Scene #7663: KR Exodus 1-1

Owner	Pose
Shinnosuke Tomari	The sun is starting to set over Utana Island. It's a perfect time for investigations, 'special tours', and clandestine meetings. A city with a large population, built onto a massive and self-sufficient artificial island project of the same name, the Utana Corporation is god here. Having funded and settled the island decades ago, it's grown to be one of the meccas of civilization, policed by their Corporate Guard. The Business District lies towards the center of the city, with other districts including the Gold District (a shopping/residential paradise), the Waterfront (beachside and docks), the Suburbs (self explanatory), the Green District (farms and other agricultural), and the Red District (named derogatorily for the slums and red-light businesses that operate within). Three districts will play the main role of tonight's story. PALADINS: The Waterfront district, and more specifically, the docks, smell of fish, saltwater, and brine. A monster was recently sighted here - some sort of spider humanoid, if you squint at the blurry phone picture. The Paladins have no jurisdiction and have not officially communicated with the local guard - Shinnosuke Tomari is willing to take the blame should this go wrong. But Tomari isn't here, due to a sleep paralysis Kamen Rider forcing more work on him. Instead, you get a fit young woman in a jacket, pants, and a cap. She is not dressed in her police uniform - she has no jurisdiction here either - so she is instead working with the Paladins to investigate the scene of the crime covertly. Her heels are really nice, suspiciously nice. "Kiriko Shijima, Tokyo Metropolitan Police." She introduces herself to the Paladins politely, complete with salute. The cargo loading area of the docks, filled with shipping crates and boxes, is apparently in disarray. Someone broke into most of the crates on one side recently, and it's been partitioned off - but there's little in the way of guards by now. Only one crate is mostly unopened, cracked enough that it can be opened if people provide elbow grease. Shijima looks around at the crates, before dusting something with her finger to confirm. "There's a lot of spiderwebs...but that confirms nothing. We need solid evidence. A foreman mills around in the nearby office. He hasn't noticed the Paladins, in case they want to question him, but it might lead to Repercussions down the line.
Shinnosuke Tomari	WATCH: The Watch has been hired! Their meeting place is technically on the Waterfront, at the Utana Tour Depot (with a NOW HIRING SIGN, manned by a cute teenager girl), closer to the beach and the port for travellers, but that's not their destination. One 'Crazy' Charlie Sanson, local tour guide 'extraordinaire', has hired the Watch to guard a Special Tour at a high rate. Watch intel has it that he's at minimum a sympathizer, so this likely isn't a normal tour, and definitely not a trap. He refuses to give any details on why until the 'appointed time', which will be mid-tour. Either a test of trust, or just being a shady nerd like a lot of Watchmen are. The man in question is a tall Japanese man, with a fake French accent. He oozes 'pretending to be French', from his accent, to his peppering of specific French words past the translation effect, to his swagger. He's dressed in baggy jeans, a jacket and shirt combo, with a camera over his neck, and a beret on top of his short black hair. Yep. "Bonjour, bonjour! All in the bus, please. Our guest is waiting." The bus is a repainted and renovated old school bus, bought and used as a tour van. The guest, on the other hand, is completely normal. A short woman with long dark black hair, glasses, a white coat, and jeans. She gives off doctor-y vibes. Nothing like you'd expect from a tourist. She introduces herself as 'Madelyn', and seems interested in the various Watchmen and their different Multiversal styles. Once everyone is in the bus, it closes up. Charlie is driving, and also narrating. "Our destination, at request, is the Red District! The slums! The sewers! The casinos! A beautiful piece of Utana I'd never discard. It gives it...flavor! Mwah!" He touches a finger to his lips as he makes the noise. "If anybody tries to cause trouble for our guest - which I don't expect - please, intervene, mes amies." The group has a little bit of time to settle in, as the bus starts moving. They can sit or stand wherever. As they drive through the waterfront, the city's glamour slowly leaks away, as they leave towards the Red District. The upkeep of buildings becomes less and less, dark and shady. Grimy. People staring at them on street corners for passing through. A manhole is open in the street, and probably has been for days. The bus passes over it smoothly. The guest barely pays attention to any of this. "We'll be heading to Dimitrio's, a local casino. Any questions?" This seems to be to the crowd, too. The 'guards' have had no orders to shut up and be quiet. Madelyn only asks if they have blackjack - a simple, stupid question - and gets a confirmation. CONCORD: The Business District is full of gleaming skyscrapers and excess. The main building for the Utana Corporation is the tallest, shining at the center of the city. But that's not their destination. The Corporate Guard Headquarters has an office for the Chief. The Concord are let in through the back by his personal assistant, for discretion, and taken straight up the stairs to his office on the second floor. For such an important role, it's not as shiny as the rest of the city. A man in his mid-thirties picked on merit, sits at his desk, a bottle of unmarked pills next to the desk clock. There's several nice chairs set out for the Concord. His bookcase has several classical novels, as well as a toy motorcycle. "Chief Akihiko Hirose, Corporate Guard. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I'm sure, as our invitation to Multiversal tourists has spread, you've heard about the...rumors, correct? I'd like to discuss those today." He folds his hands together into a triangle shape on his desk, making sure the door is closed.
