Scene #3355: EoB: Monocular

Owner	Pose
Nathan Hall	The extreme and brutal violence with which the hunter was assaulted left Massechusetts General Hospital with their work cut out for them. A combination of supernatural healers, Sakura Haruno's assistance, and extremely delicate brain-damage management, have successfully kept him from dying as a result of high-intensity violence from his capture. It's not been safe to interrogate him for a while. Stress could have seriously inflamed things, and it wasn't safe to keep him awake. But with days of dedicated healing, the issue has been resolved. The man is recovering. It's likely he'll need some months of physical therapy to get back in fighting condition, but he'll be recovered, eventually. For now, he's lying on his hospital bed doing nothing in particular, as people recovering from severe injuries tend to spend some time doing. The man himself -- still kinda roughed up -- looks like he was about like the others who came through here. A bit aged, possibly getting too old for this business, with rather messy hair and a general appearance that suggests that he keeps himself in peak physical condition but cares little for appearances beyond that. He looks perpetually worried, which is reasonable. Remember, those snakes went after him, after all! But it's a little more worry than that... He's displaced from safety. Distrusting and suspicious, at least a little. He's also the only one who likely knows how to fill in some of the hard data that Psyber needs for his plan. The other Hunters were stubborn, but scattered, and ready for war. Hopefully it'll be easier to suss this out without an issue now that they have some calmness to work with, and a single person to speak to.
Nathan Hall	Meanwhile... Some are interested in talking to Nathan. As such, those who are interested can find him where he almost always is: The library. Right now he's browsing through local apartments on his computer between bits of work at his desk, taking a short break. Something about him seems even more exhausted than usual. One might expect him to have recovered after the Terra Majora incident, but it just seems like he's gotten more and more tired. He's certainly gotten plenty of sleep. It just seems like something's been draining for him, for a while.
Guest Psyber	Psyber heading to the Hospital is just going to hinder research, owing to their universally anti-him stance. As such, the half-angel is pretty casually heading into the library, "Yo. Nate. Need a little bit of your time, if you got it. I hope you're not too busy or anything." Despite all common urge, he's avoiding smoking in the library and is instead chewing on a piece of gum. He casually watches the librarian, trying to make his approach to this particular topic as roundabout as possible.
Mizuki	Mizuki is as entrenched in this now as she needs to be to consider herself 'invested', so she has been doing something that she seldom bothers to do: studying. She's been going over reports and documentation pertaining to this issue that Psyber has kept, however covertly, trying to connect dots and form patterns that others had not already had the opportunity to. Mournfully, her time didn't lead to any new, groundbreaking revelations, but she at least learned enough to have some background knowledge of these hunters. First and most importantly, their goal is essentially the same as theirs: to eliminate the eye. Second and only slightly less pivotal, they don't like taking chances in that regard. Nathan is a liability that they would do away with whereas that is antithetical to what their group seeks to do. Ah, but Mizuki has been furnished with no small number of tools that might aid in this interrogation, or 'discourse' if you wish to be more polite. The most important of those is the simple fact that they have a working plan, lain out to the letter by Psyber. That should be enough to knock this person's will off balance if they do not happen to be the most stalwart of their kind, and once they are teetering Mizuki will surely think of something else to topple them entirely. Ergo, this really should not be that difficult in theory. Utilize plain facts first, attempt to work within the scope of their 'philosophy', whatever the bloody hell that happens to be, and segue into a good cop, bad cop performance if all else fails. Of course, it would be far easier if she were just allowed to put him to sleep and dig inside of his head more directly, but that seems slightly immoral. Unless the prisoner makes it a justified method, anyway; she will see about that. To any others who are interested in speaking with the hunter, Mizuki declares her intentions up front. "Would anyone object if I were to start us off, as it were? I am not the general, but I have been told that my words have a certain power." Did she just smile, faintly? ... nah. She doesn't do stuff like that anymore. Right?
Sakura Haruno	Luckily for Psyber, he's at least going to avoid his most radically anti-smoking office member. This is because Flowers IS going to the hospital, her identification badge providing clearance for herself and anyone who wanted to tag along that the hunters weren't hunting. Sakura herself had spent quite a lot of what free time she had making certain the man didn't die. As such, he might have at least seen her, and it's in a legitimate guise as one of his doctors of record that she'll be heading in. "If there's any risk that he might take further injury, I'll have to intervene." Sakura will reply to Mizuki. "He's still my patient, and there are certain obligations that come with that. Still, I think he's as calm as he's going to be, heading in." She'll admit.
Nathan Hall	"Oh. Psyber, hello. No, not busy. Not particularly busy, really, just taking a break to read something." Nathan says, shutting a few things down and peering up at Psyber. "Somet time, I can spare it. I can definitely spare it." There's a few nods there, and Nathan tilts his head. "How can I help?"
Setsuko Kaminagi	Unlike the other 'captive', this is one where Setsuko feels she can be of value. If nothing else, as one soldier to another. She's hoping that he can at least respect a fellow veteran, even if they don't quite share the same 'battlefield'. And on top of that, they don't seem to consider her a thrall of this entity they're fighting. Given how much her investigations in Psyber's city have proven fruitless, she's hoping at least this man will be willing to talk. A foot in the door, if nothing else. "I don't have any objections to that," the demigod replies to Mizuki. "But bear in mind this man's an older hunter, he's been doing this for a long time. Longterm combat veterans don't tend to respond quite the way most people would to the same sorts of discourse. Don't be surprised if he responds differently than you expect."
