects trickery and misdirection from the 'paramilitary' families that could have done this does not go lost on Kyra. She recognizes political manuvering and knows very well that the rich and well known were subject to this all the time.

    Kyra grins a little at the glowing praise Heaven or Hell receives for the job. "Welcome." she offers casually. Yes, she will happily help herself to the food.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Hey wow." "Indeed." The two Psybers agree as the massive presence in the sky makes itself even more of a presence. It's a pretty awe-inspiring sight to behold and the angel halves seem to be interested in watching it work.

    As the illusion ends and Psyber is back in his normal form, Psyber heaves a sigh of relief, "Oh good, I'm back to normal." He notes, more concerned with that than his fee. He pats himself a bit and then nods his head.

    Finally, he looks towards Scarlet as she smiles at him for a few moments, "Ah, thank you for the compliment. I look forward to hearing from you," He nods few times, taking out a business card, "If you ever want to do temp work, we hire students and allow freelance hours working to accomodate coursework. I dunno, I have a good feeling about you fitting in."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva leans in towards Kyra, and whispers, "Seeds. Plant issues. Paramilitary /branch/. Get it? Branch? Plant?"

It's less funny when you explain the joke. She takes the pack back from Ayako, and looks on in a mix of wonder and horror as Scarlet invokes the guardian of her mansion. "Holy wow." she says, giving Ayako a hug, perhaps to steady herself as much as to help Ayako up.

She pauses in the aftermath. "Well, that's one reason solved. But that just leads to more questions. Just another day in the live of Heaven and Hell, right?" She says, a little wan after all the crazy stuff she just witness. And in a way, still witnessing.