Phasewalker	Ainkli shows up to the meeting place, giving the assistant a brief nod to indicate he's part of the Concord party. He complains about the stairs under his breath - 'I hate these things' - but doesn't have any actual trouble climbing them as he goes. Once at the office, he gives the Chief a nod as well and steps over to settle into a seat... or try to. What ensues is a seven and a half foot tall lizard man trying pretty hard not to crush his tail trying to sit in a chair. He doesn't like chairs, either, but he wants to be polite. It looks very silly and awkward. "The monsters," he prompts, "Yeah, I've heard about it. Wanted to show up as a tourist, so it was pretty concerning for me that these rumors are floating around." "Ainkli Naragol. Pleasure," he introduces a bit late, once he finds a comfortable position to sit. Smile~
Brooklynn Bailey	The main building for the Utana Corporation is a sight to behold for Brook who has not gotten a chance to look at such a tall building without it being a wreck. This is why it was such a disappointment to her when she realized that isn't where they were going, but instead towards a smaller building. Even then, not through the front by through the back. This is a slight annoyance, but... Well, they DID say they wanted to keep this on the down-low, which makes sense. It is still somewhat disappointing. It also brings up the question of why such an important man is in such less than great offices? Perhaps this is a side thing or the main operation branch. Brooklynn is dressed in finery because she has had time to pick out something for business rather than work. Instead of a makeshift armor and outfit from her home, she is instead in a uniform, and in this case made out of finer materials. The uniform in question is a jacket that has the markings of her home on it, and of course, marks indicating her affiliation with the Concord. It's also very comfortable, open in the center to reveal some more refined armor. It also extends down into a dress that is loose enough to not hinder her movement, and stockings to keep the thing refined, but also fightable. Boots are how it ends, though a bit rougher than the rest, she intends to fight in such an outfit. "Brooklynn Bailey, Cardinal Virtue of Charity and leader of the military forces of Kings. Nice to meet you, sir," She says professionally to the Chief of the corporate guard. She makes a respectful bow, putting at least a little effort into a proper greeting. She takes a seat and crosses a leg. "Alright, I will be happy to hear them. I have heard some rumors, but I think it's important to start from the top and go over incidents. I imagine while they are rumors, there are incidents to talk about?"
Hamada Haru	Hamada Haru is already on the tour bus. His motorcycle is phased into the earth underneath it and will be following after, and he's taken over a bench near the middle of the bus to drape himself over it. On the way in, he'd replied to the Japanese man in perfect French, "Quit it." Madelyn had received an even colder welcome; Haru had taken one look at her and then put on headphones and draped himself over the bench seat he currently occupies. The ride and announcements that follow are processed, but Haru doesn't actually give SIGNS that he processed them at all. There is a pronounced ROAR from below as his motorcycle phases through the sewers, the noise of its passage amplified by the hollow tunnel and the open manhole cover. Above, though, it isn't evident at all. A casino called Dimitrio's, in the bad part of town. It reminds him of something. Haru tugs an earbud loose. "Why would you ask that?" He wonders at Madelyn, irritably.
Kale Hearthward	PALADINS "Kale Hearthward, Paladins." He gets a notebook out. The notebook helps him focus a bit. "So. Monster attacks, right? But..." "... But only on specific parts of this warehouse, with the rest literally undisturbed enough to leave spiderwebs and dust. Insurance claim? Directed sabotage? A monster with a taste for only very very specific crates?" He looks down at the mostly unopened crate, and frowns. "... I don't know about you but I want to see what's in here," he says, rolling up his sleeves and putting his notebook back away (having written nothing in it) and getting to work - using a combination of magic and muscle (mostly magic) to start trying to pry it open. "Before anyone knows we're really here investigating, anyway...!"
Taelveras	Taelveras has never been to Utana in her life. Or any other 'modern' city, except in passing. This isn't a place where she's particularly comfortable but, when Tomari was otherwise occupied, she stepped in anyway. Something about a monster problem that half the city seems to want to ignore doesn't sit right with her, for some reason. Tael does not blend in well. Her skin is blue-purple, nobody wears quite that much leather without some very specific goals in mind, and she usually carries a sword. She has made an attempt, drawing her duster-like coat in and covering most of her outfit and trading in her usual weapon for a lighter, smaller sword that the coat is very good at keeping concealed. She doesn't look armed to a casual glance. She's still blue though. And, despite the setting sun, she is wearing sunglasses. Her response to Kiriko Shijima is a nod, and no smile, but she does say, "Hello. I am called Taelveras. Tael is all right." She pronounces it somewhere between 'tail' and 'tayel'. A long moment's pause, then: "I have not done an investigation quite like this and I may not know all the rules. I hope you can help me with that if needed." She looks around. Talking to the foreman is not her first idea. Cobwebs are not a concern but they could be hiding something else... or the boxes. "Do you mind if I look around? I will not be noticed." In bad light, when she doesn't want to be? She's not worried about being spotted. And since she can see in the dark, there's no need for her to be obvious about it by pulling out a flashlight.
Chase	Chase is pretty sure this man is not French. He however, is either too polite, or too indifferent to ask why he is faking being another nationality. He loads up into the bus in his usual human disguise, purple jacket and bright blue jeans as eye searing as usual, and simply decides to stand... ...Even as the bus starts moving. The man continues to speak in his obviously fake accent, and eventually, Chase needs to know. He narrows his eyes at him, before speaking four simple words. "Why are you French?"
Hibiki Tachibana	A 'crazy' tour guide sympathetic to the Watch who needs their help? You don't hear about that every day. Nor do you get to visit artifical metropolises where bad things may or may not be happening, judging from a news report that Hibiki decided to gloss over on their way over. Monstrous rumors...and the 'true beauty' of Utana, huh? If it means being able to help, she can't pass up on it. How bad could it be? ... Hibiki gives Charlie Sanson the biggest skeptical squint imaginable the moment she lays eyes on him. He's not French. Is he even Japanese with a name like that? ...Isn't a beret a little over the top? "...Okay," she says flatly, and with nothing else after. Nevertheless, into the bus she goes, and she's immensely thankful their guest is a lot less...not that. For her part, she came in her usual casual tanktop, jacket, and shorts. She looks interested in the sights out the window as they get a move on. That expression steadily fades away at about the same rate as the wonder of the city outside does. There's a purse of her lips, and she eventually looks away from it and back down the isle towards their driver slash narrator. "...Why's this part of the city so bad off, exactly? A place like this, couldn't the Utana Corporation make it as spotless as everything else if they wanted to?"