Pegasus	Naturally, though Pegasus going to talk to Nathan might be productive, she's going to be going to the hospital for the obvious reason. Namely, the hunters seem to regard her as someone that is definitively anti-Channeler. Channeller? Whatever. She has stripped down out of her armor though! The pegasus girl is wearing... uh... a t-shirt and shorts, taking a page from Amalthea's wardrobe but less glittery. It probably looks a little weird to those who see her often. "I'm hoping that we can just get some straight answers, but that sounds a little naive after all of this."
Guest Psyber	"Well, I need a particular artifact for an upcoming project I'm undertaking. I've been trying to track its location through the Union artifact database, and it wound up reading that you've had it in you possession for three or so years now," Psyber keeps his stare on Nathan evenly. It's not meant to be intimidating, so much as him trying to figure out Nathan's reactions and subtle tells about the situation. "I need Elliana's Knife, Nathan."
Mizuki	Oh, so he -is- one of the more seasoned ones. As Setsuko utters those words, Mizuki's eyes immediately, visibly narrow and her arms fold at her chest in the most overt display of irritation that she is willing to demonstrate at the moment. "Oh," She says, letting the low intonation of the word hang in the air for several moments. "Naturally." She rubs at her forehead a moment, likely in hurried attempt to reconsider her approach as prompted. "I'll not be surprised," She says, "but unfortunately that won't help me get through to him. If he's truly so stubborn as I am given to assume then I might have to 'trick' him into letting information slip. Trouble is, that's never as reliable a method, and once it has been recognized I'll not have another chance. In short, I have much less faith in my ability to handle this now." She holds up a conversational finger, adding, "However, it is not such an issue that I do not believe our combined efforts will yield what we are searching for. Just enough to be something of a burden." As for Sakura... oh. Mizuki recognizes that voice. Once when she had just come into the Multiverse she, erm... s-she let something slip. There was a bit of a backlash -- angry backlash. Mizuki's eyes may open just a smidge wider, the contours of her cheeks shifting just slightly in clear - if subtle - demonstration of her nervousness. She seems to calm down after a few moments, though. "I'll endeavor not to harm them further," She asserts, "nor to cause his condition to regress. If it can be helped." And here's hoping that she doesn't actually remember what made Mizuki so nervous. That would be ideal, yes. Very ideal.
Sakura Haruno	Sakura would be a little confused by that nervousness, given that they had interacted back when Elliana died. Luckily for Mizuki, her memory is spotty at the best of times in any case, aside from the grudges she's nursed and polished and cherished. This must not be one of those. "It can be helped. If I tell you to stop and that it's going too far, you're going to stop, okay?" She sounds rather firm on this point, before giving a glance over to Pegasus. "There's no chance that it'll be that easy, but I suppose we can hope."
Mizuki	No use stewing for too long, though. She doesn't have the best formulated plan, in earnest, but what she does have will have to suffice. She has proven decent enough with extemporaneous responses to situations like this in the future, so she will bank on the fact that it will go as smoothly in the present as it has in the past. So with that thought and another deep, placating inhalation, Mizuki lets her arms fall plainly to her sides as she enters whatever chamber in which the hunter is presently being held. Just before she walks through the door, though, Sakura reminds her again of the importance of restraint in this situation. Mizuki opens her mouth as if ready to give some verbal reply, but in the end she only gives what she hopes will be a comfortingly firm, definite nod. Only as she walks through the door does she begin to think it might've been better to eschew her dress for business attire. Ah, well. She walks into the room with a light smile that intends, as if strenuously, to not come off as patronizing. In the event that it still might, though, Mizuki leans forward in a bow only shortly after her form has become visible, serving to obscure her facial expression just a moment longer. When she finally is looking at eye level with them, however, she finally begins. "Hello," She says, adding a supplemental, small incline of her head. "I am Mizuki, a fellow in your quest to eliminate the entity. I realize that you must be eager to return to the hunt yourself, and perhaps to reunite with your compatriots, but you must also understand your limitations. You are hurt, and it will be some time before you can be of use in that battle again... directly." She lets that word hang in the air a moment, folding her hands neatly at her waist. "Though there is, fortunately, very much that you can do to aid your comrades from a distance. From this very room, in fact. All I ask," She says, folding her arms behind her back, linking her eyes with his, "is that you help me to help you." After another, brief pause, "Can you do that for me? That is all I ask. Give me a chance, so that I may give the same to you in kind."
Nathan Hall	Nathan regards Psyber curiously, scratching his head. "Odd. I do keep the knife of the late Lady Fairchild, though, that is correct. It is... Unused, with minor exception." One particularly awful exception. Nathan seems to close up a bit, thinking about that, and shifts his thinking. "I was informed it was rather mundane, though, simply a dagger of no particular note. What do you need to use it for?" No suspicion yet, it seems, on either relevant entity, Nathan or the infesting influence. It looks like he's already getting the keys out to his personal archive, where the blade, alongside Nathan's small armory of magical artifacts, is stored.