Cantio	After receiving the request to aid the Corporate Guard's Chief, Cantio's interest is already piqued in learning more about the city and seeing how it all works in such an isolated place. Taking some cues from other professionals she's seen around the Multiverse, she actually shows up at the Chief's room upstairs wearing a black blazer with a matching knee-length skirt and tie, and an almost white (but actually extremely light lavendar) blouse with matching stockings. She's also got her trusty briefcase full of shrunken tools, weapons, and even some assorted documents just in case they're needed to look real official. "Cantio, Drive Core Candidate and Partner of the Concord. Thank you for inviting us here." She steps in briskly, moving to the side to make sure there's plenty of room for everyone who needs to step in to do so. "I've heard about what this city. It's quite a marvel, although the rumors are certainly concerning." Nodding in agreement with Ainkli and Brooklynn, she takes a few moments to glance around the room quickly. She's scanning the area for bugs, although lacking any real expertise in detecting the things means she's really just looking for anything that looks like an obvious piece of recording equipment: Cameras, microphones, suspicious reflections that aren't near windows. "I imagine those rumors might have something to do with why you've called us here today. Are there any warning signs before the monsters appear?" She taps the briefcase once. "Are you looking for our assistance in subduing them, or something more self-sustaining like the city?"
Rita Ma	The water bubbles. A dark shape moves beneath the waves. With a splash and spray of seafoam, a horrible oceanic beast emerges onto shore to terrorize the land-dwellers, declare war on the Earth, and inexplicably kidnap conventionally attractive human women- Wait, no, it's just Rita. Hi, Rita! She's still dripping a little when she gets onto the bus, which she acknowledges with an apologetic little grimace. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sanson. You don't have a towel or anything, do you?" His eccentricity goes completely over her head. She's a blonde Korean girl; who's she to say a Japanese guy can't be (badly) French? Rita considers sitting next to Hibiki, but- unless emphatically invited- decides better on it on account of the fact that she's still inconveniently sopping, and chooses the window seat of the row behind her good friend instead. "It's awful, isn't it?" she concurs somberly. "This kind of poverty... haven't they tried to rebel or anything? It can't go on like this." These are the kinds of conditions my dad fought against. They can't just be taking it lying down, can they? Or do they need a hero like him to give them courage?
Shinnosuke Tomari	CONCORD: Chief Hirose seems plainly surprised at Ainkli's appearance, but nonetheless, is polite. "I agree. That's why I want them investigated, Mr. Naragol." He frowns as he says that, though. "But the Utana Corporation higher-ups dismissed them. 'Who really believes in monsters? There's no such thing.' 'It's a hoax.' 'It's probably Multiversals, if anything.' They want my forces focused on more important things, like protecting the Business and Gold Districts." A nod to Brooklynn. "My hands are tied. But nonetheless, there have been disappearances that cannot be accounted for. The kidnappings. They have been committed against, frankly, people some would call 'losers'. Outcasts. We've found no bodies. After the second we've traced back to likely be connected, there were rumors of 'monsters'. Grainy, hazy pictures. At first, I dismissed it. But people keep disappearing, and the 'hoax' pictures keep appearing. Different shots. They're being sent on the internet with warnings and anger. A small minority believes in them, but they're loud enough that it's reaching news outlets." "I'm starting to believe in them, too. Look at this." He slides a picture across the desk. Grainy, hazy. A spider-like humanoid with multiple red-eyes, covered in webs and with multiple arms. "There's several different appearances, but this one's the most common." "My overseers cannot found out you're investigating this for me. But I want to know if it's true. If it is...I need to know where they're coming from. I'm willing to pay out of my pocket." Cantio gets a response, too. "I need to know they exist. If they're too much for my men, then we can talk about you subduing them. For now, I need to confirm what the hell is going on in my city."
Shinnosuke Tomari	PALADINS: Taelveras asks about the boxes. She gets a nod from Kiriko, who leaves her to move to the shipping container with Kale. The boxes are, immediately, untouched. There are no webs on them - despite them being here as long as the containers. There are no signs of any of them being messed with. Which is odd. If you were robbing a place just for cash, wouldn't you go for the easier cracked stuff, instead of the big shipping containers? The one Kale opens up, which Kiriko follows him into and flashes a light into, is weird. It's empty, except for some wooden crates, and in the far back corner behind them... A man in his late twenties with short black hair and a thin goatee, turning in his sleep as if he's having a nightmare. He's dressed in a dirty black shirt and jeans, with a tarp as his only blanket. He couldn't have snuck in - the container was too closed - so the only possibility is that he's been here ever since it reached shore. A heavy-duty mechanical belt is grasped tightly in his hand, and would be incredibly difficult to pry out. An MP3 player is inside of the tarp next to him. A small cufflink is around his ankle. It reads 101. Kiriko shines the light over him instinctively. He doesn't wake, despite it being shined in his face. He's clearly alive, but may need some force to wake.
Shinnosuke Tomari	WATCH: The Watch immediately reacts negatively to the two, or at least, Haru and Chase do. The man immediately dials back his French accent, but doesn't completely lose it. Haru gets the impression he perfectly understood his French - does he actually speak it and still do this? Chase gets a reply, though. "Why are you not?" Sanson does, in fact, have towels. He opens a glove compartment, and it has a lot of Weird Shit in it. Nothing illegal, just odd. He passes Rita a beach towel. As they travel through, Hibiki asks the hard questions. They get a serious, thoughtful answer from Charlie, accent-light helping understand it. "Do you think perfect things stay perfect forever? Every city has 'outcasts'. People those in power call degenerates. They can't get rid of them completely, so they cordon them off into their own area. That's why the Red District exists. Otherwise, they believe it'd spread like a cancer to the rest of the city." His tone is sympathetic towards the people, as if he doesn't exactly believe this is Right. Rita gets a sad reply. "They can't rebel when the Corporate Guard is as strong as it is. Besides, they're allowed to live, so they think it well enough. Not reaching higher." Madelyn simply shrugs to Haru. "I've been to casinos that don't. Not many in modern cities, but it's my favorite game, so." This sounds almost rehearsed. It doesn't feel malicious or like a trap, but they're definitely being pulled into a weird ride. The group pulls up to the more 'red-light' area of the Red District, past the slums. Obvious prostitutes linger around, and there's several bars and a strip club. They pull outside the shining Dimitrio's, glitzy and glamorous for such a crappy neighborhood. Probably has a lot of cash infused into it. Charlie's guest stands up, and moves up towards him. He pulls something else out of the glove box - some sort of nasal spray - and takes a spray. To Rita's powerful senses, it smells medicinial. The casino also smells Off, as the door swings open as a patron goes in and out. He offers it to Madelyn, who wordlessly takes her own shot of it. "If you want to see the true beauty of this city, you have to see the ugly first. Anyone want a spray? It's for your health!" He offers them a spray, and seems insistent, but will pull back if they absolutely don't want it. He seems genuine about it being 'for their health', and is probably not actually peddling them cocaine or the spray equivalent. The two then proceed to get out. Madelyn waits for the guards before approaching the casino, as Charlie moves to just waltz in. There's no doorman.
Brooklynn Bailey	Brooklynn looks at the photos, and gives them a hard look, trying to put details that she can get to memory. "Mmm...there is one thing I will point out, it could be multiversal. Monsters of advanced enough smarts can get through warp gates...and if they're able to avoid being directly imaged, then it's not impossible. However, it's a good assumption to think that it is probably internal without any other evidence." "Do we know where these photos are usually taken at? Or is it everywhere? Denizens are being focused on, but are we sure there are no connections between the victims?" "Of course, it is reasonable that you want to stay out of the spotlight on this until the truth is dragged out into the open. It is also understandable if this isn't as big of an issue as it seems to be...like your bosses say," Brook considers, "We can discuss direct payment later, I am someone who tends to negotiate for something other than money but if that is the only way to keep things under wraps I can consent to that." "Strange that the same monster is being photoed...who is doing it and why?"
Hamada Haru	"You're not a good actress," Haru replies to Madelyn, annoyed. He's trusting enough of the situation that he does accept some of the medication, although he's insistent on not sharing a goddamn nasal spray with somebody else. Having done that, he disembarks and... just sticks with the group, really. He's here to provide an escort and he's doing that, even though he's not actually transformed. There is, however, a cell phone at his belt that is probably not being used as a cell phone for practical purposes.
Phasewalker	To his credit, Ainkli has no reaction to Chief Hirose's mild surprise. He gets it enough that it's normalized for him now. He smiles when he's called 'Mister Naragol,' always pleased for a polite conversation. Through the rest, he's nodding his head, and his bright green eyes fix on the picture when it's showed to them, head craning and chair creaking as he gets a good look. He leans back into his chair before he decides to speak. "It's strange that the photos are all so poor quality. Some sort of interference?" That sounds rhetorical. He scratches his jaw with one of his big lizard hands. He lowers the same hand and spreads out his fingers. A crackle of energy precedes a computer tablet of unknown branding appearing in his palm. Then he turns it on, and starts browsing local internet boards, if any, to try to pinpoint likely locations for future kidnappings. He uses the search protocols he's familiar with. "Targetting the downtrodden is a classic tactic of predatory, intelligent foes. They may be acquiring victims to convert into foot soldiers, especially if they're taking pains to avoid being noticed or captured before they can finish whatever they're doing. But they could also just be acquiring a food source that's the most convenient for them. So." "Do you have any data I can crunch through?" Ainkli inquires, lifting his tablet to indicate he means he wants files, data, pictures, etc. to look at in his tablet to see if he can find any connections before he goes on-site to where people are disappearing.
Kale Hearthward	"... Um." <Tac-Paladins> 4 Kale Hearthward says, "Why is there someone napping in here? Why is there someone in there in the first place?" <Tac-Paladins> 4 (NPC) Kiriko Shijima says, "This shouldn't be possible, unless he was somehow shipped in overseas...but there's no sign of food or water, or anything else..." "... Before we run down theories..." Kale steps back of the crate, and looks around the area. "Maybe should make sure we're undisturbed..." He exhales - a slow steady breath, that he 'catches' with his hands, and starts shaping, fingers working rapidly - before balling up the caught breath and throwing it at one of the more intact looking nearby containers - and then repeating the process with another, and then another. (If there aren't enough intact containers left, then just whatever rubbish is around.) The containers, borne on sudden sourceless winds, lift up slightly and then reposition themselves, forming a tight perimeter around the suspect container with its mystery occupant. "There - we won't get walked in on," says Kale. "Or have anyone looking over our shoulders, or... well, if this guy tries to do a runner he's not going to get far very easily."
Cantio	"They've... Seen the Multiverse. They know it exists, and they think monsters don't." Cantio speaks in a complete deadpan, inhaling slowly through her nose and letting out a long, disbelieving sigh moments later. She leans forward a bit when Hirose presents the picture, looking mostly unsurprised while taking out her phone. "So that's what we're looking for... Alright." She smiles, but it's not a pleasant smile. It's a very forced smile of someone that's putting on their best customer service smile. "We can work with this. I can leave some drones around to surveil the area, although they might be a little noticeable if people have a tendency to look up too much around this city." She takes a few pictures of the picture with her phone, then swaps to her briefcase and opens it up. "We have potential targets to follow, at least... Ah. Are they mostly active in residential areas, or in other places?" She mulls over what Brooklynn asks. "If they're targeting outcasts, then I'd even go as far as looking in alleys first, but... We'll need some kind of lead to see what they're doing with them, too. They might still be recoverable." Ainkli, too, gets a slow nod. "Converting people that wouldn't otherwise be missed would make sense for that, yeah... Hm. Perhaps if there we even signs of a struggle, or a..." She pauses, then turns to Hirose again. "Are tracking apps or devices of that sort often used around here?"