Riva Banari	Riiiiight.... Now. This is when Riva arrives in the Great Library, looking up and around at the massive stacks with wonder. She's been here before., but it never fails to impress. It makes the library back at her college look dinky! Nevertheless, she's not here for books. Well, not directly. In her hand is a paper bag, looks like she hit a Penn Station on the way over. To their benefit, the bag is tightly closed as she heads into the back to track down Psyber and Nathan. "Heeeeey guys!" Riva calls, waving to the pair. "It's time for Surprise Lunch!" She calls, brandishing the bag. Opening it, she removes a BLT for Nathan, plain with mayo. Psyber gets offered a Chicken Parmesan, and Riva herself looks to be in a Philly Cheesesteak mood but she's not opening hers up right away. "I was coming by anyway, so I figured I'd bring you guys some food since you both are /always working/." She laughs a bit, and then looks between the pair. "Hmm. Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Setsuko Kaminagi	For the moment, Setsuko simply steps in behind Mizuki, hands at her sides, a thumb hooked comfortably in each side of her belt. She is content to remain silent for a moment, aside from a simple greeting of, "Setsuko Kaminagi," and a faint incline of the head.
Guest Psyber	"I think its history and unique point or origin might give me insight into a different project. Like studying an old bow to learn how to make a new one," Psyber answers Nathan honestly, albeit in a somewhat obfuscated manner. He's fully aware that Riva is en route with sandwiches, which limits the particular case he can pitch to de-fuse Nathan about the knife. As such, when she arrives he looks up and over towards her, taking the sandwich from her hands "Hello, Riva. I was just requesting something I need for a side project from Nathan." He peeks over at Nathan's screen, gently trying to shift off the prior topic as he lets Nathan get out his keys, "How goes the apartment hunt? Finding anything promising, Nate?" He inquires as he slowly unwraps his sandwich.
Sakura Haruno	Sakura will stay quiet as she moves into the room. She's not actually much good at interrogating, and she's largely here to make certain that the people who are don't go further than she's comfortable with. Between the pink hair and the Scar on her right cheek, though, it's not like she's going to pass for a normal doctor with the Hunter even though that's precisely the role she's in. "Call me Sakura." She'll state.
Pegasus	While she isn't the most... understanding of social situations, Pegasus is pretty friendly! She comes in last, and smiles pleasantly. "And I'm Pegasus, though I'm pretty sure you already know a little about me. I'm not sure it's all that accurate, though. So I'm just here in case you need something, all right? I um... was going to bring brownies, but they said something about your glucose levels, sooo... rain check on those?"
Nathan Hall	The man's eyes lock on Mizuki, following over to Setsuko and then the rest as they enter. He is alert and tense, but not impolite, giving a silent nod to each one in turn. Very strange people, but he seems like the kind of person who's learned to keep his reaction to that under wraps. There's suspicion here, though. "Mizuki." He says, as a sort of terse acknowledgement. Her mention of his comrades gets a wordless shift in expression, but it's not clear what sort of shift it means. Something meaningful. "Help?" He squints just a bit. "Help. What kind?" No promise, but he's willing to hear what she has to say. The next questions goes to the group as a whole. "Where are the others?" It seems like bringing those up has focused the man on trying to figure out the status of his allies, the ones that previously attacked the Heaven or Hell forces to try to extract their friend. And then he seems to focus particularly on Pegasus. His eyes widen only slightly, the tiniest display of his thoughts. "Rain check. Hhhhh... Are these ones with you?" He asks, uncertainly. He seems disjointed and confused by her presence, but whatever the cause is, it's at least not making him any more suspicious, so it can only be good. Setsuko can recognize the wariness of a soldier of sorts. Any hospital besides one that's run by his own cause and his own allies is one to be suspicious of, especially without too much clarity about who's allied with whom.
Pegasus	The confusion isn't a surprise. Pegasus saw the same thing from the hunters before, but now she's a little better-prepared for it. She walks up closer and finds a good spot to talk with the others before answering, "They're with me. Or I'm with them, anyway. There are a lot of things we don't know, but I think that some of the others I know are... they might not be safe? It's a little confusing for us. One of the things we're trying to figure out is why." Pegasus smiles again. "If you aren't comfortable talking, that's fine. I hope we can at least find some way to help though. I'm... /pretty sure/ we want the same thing."
Setsuko Kaminagi	Setsuko takes a slight step up, but is careful to keep her hands nowhere near the blade at her side. She meets the hunter's eye, takes a breath, and says simply, "While you were recovering, 'it' sent agents to kill you. Creatures it had infected. A rat, a snake. We destroyed them. I know what you suspect of us. /We/ know what you suspect of us. But we're on the same side in this." She folds her arms over her chest, and begins to pace. "We know more or less what it is. We know where it came from... or, I suppose, where it didn't come from. We know that it's connecting itself to events with no regard to time in order to feed itself. We know it makes puppets of whatever it infects. And we understand why you and your allies have been wary of our group. But you're operating under a mistaken assumption, if I'm correct. One that I'd like to fix right now." She turns to face the man directly, and says simply, "We intend to kill it. Our reasons may be different from yours, but our end goal is to drag this thing kicking and screaming out of its hole of nonexistence and tear it apart until not one speck of it remains anywhere in time."