Taelveras	Tael doesn't just check the one shipping container - she checks the others, mostly to make sure that they are still untouched. Which they are, or at least none of them look like they have been opened to her - which doesn't mean they haven't been, or that someone didn't use a nonstandard entrance. She also mentally notes where the cobwebs are (and aren't). Once she's done one quick circuit, staying to the shadows rather than out in plain sight, she returns to Kale's chosen box. She arrives late enough that the crate is mostly open. Letting Kale do the work is convenient. "Hn," she says, not loud enough to wake the man. It may not seem that he snuck in, but he might have - Tael could have gotten in through the just-cracked-open box and she's not egotistical enough to assume that she alone could manage it, but it would probably be significant if he had. Kale repositions things quietly outside, which she approves of. Tael does so inside, checking the wooden crates for signs of tampering (or opening) before moving towards the man. She doesn't wake him up; she just looks at him for a long moment, with a slight frown. She doesn't recognize the belt, but she does spot the tag on his ankle with the '101'. "What is that?" she asks, just loud enough to carry. She crouches down for a better look at him. Is he all right, beyond a bad dream? She's no medic but she can check for injuries, though she's not going to touch him unless he is and needs help.
Hibiki Tachibana	"...Mn..." Hibiki (after gesturing that Rita could sit next to her despite any sopping wetness from venturing the deeps) gives off an uncomfortable sound as Charlie explains everything, with more seriousness than she would've expected for how goofy he was. "So it's just like any other city in that regard...huh?" Put away from everyone else, accepting things the way they are...that really /isn't/ right. Not when the rest of the city seems to shine so brightly. They pull up, and Hibiki is briefly surprised at how opulent the casino looks compared to the surroundings. This is really not the kind of place she feels natural being in, but they're here for what they're here for. Charlie and Madelyn both take the spray. Hibiki looks unsure, but like Haru, she relents to taking some. Just not with it actually shoved into her nose. She asks the obvious question with a raised eyebrow. "...The heck is that supposed to be, anyway?" And then it's on the way in. Hibiki sticks close with the rest of the group. Her voice is low and quiet as they begin making their way forward, glancing up at the building while walking. "...So is this place supposed to be the beauty or the ugly...?"
Chase	"Because I did not copy a French person. You clearly have, but you are doing very poorly." Chase answers in his flat and rough tone that makes it hard to discern if he's earnest or not (He is). When offered the nose medication, he declines it. He's a robot, he can survive the harsh conditions of the city just fine. Though when pressured enough, he finally caves in and does it. "To see the beauty, you have to see the ugliness? I suppose..." He bounces that sentence around in his head a bit, before quietly following behind the group. He's been to a casino once. An illegitimate one, but at the very least, he knows what to expect.
Rita Ma	Rita wraps herself up in the beach towel like a cocoon next to Hibiki, nestling down into it until only the upper half of her face and head are visible. "The corporate guard... enforcers, I guess. I can't blame them if they aren't strong enough, but... it seems so sad that they're able to tell themselves this is okay." When it's time to dismebark, she takes the nasal spray after watching it done by somebody else, then immediately sneezes. She's obviously not used to that kind of medicine! "Th-thabk you, Mister Sabson," she murmurs as she rubs her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes go wide as they enter the casino. Why is this right in the middle of such a poor area? Are these people really gambling away what little they have? ... I guess hope is in short supply here. The hope that you might win a better life on the next roll of the dice- I can understand how that would pull people in. Once her nose is cleared (by blowing it on the corner of the beach towel still drawn around her shoulders), she closes her eyes, cranes her neck, and inhales. That peculiar scent... what is it? Where's it emanating from? Does it smell like a monster, perhaps?
Shinnosuke Tomari	WATCH: "I wasn't asked to be." Madelyn says. That's as genuine as she gets. Charlie just grabs an EXTRA bottle of the spray for Haru, and lets him keep it. "Sorry! I only have the two. People are gonna have to share, or pull it out themselves". He laughs at Chase's reply, winking. "You're welcome!" He says, with cheeriness to Rita. The interior of the casino is the Red District exemplified. You're downstairs on a two-story building, with the main casino areas (games and such) on the bottom. There's a grand staircase at the back and center, leading upwards to what is likely offices and VIP rooms. The air is rancid in its own way. Nobody notices, because everyone is indulging themselves. Gambling, prostitutes, drinks. For all who take the spray, they feel a weird effect trying to come onto them, and it is pushed back by the medicine. For those who don't... Their inhibitions run wild. They want to indulge in whatever desire they can. It's some sort of mind control effect being pumped through the air. At the top of the stairs is a man in a fine white suit. He's on a phone call, as a clear servant starts moving towards him. A female assistant stands next to the man, diligently. "Spider, what do you mean you didn't get it? Is he still in the Waterfront somewhere? Find that belt and erase him." The words don't seem to bother anyone. It's like...they don't even notice. The servant approaches. "Sir, the wine you wanted for the VIP meeting has, unfortunately, uh, been spilled." They dropped it, apparently. This angers the man, who is a fit of frustration, picks up the other man with one hand by the neck. His eyes turn from green to red as he does so, distinctly inhuman. "You useless incompetent. You're fired. Tell the others to pick up the slack while you leave!" He then throws the man onto the stairs, causing him to stumble back and down the stairs, definitely bruising something, but luckily not bleeding. Again, nobody notices or cares. He's about to shout something else, when his servant points to the group. "Mr. Valeska, we have eyes." Dimitrio Valeska huffs, then snaps his fingers, nearby bodyguards moving to block the stairs as he proceeds to leave. DIMITRIO VALESKA - ??? Charlie, watching all of this, plays with his camera. His accent fades, briefly. Madelyn looks angered. "And when you see the ugly, you see the truly awful. The monsters. This is what I wanted to show you." He waits to see What They Do. If they move to engage, he just sighs, and tries to get them to come back. If they move to stay with him, or leave, he follows after, and only speaks once they're back outside. "Because if we're going to destroy them, I need your help." Charlie speaks, clearly. "Because if nobody stops them, they're going to crush humanity underfoot." He finishes, with Madelyn giving a nod. They must be partners of some stripe, seeing the group's actions and thoughts. "I apologize for how odd this has been, but the appointed hour has arrived. I think I can trust you, after hearing your thoughts - and seeing you take the medicine on blind faith - and I hope you'll be able to trust me."