Nathan Hall	"History...?" Nathan's head stays tilted. "History. Suppose the blade has history. I suppose it has quite a history, but I can't imagine anything good coming of using a blade with that kind of history. Well, you know how things are. I admit, I'd meant to keep it. Meant to keep it as a... Reminder, of sorts, a reminder of what needs doing. What needed doing, what needs doing now. Are you sure you need--" But his only lightly wary questioning is cut off by Riva. "Oh. Surprise lunch. Every lunch seems to be a surprise for me. Always seems to be a surprise for me." Nathan says, his exhausted deadpan dampening the humorous delivery. "Hello, Riva." Nathan seems mostly shifted off of thoughts on that. "Hardly interrupting. We are both taking breaks, both taking a certain sort of break. A break to discuss other work." That's not a break! "Thank you much for the meal. Much appreciated, very much appreciated." He's still getting out the key -- a proper electronic type for very secure storage -- and sets it down near the sandwich as he takes that, staring at it sort of blankly while Psyber asks his question. "A few promising things, a few promising prospects. Interested in something a few blocks over, just a few. Good to keep close, good to keep nearby. Don't want this to be distancing." Like the discussion with Setsuko, he's concerned about distancing himself from Psyber, it seems. Still, might need pressing to open up on the knife issue, Nathan seems to be mentally heading back around to it as he starts taking a few small bites.
Mizuki	"Information," Is Mizuki's equally terse, level response to the soldier's inquiry. "There could be nothing more valuable to your compatriots or to us than knowledge of the entity's weaknesses. As Miss Kaminagi and," Mizuki looks to Pegasus a moment, squinting, but she eventually adds, "Miss Pegasus have said, our goal is identical to yours: we wish only to see the entity eradicated. So if you do indeed give us what we are looking for, you will be helping to bring that outcome ever closer to reality. The safety of your comrades, retribution for all the wrongs it has committed, safety for all the civilians that might be caught in the crossfire -- with but a few words, you could guarantee all of these things. I cannot overstate how much you could help us, and the world, with but a few statements." "Mind you," She says, "any inquiries we would pose to you will not be details that would endanger you or anyone that matters to you. Their sole focus would pertain to the nature of the entity with a specific bent toward how it may be harmed. There is no feasible way in which anything you tell us could be used against you if that was even our intention. You have everything to gain by helping us and absolutely nothing to lose. So even if you cannot trust us just yet, solely through the types of the questions we ask you should be able to decide for yourself what our intentions are." After allowing for another momentary pause, Mizuki rests a hand on a table to her left. "Might you be willing to hazard a few questions for us? To give us the opportunity to prove all this to you?"
Guest Psyber	"Nathan, you've had operations and pieces on the board that you've kept me in the dark about for an overarching good," With Riva in the room, Psyber can't specify what quite yet. He still makes the intent of his statement clear as he bites into the corner of his sandwich, "And I forgave you for that. But in return, I need to ask you to trust me with that knife and not ask why until after I'm done with it." Psyber says this with an unusual seriousness to his voice. He has to avoid a situation where he clues Nathan into what he wants to do, else the creature find out and the plan come apart on the runway. "And we're best friends, Nathan. If you choose to stay in the city, that'll be enough, it doesn't need to be that close. Or even at all if you dislike Boston," He adds as he leans against a table a bit and eats, "So don't worry about distancing. I know we're bros." He lifts the sandwich up to Riva and says, "Thanks for the supper. I appreciate it, I was just gonna burg out anyway."
Riva Banari	"Baaah, don't worry about it, Nathan. Just a chance to do something for you since you're always helping out." Riva waves a hand nonchalantly. "And it's a surprise because you probably never eat it, you workhorse." She laughs, then nods. "Oooh, is this about the move? Just call if you need help with stuff! You know what they say, friends help you move, real friends help you move..." There's a pause for a moment, and then she suddenly says, "... At 3 in the morning!" She nods to Psyber and Nathan, giving them a thumbs-up. "No problem. I figured you'd be here anyway since you weren't at the base or on patrol. Sometimes I think you two are attatched at the hip." She chuckles at that. "But everyone needs a bro for life. Good for the spirit."
Nathan Hall	Pegasus can use her position a lot more easily this time. Her honesty seems to receive a positive response from the man. "...Alright. Makes sense." That's about all he says, though not all he means. He looks like a veteran of a very complex situation, and he seems to appreciate the idea that some of the complexity is being acknowledged. "I'll try to answer whatever questions are... Safe to answer. Sounds like you already know a bit."
Sakura Haruno	Sakura will look relieved at the man's agreement, though she's watching the room at large to see if any external forces might try to interfere at this point. She doesn't have a ton of questions herself, trusting the other three to take care of that; she's mostly just worried about keeping anything from interfering at this point. "This should be safe." She'll murmur, before looking to the hunter expectantly. Just because she doesn't have the questions doesn't mean she's not interested in the answers.
Nathan Hall	The man looks pensive at Setsuko, like there's a lot more thought behind his short statements. "'It'. What do your people call it?" Looks like there's not a unified name for whatever they're dealing with. "My group should have tried to pull me out before it got to me." He looks critically at the room. "Mh." Then he considers what Setsuko said. "Want to kill it. Fine. I'll believe that for now. Only thing worth doing for it." He presses the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Can't negotiate, so don't try. Tried being clever myself. Got me here." His default expression seems to be a stern frown, but at the very least, Setsuko's set up a baseline assumption here that they intend to kill the thing.
Setsuko Kaminagi	"We don't really have a name for it," Setsuko admits. "Part of that is to keep things vague, in case we're overheard. We're being careful." She turns and moves to lean against the wall. "I'll be honest. They did try to break you out. But we had come to check up on you, they ran into us, and their response was... let's go with 'excessive'. I'm sure that will tell you enough." She then shakes her head faintly. "If anything, it wanted to negotiate with us, because we're close to Hall. Tried to rope us in on helping it. It seemed fairly confused when we reacted poorly to the idea of harming our friend. At this point, we're more or less sure it doesn't really comprehend us."
Pegasus	"We have some idea of what's going on, yeah," Pegasus says to the Hunter. "My only concern is how it's hurting Nathan. I mean, it might be bad by itself, but as far as I'm concerned it's an enemy for that alone." She crosses her arms, wings shifting with a tiny hiss of steam. Getting worked up is pointless though, isn't it? "The way it works is a little beyond what I can understand. But I know it can be hurt, and that's good enough for me. I don't think it wants to talk to me, and the feeling's kind of mutual."
Nathan Hall	"Weakness." The man turns his gaze on Mizuki. "Practical level, anything you have that's divine. It's from Outside. Anything that helped define Inside works. Holy's the easiest. If you have bigger questions, I'll listen to them." He looks conflicted, there. Looks like some of the bigger questions aren't harmless at all, to anyone. But he doesn't discuss it. Man of few words, but thankfully most of them are answers so far.
Nathan Hall	Nathan looks like he might have taken better to a deflection than direct honesty here, but he does also seem like he's accepting that. "...I suppose I should avoid hypocrisy. I apologize, it somewhat unsettled me, due to involving personal materials like that. I will ask, at least, that I might have it back when you return." There's a little unease there, but he's mostly accepting. You can tell he's trying to think over possible uses for the knife, but not too suspiciously. Just worrying, as is his way. Riva's helpfully keeping his mind off of it... Partially. "I do eat, it just tends to be a surprise to me when I do. I will certainly give you a call to assist, however. However effective I may be in all matters pertaining to running, I doubt my lifting capacity." And he sure does keep an awful lot of books. He sets his sandwich down for a moment, picking up the key, eyeing it with some concern. "Hmm." But despite that, he slips out from behind his desk, heading off elsewhere. It looks like Psyber and Riva can follow him or let him go as they prefer.
Mizuki	"Anything that helped to define the 'Inside' in any given universe? Hmm. That gives us a rather broad selection to work from if so." A hand meanders to cover Mizuki's mouth. That considered, her ability to commune with and weaponize concepts likely won't be of as much help in direct conflict in that case; likely more helpful to make other attacks connect. Regardless, that's a good thing for her to understand. A good first step. "Riddle me this, then: we know it to be a collection of events. But as someone who has studied time extensively, I know that happenstance is often much more fragile a thing than it seems. If I am correct about its nature, then is it possible to weaken it by sealing it in a space where certain events of which it is comprised are logically precluded from ever occurring? Logically, if it gains strength from attaching itself to and consuming events and people then the most obvious course of action would be to destroy those things it is comprised of. Perhaps if I could temporarily break bits and pieces away from it so that we don't have to fight against something so concentrated at once, whittle it down until it is more vulnerable." Raising her gaze to appraise the soldier again, she asks, "Does that sound a reasonable course of action?" Ah, but Psyber already has a plan. Better to ask things more relevant to the framework that she has been provided, isn't it? Ahem. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. How exactly does it respond, in your experience, when hit with something like 'holy' magic? Is there any way in which we will be able to recognize that our attacks are having a tangible impact? It would not do for us to continue fighting, unaware that our attacks are not bearing any fruit."
Guest Psyber	"You can have it back, if you want it, after I'm done," Psyber says to Nathan as he eats the sandwich, "I won't keep it from you, though I still don't think it's healthy you have such an attachment to it. You should look forward, not backwards," He muses as he sighs a bit, "Your call on that, though, but just giving my opinion." He looks over to Riva and smiles, "I try to do right by Nathan, though I've made my fair share of major mistakes. He's nice enough to forgive me for that, or I like to think," He sighs a bit, giving her a wave as he follows after Nathan. Riva coming along or not is left up to her call.
Nathan Hall	The man frowns at Setsuko, but he frowns at everything, so that's not a meaningful gesture. "No use when it comes to eavesdropping. Doesn't hear the way we do. You can call it whatever we like. I'll use the word we use. 'Causality Demon'." And then he seems especially critical. "Excessive. Why?" But that question gets answered. "Willing to talk to you." The man tenses up, anxiously, but is sedate enough that the stress isn't agitating his wounds... Too much. "Only talks for one purpose. You've got channelers, Kaminagi. Hurting your friend..." He seems to start considering something, which he'll more properly act on when he speaks to Pegasus next.
Riva Banari	Riva seems content to just chill out instead of following them, turning to go look at some nearby bookshelves while the pair do their thing. Hey, a girl's gotta do research too! It's not like she can Google everything. Still, she looks over in the direction they went every so often, a pondering expression on her face.
Sakura Haruno	That'll get Sakura to speak up, finally, because there's something she hasn't understood at all. "Channelers, again. What makes them that? I have a hard time thinking it's anything as simple as how Nathan thinks of you, or how you think of him. We hate each other and I'm not one of those, apparently." She'll add, frowning. It's possible others had figured this out, or had been told; she'd missed it, in that case. "And how do we handle it if those are the ones who want to be the lynchpins of our plan anyway?" She'll mutter, but it's loud enough that the hunter will probably hear.