Hamada Haru	Haru laughs at Madelyn's response. This amount of sincerity appears to be enough to make him stop brooding, and he tugs the other earbud out. He notices the smell immediately-- and in particular, notices his thoughts starting to drift as well. He doesn't like it, and he likes it almost less that the only thing pushing it back is pharmaceuticals. His eyes rise towards the man in white, and his servant. For a while Haru just watches Valeska-- but he doesn't move to intercept. The only response he offers for a little while is to glance towards Madelyn, whose statement earns a nod. And he does move to leave, almost immediately. There is a sound like a distant train oncoming as Haru steps outside and slaps his badge into the Tetra belt. The silhouette of the Tetra suit flashes around him for a moment, and he turns his hand to adjust a wrist-mounted display. DELETION PROTOCOL: PHEROMONES Kamen Rider Tetra sticks a hand inside the door of the casino, but does nothing further. What he's doing isn't something that's plainly visible.
Rita Ma	Rita reaches down and offers the servant a hand up, but she isn't looking at him. She's staring up at Dimitrio, with her jaw clenched. Her little fists ball up, knuckles turning white. It's the impotent rage of a helpless little girl. But she isn't helpless anymore. He's drugged these people out of their minds, and he's feasting on what little money they have to spare. Like an ugly, bloated tick. Do you think you have the right to abuse other people? Do you think stealing from others makes you big? She doesn't overtly move. But an invisible tentacle sneaks its way up the stairs behind him, between the bodyguards, and wraps around his ankle. With terrifying superhuman strength, enough to crush the bones of an ordinary man, she yanks him backwards. If all goes as planned, he'll tumble down the stairs backwards, knocking down his bodyguards like bowling pins in the process. "You should really watch your step, mister. Anybody can have a spill."
Shinnosuke Tomari	CONCORD: "It could be Multiversal, yes." Chief Hirose responds. "I hope it is. Because if monsters exist in our world, that's new, and we don't have anything to fight them." A pause. "The photos are taken practically everywhere. No connections between victims - they're all individual, I checked that first. And...I don't know who's doing the photography." He nods once. "Barter is fine. We'll work something out. The most recent abduction was in an alleyway near the suburbs." Ainkli gets transferred a digital file. It has all the reports on the kidnappings and rumors they have. "You didn't get this from me. I hope they're not eating them. That'd be...fucked." He shudders slightly. His clock dings, and he looks over to it. He takes two pills from his pill bottle, puts them in his mouth, and reluctantly dry-swallows them. Seems like a regular occurence. Cantio's deadpan gets a laugh. "Our world isn't supernatural. It'd be very strange if there were local monsters, miss. Please, leave the drones at your leisure. It varies - one person was kidnapped in the waterfronts, I mentioned the suburbs, there was the Red District..." He thinks about both her questions. "No sign of struggles that have been reported. Tracking apps, now that might be something. The first few didn't have them, and then after the monster rumors came in, we've been focused on other things on behest of the overseers." He opens a hand, as if saying 'be my guest' about looking into them. "I doubt, with how old they are, you'll find anything, however. But, if you do, please let me know."
Shinnosuke Tomari	PALADINS: Kale is easily able to create a perimeter, blocking them in. Taelveras moves for a medical check - she finds that the man is completely uninjured, but is scarred on various places across his body. "Some sort of...marking number? Why would this be on a human?" Kiriko wonders, before kneeling next to him. He rolls into her, startling her enough to jump. That's what it takes to wake him up. His eyes open slowly, before he sees: a birdman, a drow, and some woman, all standing around him. His face turns to fear and confusion immediately, as he quickly, inhumanly leaps up into a crouch, and then starts to change. His body begins violently shifting, as he turns from man piece by piece into silver grasshopper-humanoid, standing tall. Two big bug eyes bulge out, as the belt is still clutched in his grasping hand. He leaps upwards, onto the side of the crate, and lands there, staring down at them. He's trying to figure out how to speak. Confused, not hostile. Probably will attack in self-defense if they engage him.
Hibiki Tachibana	Haru laughs. That's not something Hibiki sees often, and it's enough that /she/ has a small smile come unbidden to her face. It doesn't last terribly long, because the effect of the horrid air in the place tries to seize her--and it's only the spray that seems to be keeping it back. That's scary. Really scary. <Tac-Watch> 4 Rita Ma says, "That smell... the medicine is helping, but otherwise it'd be affecting our minds. And it's produced by a monster, but I'm not sure the monster's here." "What the hell...?" But not half as worrying as realization settles in. This place really is sick. And that's only solidified thanks to the sight at the top of the stairwell, and her eyes narrow. "...A belt? At the Waterfront...?" She repeats under her breath. Hibiki's instinct is to do something. She could transform and barrel through those guards without much effort. But...there are too many people here. And where are they going to get starting a fight right here? Her fists clench at her side. And one of them bashes side-long into the wall on the way back out alongside Charlie, just enough to leave a single crack. "...If they're going to 'crush humanity underfoot," she starts, seriously. "Things must be a lot worse than just this one casino out in the slums. What's going on here? ...I want to help out however I can."
Kale Hearthward	Kale's seldom used mirror neurons fire off. "We don't want to attack," he says, taking a few steps back, hands held up palms facing towards the grasshopper. "Right now, I think we're just as confused as you are." "Can you speak? I've got... oh, here?" He takes his Detective Notebook and pen out, and slides them across the floor of the container towards the grasshopper's location. "Can you start with your name, and how you ended up in here, if you know?"