Setsuko Kaminagi	Setsuko raises an eyebrow at the hunter's words to Mizuki. And then, her eyes close, and she takes a deep breath, and a thin, hazy blue aura begins to shimmer around her. Rolling and billowing, like a cloud building itself on the horizon. "It's funny you should mention divinity. I'm half god. And my divine side specializes in killing things." Her eyes open again, and the aura fades. "But you're touching on the topics we really want to talk about." Standing up straight again, she fixes the man with a level stare. "From what we've seen and heard, I'm going to hazard a guess - a 'channeler' is what you call the people who are infested by this 'Causality Demon'. I'm going to go further with my conjecture, and posit that you believe the people who've hurt Nathan Hall - who have betrayed him in some way, made his life difficult, caused him duress - are channelers. That they've been acting under the Demon's influence. One of your number even referred to Psyber as a 'core channeler'. Unless there's something you're not telling us, that's nonsense." Once again, she finds herself pacing. "Psyber is half-angel. He answers to a different divinity than the one whose power I've taken up, but he is still a holy being. Truly holy, no less, unlike me. And it's true that he's caused Nathan grief in the past - but that's just ordinary for people. We slip. We hurt our friends. Sometimes for their own good. Sometimes for what we mistakenly believe is their own good. But I don't know anyone more invested in protecting Hall than Psyber. "We know the thing has connected itself to moments of great misery in Hall's life. We know it's feeding off them. But it's like I said - the Demon approached us because of those events, because some of us have had a direct hand in them. And it didn't understand whatsoever why we would turn it down. It's not that we have people already on its side - it's that it /thought/ we were already on its side, simply because we've been involved with Hall's life." She stops, folding her arms behind herself in a parade rest, and faces the hunter directly again. "That's where we're coming from. That's what we know, from our investigations and observations. If you have knowledge or information that disproves anything I've just said, then please. Share it. Otherwise we're walking blindly into an ambush. And I don't want to believe you're the kind of man who would do that to us."
Nathan Hall	"Nathan. The General." The man makes a stressed noise. "Put together who the target was a few months back. Too much Channeling inside your Union Elite to disclose. You want to know how it's hurting him." He seems wary about explaining it, but by looking Pegasus herself over, he seems to gain just a little more trust. "Not many good metaphors for it. Temporal agriculture. It shoves events into the timeline. Artificially forces growth in certain ways. Refines the timelines. Makes a better meal. Soon as it knows it's been found out, eat the meal, find a new target. Parasite." His frown becomes a proper grimace and he looks much more closely at Pegasus. "Anti-channeler. If it knows you've found out what it is, where it is, it'll kill the General. If that's what you care about, make sure it never happens. Not just that infested one dying if it gets a full meal." He seems reluctant to say this at all. He says it like a tremendous risk... The sort he's dealt with before.
Nathan Hall	The man looks rather critically at Mizuki. "Possible. Time magic we couldn't pull off. Never had a causality demon exceed three masks before we could kill it before, didn't need to try. This one's at seven masks. You'll have to twist up the General's timeline if you wanna do that, change the actual events direct. Only thing I've ever seen do that's another causality demon. General's timeline's where it is. Where that power's coming from." And then a more brooding way, one that shows a sense of recalling old events. "It's not like fighting a real thing. When you get the real form it has, too abstract. Can't describe, no real words for it. Get your memories in line before you fight. Make sure you're not using whatever blessed gear you've got for the first time. You'll know when it works."
Nathan Hall	"It's a memento. A memento, a reminder, I want to make sure I... Don't make mistakes. Lots of mistakes made with this knife. Too many mistakes. Can't repeat them, I can't repeat those mistakes." Nathan mutters, a soft response to Psyber. "I'd like it back. Want to keep it close, want to... Mmmh. Not sure. Worry less about things when I don't keep track of it. Very normal, very mundane, nothing magical about it or anything, just a feeling. Always seemed like worth using for the greater good, never really was. Either time." Yeesh, ominous. Nathan doesn't seem to be actually suspicious of Psyber's intended course of action though, just rambling about old history. "Mmmh. Silly nonsense." Nathan unlocks the back room after rambling for that short walk. A beep and a click. Psyber gets treated to a view of all those artifacts Nathan has collected over the years. This time it's not plundered on his way out the door. A spear on the wall, a heavy sheathed machette leaning up against a stack of thick tomes, several pieces of magical literature, equipment for his airship, the bracer Shivan, his Scholar outfit, all sorts of things. All the stuff he's amassed to try to build protection for himself. Memento, the blade in question, is kept in an unassuming case near the center of all this. Nathan busies himself with opening it.
Guest Psyber	"Sure, Nathan. If you want it back after I'm done, I'll give it back to you," Psyber has some level of doubt Nathan will want it back, or hopes that he won't. He hopes this particular paranoia is a biproduct of the parasite, that once it's been excised Nathan can move on. The half-angel keeps his hands into his pockets. He looks around the room, though is careful to touch none of Nathan's amassed artifacts, "A lot of stuff here. Makes me realize I never really gave you much of anything," He notes, thinking it over as he looks around the room, "Did you resent me for it? For not giving you weapons and instead choosing my own way to help you?" He asks the man. Still... he looks back over his shoulder, "We should hurry and get back to Riva."
Nathan Hall	"Doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with how the General thinks." Haruno gets a matter-of-fact tone, one that tries to make sure there's as much density of educational fact-per-word as possible. "Two types. Primary, secondary. Primary Channelers are like the angel, the priestess, the priest." Like George? "Haven't put together what they did. Just know they all do something to the General. Forces him to change. Causality Demons have a concept. Their primary Channelers use it. Reshape the host into a better meal. Hand of Avarice's host was stolen from by its Primary Channelers. Teeth of Desolation's host was isolated by its Primary Channelers. Don't know what this one is. Secondary Channelers try to make more Primary Channeler candidates. Easier to spot. Easier to hunt. Less useful. Burn out, disconnect from causality, eventually never existed in the first place."