Phasewalker	Ainkli nods in satisfaction when he's beamed some information. Good to see a client being cooperative about this even when it's risky to their job or social standing. The ding causes his head to turn, baffled briefly. Ah, just has to take his medicine. 'What is that, anyways? It's unmarked.' he thinks to himself. His head turns, looking around the room in consideration of the Chief's decorative sense, while his thoughts wander. He looks back to him, and ... squints briefly. Then he squints more, trying to do a psychic scan of Chief Hirose. Is he being affected by something psychic? Is the reason people think the world isn't supernatural because the supernatural block out memories or something? There's little visual cue about this but the iguana-like scrutiny he gives to the Chief. He speaks up after. "I'll be heading to these places. I'll be going to the Red District, first, asking questions, poking around. I'll pretend to be just another tourist, attracted by the monster rumors." Good to have a streak of truth to it. "Anything else we should know?" Ainkli stands, waiting for any further information before he starts his legwork proper.
Taelveras	"Do you mark prisoners?" is Taelveras' first guess, mostly due to lack of knowledge. "He has scars." With a better look she'd know if they were torture scars or battle scars, and she's about to take the time, but instead something happens. When he startles, Taelveras startles too; she takes a step backwards, reaching under her long coat and gripping something. The faintest hints of worry that were on her face shift to something else before smoothing out. She has a very good poker face when she's expecting a battle. But he only looks down at them, now in the form of a ... werebug, or something. Taelveras doesn't know what kind because she has never seen a grasshopper in her life, but she recognizes the inherent bugness of it. Tael very slowly releases whatever she's holding and withdraws her hands, holding them where he can see them. "..." That wasn't what she expected to find here. She crosses her arms and lets Kale take the lead on conversation, which at least has the benefit of making it very clear she's not about to draw anything even if it also makes her look withdrawn. Stupid, she thinks to herself. You should have woken him up first. Tried to talk to him. Her expression slides slightly to a scowl, though it's not aimed at the grasshopper-man.
Chase	Chase does not really process the feelings he's supposed to be feeling right now. Thankfully because of the nasal spray, he doesn't have to either. He watches as a man tumbles down the stairs, and fights not to take a step forward to catch them, clenching his teeth but ultimately calming down a bit once he realizes the man is alright. On the other hand, when Rita attempts to trip Valeska down the steps, he does not budge. Not that he knows it's Rita. It's just that this is the sort of justice this man deserves. It is only fair, and perhaps he'll learn not to push people down stairs in the future.
Brooklynn Bailey	"Cantio, I'll walk out with you...and I think we should probably all go out with a drone with us. We should probably go with clothing that indicates we're on the bottom rung of society, and that might draw the monster out. We should try and capture it, and bring it back to study. I am sure our techs will have a field day," Brook starts. "Phase, we'll leave that to you..." she says, that's a bit beyond her skill. "I'll try acting as bait then, once we've got drones up. It's not going to hurt me unless this thing is far powerful than expected...which would be weird because it's going after weaker and at-risk members of society. Hopefully, we can draw it out that way...or at the very least the photobomber." "Even if we can't get an attack directly, even if we can just watch one VIA drone, it could give us a stepping stone," she says, looking at Cantio. "Any additions?" She asks, and then looking at Phase, "What about their local network thing...internet, it's called right?"
Shinnosuke Tomari	WATCH: Rita moves to pull Dimitrio down the stairs. He tumbles into his guards, bowling several over, and is about to faceplant down the stairs when suddenly, he shifts his heel. His feet crack into the staircase as he steadies himself. He's angry,a nd embarassed. It's done its job, but it shows just how powerful he is, and this may not even be his true form. Tetra destroys the pheromones. In a little bit, after they've left, there's gonna be very unhappy patrons, and a much angrier Dimitrio. Crazy Charlie stands out, so this may be a problem. But, to Haru's reckoning, getting this much pheromone to pump in probably isn't easy, so they have time before he starts mind-controlling people again. Once they're back at the bus, preferably, Charlie starts talking. His accent is currently OFF. "Are you familiar with angels and demons? Because what we're facing is the worst of both. A type of monster that wants to be god over man. There's more of them, and they work together. I'd place their number around one hundred." Madelyn chimes in. She's letting her acting down. "They're called Arcgalaels. Where they came from, our resistance isn't entirely sure. Charlie here is the leader, and I'm the science expert. I created that medicine you used." Charlie speaks up, once more. "We're trying to find a 'weapon' we can use to fight them. A hero, more specifically. It's called..." They speak in conjunction to finish it. "Kamen Rider."
Cantio	"I suppose.. Ah! sorry about. It's easy to forget about worlds that don't normally deal with this kind of thing when you're surrounded by it." Cantio laughs lightly afterwards, nodding as she takes a few cubes out of her briefcase and slips them into her pockets instead. They're a little chunky n there, but now she has quick access to them. "It sounds like they're happening in areas that peopel are more likely to keep their heads down and eyes turned away, then. Just not necessarily quiet areas... That definitely fits the outcast demo." She furrows her brow a few moments later, looking somewhat troubled after a few more moments. "But the lack of a struggle means whatever abducted them won their trust. Or they moved too fast from there to be a sign?" She doesn't sound as certain about the second possibility. "Disguising ourselves as regular people? That would make us appealing to the perpetrator, yeah. Not a bad idea..." Cantio nods in agreement with Phasewalker and Brooklyn, opening up her briefcase again in the meantime to see if she has an extra change of clothes in there. Unfortunately, she does not. ".. I'll just have to buy something and wear it out. Until then... Yeah, here." She takes out several more of those dice-sized cubes, handing a few to both of her allies here. "Voice-activated, or you can use the screens on the back of their heads once they expand. Beyond that... Maybe try to leave them somewhere high? People rarely look up, I've noticed." The cubes, once activated by trying to pull them open, expands them to their full size as creepy-looking robots with stumpy arms and legs that look like Cantio if she was a creepy boxy robot. These particular models don't have any combat capabilities, but they're good at relaying what they see through streaming to the cloud!