Pegasus	"So I have to be careful," Pegasus murmurs. "And we have to move fast. I'm not really used to sneaking around. I've done it, but with how we are... I'm sure I won't be able to hide it for long that I know something is up." She sighs, wings sagging a little, and listens to some of the other questions while she fomulates thoughts. "Angel, priestess, priest. Priest is... probably gone? Priestess is dead now. Right when they were coming to terms with one another. Might be why she's dead... she wasn't useful as a Primary Channeler any more, because she was no longer hurting him." Pegasus frowns, finding that thought disturbing, and her hand lowers to touch her stomach. "Then again... maybe it doesn't realize all that. I think we might need to watch out for anyone new he meets, that's where the next Primary might come in. Hopefully we can kill it before that becomes a problem anyway. Would it help if I stayed closer to him?"
Nathan Hall	Setsuko gets a nod. It seems that the other discussion cleared up some of those questions. "Channelers are... Mh. Not trustworthy. Would be why you had that 'excessive' response. Not something we can trust. Tried it before. Been burned. Not as bad as the boss." The man looks a bit brooding at that. "Would have my ass if he heard me talking about this. This stage, though, nothing else to do. Seven masks is too much." He takes a heavy breath, then nods. "You've got the kinda holy that works. Not a matter of nature. Matter of history. You'll see when you fight. Can't... Use words to say what it's like. Got most of it right. Right that it doesn't understand what linear thinking's like. Pretty sure that's something it can only get once it gets a meal. Thinks, 'you've helped before, you'll help again'. Can't understand how you change over time. Hope there's been enough change." He rubs his head, gently massaging bits of his face that are too heavily bruised, easing some unspoken pain. "Only thing I think you're missing is the fact you've lost. Thing's gonna eat the General's timeline either way, got the teeth wrapped around his neck. Can maybe save his soul, beat the timeline out of the demon if it doesn't make a run, force a restore. Completely beyond what I've ever done, though. Only way we've killed these before was killing off the host before. Uncharted territory. Keep the soul from being eaten, keep the demon from running, you might have a shot. No promises." Looks like the plan is mostly a go. But... It's going to shave a little closer to danger than they thought. They'll be taking this thing on at its peak power.
Nathan Hall	Nathan holds the sheathed dagger in both hands, clutching it oddly close. "Mh. I will ask when you've completed your work, then, when you've completed your work it." The sheath for the blade is plain, as is the blade itself. Nathan takes a moment as they're returning, pulling it out just slightly to look at part of the blade, before pressing it deeper. "I don't resent you for that. Can't expect everyone I know to give me something. Not very good at using weapons, you know, would be a waste. Would be a terrible waste, to squander something like that." "Here." He hands the blade off to Psyber as they approach Riva. "Good luck with what you're doing. I hope it can be useful. Might do some good, for once." Time to wander on back over to his sandwich, taking smaller, more awkward bites of it, after a quick nod of greeting to Riva.
Setsuko Kaminagi	Setsuko listens in silence; despite how firmly she just spoke against the man's words, she's seen enough in his eyes to know he's worthy of respect. So she turns, and walks over to the wall, and contemplates for a moment. "...It would be more accurate to say that I don't have 'holy' at all. My power is divine. But the nature of that divinity is not goodness or purity. I would call it a force of nature, except that it's a manmade force. Only sentient beings go to war." She closes her eyes, contemplating how best to put it. "I would call my power... 'the divine right to kill, or be killed', if I had to put words to it. But I'm confident it will work regardless." She lets out a breath. "I'm not given to indulge in ego often, but I feel as if, just this once, I should indulge. We've made a career of doing the impossible. Of killing that which we shouldn't be able to. Of standing against horrors that should not be time and again. I don't doubt that it will be difficult," she adds. "It always is. But it's in that difficulty we thrive. I began my time as a demigod by dying, after making an army of a thousand men afraid of just thirty of my own. And then I stood up again and won." It isn't often one gets to see Setsuko with that gleam of pride in her eye, but it's there when she regards the hunter again. "I am far stronger now than I was then, and I'm still not even the strongest among my current allies. I have faith that we'll be able to do the impossible. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here."
Riva Banari	Riva seems to have dug into her sandwich as they return. A frosty cold bottle of water is in her hand too, washing it down. "Welcome back, guys! Glad everything is working out!" She smile cheerily, apparently completely unaware of the gloomy conversation that had taken place. "So you maintain this entire library, Nathan? How do you find the time? This place is ridiculous." She looks up and around to punctuate, her expression full of wonder at the design of the area. She glances back down to Psyber and grins. "Maybe you should have him take care of the files for Heaven or Hell. He'd probably come up with an awesome filing system in a jiffy!"
Mizuki	"This would all be so much simpler, so much less dangerous if we were able to coax the thing out of - or at the least, away from - the general's timeline, but I'm assuming you would have told us by now if that were a possibility. I'm assuming that your lot would not be quite so vehemently opposed to what we're attempting to do if you considered that to be an option." Mizuki massages her forehead a moment. "We will have such an infinitesimal window, so small a margin of error. I have no acute sense of statistical maneuvering, but even -I- can sense how dangerous this is. This has nothing to do with the versatility we posses nor our strength nor even our intellect -- only luck. I hate that. Words cannot express how much I deplore that uncertainty." Mizuki shakes her head. "No, I'll... we'll do something. I'll -- I'll reorganize my barrier. Set up a net to contain the demon, trap it so that we can be more sure that we will have the time necessary to destroy it. Or if not that, something else; -anything- else." It's hard to tell whether she's distressed for Nathan's sake or over something more intrinsic. Most likely the latter. "But before I forget myself -- thank you. You have been incredibly helpful. You may rest assured that, no matter what happens, the demon will be eliminated. No, that was never in question. All that lies in question is -our- endeavor, and that I cannot expect you to be overly concerned with." At those final few words, Mizuki cups a hand over her mouth, turning away from the hunter and beginning to pace in the general direction of the door. It doesn't look like she intends to leave, though. Just to meander. Yes, she will have to borrow that longsword from Psyber. Perhaps use it in conjunction with Aelinos? That seems so undignified, the idea of using two swords at once; so crude, but she may not have any other choice. Fighting without Aelinos would put her too off-kilter, and leave her 'memories', as it were, too vulnerable. Maddening.
Guest Psyber	Psyber takes the knife from Nathan and it vanishes under his coat to the small of his back. Just a place to store it for now, he keeps his gaze and his gait casual and practiced, "Of course." He comments simply, strolling along. His own sandwich is gone, and he tosses the crumpled up paper in a wastebin. "Naw, Nathan's a librarian, not business manager or an accountant. I keep track of the office files because I'm a detective. It's my skillset. Nathan organizes the library because he's a librarian." He waves a hand at Riva dismissively, "Besides, I get antsy if anyone besides me is touching the casefiles or employee files. A lot of sensitive information in there." "Things like... Laine's favorite dog toys, Homura's father, Yuuki's true status as a normal girl, Theo's middle name." He waves his hand, "Top shelf black-ops material."
Nathan Hall	"Always another Primary Channeler somewhere." The man says, nodding to Pegasus and giving an unpleasant look. "Sounds like you're trying to solve it before another hits him. Good." So there's already another Channeler somewhere? Dangerous. "You want to stay close to him? ...Mh. You're an anti-channeler. Seen it a few times. Sometimes it tries to force circumstances. Set things up to amp up the risk. Nothing works. Ever in a position where you could've hurt the General?" This guy doesn't know the half of it.
Pegasus	Pegasus blinks. "It's pretty common knowledge, so I don't mind sharing. Of course I have been. I threatened to murder him a number of times! We only started talking because he was afraid of what I would do if he told me to go away." She smiles pleasantly. "Then things got better, because I'm not that person any more. Nathan /saved/ me, and even if we were to fall apart, I'll always remember that. I don't think I'm capable of hurting him the way the others have. I'm not... subtle enough."
Nathan Hall	The man sighs heavily, and seems to accept Setsuko's statement with some composure. "Out of our grade. Not going to make assumptions about you. You think you can, maybe. Maybe not. Only thing that's worth trying now. Seven masks is too far past us. Maybe you can contend but I'm not gonna guess. Give it a shot. None of the other Hunters can take this one on. If your plan goes through, guess it'll work. Not the plan I'd choose. Putting too many people at risk. Plan I'd choose is killing him before it has a chance." He shakes his head, his frown deepening. "Your choice. I'll let you make it."
Setsuko Kaminagi	Setsuko nods her head slightly. "What is easy and safe, isn't always right. I will do what I must, but all things being equal I'm willing to put my life on the line to save Hall. If I come to regret that, then so be it." She fishes around in her pocket, and comes out with a business card. "I gave this to one of your comrades, but I'm giving it to you for a different reason. You've been helpful to us. Given us info to work with, where others haven't. If you need my aid in the future, contact me. I'm not good for much outside of battle, but if my blade can help you in return, I'll lend it."
Nathan Hall	Mizuki gets a nod. "No luck. Can't coax it out. Nothing it wants more than what it's already got. Best you can do is this. Aside from killing the General. Even we're not that crazy." He leans back in his bed, seeming exhausted, and just about done with this conversation. "Guess I hope it helped. Might just let out some horrible monster instead. Can't help it either way, whatever happens. Guess I'll hope." He takes the card from Setsuko, and he seems to use that as a sort of wordless sign that he's out of spare energy for this, for now. He seems like recovering is taking a lot out of him.
Nathan Hall	Nathan blinks at Riva, as if her question simply didn't make any sense at all! "It is what I am meant to do." He says, simply. "I am not sure why you are not so confused about how I perform duties as Union Elite, or even General. That falls much, much farther outside of my identity." He seems completely baffled by that! He gestures at Psyber's explanation as essentially the truth. Aside from the weird files, the weird files go uncommented on, aside from Nathan making an odd, confused noise at them.
Riva Banari	"Oh man, that's all in your files? I need to go check those out as soon as I get back." Riva replies to Psyber with a wink. She sounds like she's joking. She might be joking. Maybe. Ish. She does, however, shrug. "You always wanted to be a librarian, right? It just... takes a lot of work to maintain these things. So why worry about the Generalship? Actually.." Riva ponders for a moment. "Do you like being the General? If someone else showed up that seemed capable of handling it, would you give it up?"
Nathan Hall	"No." Nathan says, staring down at his sandwich. What he says next is a bit more complicated than he seems to think it is, and he says it in a way that seems like he thinks it's perfectly normal. "I accepted the position in order to gain enough power to be able to pursue and thwart Lady Fairchild. I will continue to maintain it. Too many betrayals taking advantage of me, rank seems to be one of the few things that limits these events somewhat. Limits, somewhat." He sighs, and bites into the sandwich. "Only way to be sure."