Shinnosuke Tomari	PALADINS: The Paladins immediately do the best possible thing and try to speak to him calmly. As they put their hands up, he stares for several moments, and then leaps back down. His form shifts back to human, clothes still intact, belt still held. He rejects the paper. "My name...is..." He pauses. He looks down at his anklet. Then he shrugs. "Mr. 101? I don't know how I got here." He just made that up literally right now. Congratulations, he's an AMNESIAC grasshopper man. "Who...are you? What's this?" He gestures to the belt. Kiriko responds first. "It reminds me...Detective Tomari's's..." And then, those with keen enough ears or who are paying attention, which do not include Kiriko but do include Mr. 101, hear scuttling on top of the crate. Someone - or something - is there.
Hamada Haru	Kamen Rider Tetra adjusts the wrist controller again. DELETION PROTOCOL: HVAC He presses his hand to the side of the building once. Another adjustment. DELETION PROTOCOL: COPPER Twice. Another adjustment. DELETION PROTOCOL: PVC Three times. Now that he has completely de-wired, de-piped, and de-water'd the casino infrastructure without tampering with its overall superstructure, Kamen Rider Tetra stands there staring at the wall for a long, long moment. //Then don't.// Hamada Haru removes the badge from the center of the belt, causing his transformation to vanish. He nods, more to himself than anyone else. //I'm the science expert.// "I know," Haru says, replacing one ear bud and wandering back to the bus, where he resumes taking over an entire bench seat. But he is, at least, not totally checked out.
Taelveras	Taelveras narrows her eyes at 'Mr. 101', though he might not be able to tell because she is still wearing her sunglasses. It's less suspicion and more thinking, but they're easy to mistake for each other. She's considering him and the belt - she hasn't met Tomari more than once, but if the detective says it, she believes it. Also, Taelveras has very sharp ears. "Excuse me. I have to take a look," Tael says - giving Kale a Significant look as she does - before she then turns toward the entrance to the crate. She blurs as she passes into a patch of shadow, becoming very difficult to see clearly, then almost impossible unless you already know where she is and where to look. She slips out through the half-opened crate without making any noise and, still with the shadows smearing her very presence almost out of existence, steps out and around until she can see what is on top of the crate and decide whether it needs to be dealt with.
Rita Ma	Subtly, Rita's body shifts. She peels off a decoy of herself to stand in her place and cloaks her real body in invisibility as Dimitri steadies himself. The real, stealthed Rita skulks off to the side a few paces. If he lunges at my false body, I'll be behind him. Then... touch him with Seah Unsurtr's freezing power, maybe? And then I'll have time to skewer and devour him. But that attack never comes. After a tense pause, she turns on her heel to leave. Outside the casino, her decoy body and the invisible real Rita re-merge with a slight shimmer. "A hundred... I knew the people behind this poverty were monsters at heart. But I didn't think they'd be monsters in body, too." She bundles herself up in the schoolbus seat, wrapping the towel around herself again. She doesn't sit next to Hibiki this time, instead grabbing her own window seat to stare out of forlornly. It's a few moments before she speaks up again. "Why do you need Kamen Rider to do it? What makes them special?"
Hibiki Tachibana	Dimitrio taking an unfortunate fall is a small consolation. Admittedly a really nice one, still. But the way he caught himself--Hibiki won't forget that. They're not just dealing with a regular scummy casino owner. He's something else, and the 'monster' responsible for all the pheromones may or may not even be him. But they /do/ learn a lot more once they're out, and Hibiki's eyes narrow. "Arcgalaels..." And the resistance. Now everything is clicking into place. Why they had ties to the Watch. And everything does so all the more when they drop those words. Kamen Rider. Those words she heard during their brief visit inside the casino suddenly snap back to mind. She looks down briefly, then up at Charlie and Madelyn in turn. "Dimitrio mentioned...his men were looking for a /belt/. And someone, too." "...Are they also trying to find the Kamen Rider you're looking for?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale's ears are indeed pretty good. His reflexes are also pretty good. "Excuse me," is all he says, then he clicks his hees together - and then he's gone, moving from zero to some multiple of sixty in less than a second - not even bothering to turn around. The jetboots fire backwards, sending him on a quick hop out of the container, twisting his body around to a horizontal orientation in midair, and then 'landing' on the side of one of the containers he'd set up earlier, perching sideways on it only for long enough to halt his momentum - and then leap up from there, at an angle, sword drawn as he reaches the top of the container to check it out. It's like watching a pinball wizard play the field, with Kale as the ball.
Shinnosuke Tomari	CONCORD: "Not that I can think of. Thank you, all of you. We'll be in touch." Once they leave, Akihiko sighs, and looks at his toy motorcycle. He desires more than has been accomplished, but he'll have to trust in the Concord for now. Leaving the drones is easy enough, and they won't really be spotted. Disguising yourselves and getting kidnapped isn't happening today - nobody's coming. But looking through internet history... Every single person who was abducted used a lot of social media. Whoever did this was internet stalking them. Chief Hirose likely didn't put this together. Creating a social media account, one that doesn't seem like a blatant catfish, may be necessary to get abducted. People in town mostly just repeat the rumors, though most of them mention 'the spider monster' and 'the bat monster'. Interesting.
Shinnosuke Tomari	PALADINS: As the two Paladins move on top of the crate, they hear a "Hey!" as Mr. 101 pushes outside. He does not, however, escape. He moves to stand next to them, looking at the person they all spot. A women clad in dark blue and black, with goggles. A thief, in other words. She notices the three of them, one carrying a sword, and then notices the belt in Mr. 101's hand. "Give me that!" She lunges at him, eyes turning red as she sprints at superhuman speed, while his own eyes turn red as he just leaps up and clears her. If the others intend to attack her after this, she dodges and weaves, slapping down some sort of sticky webbing on them that starts sapping their energy until removed. Then, once she's leaped backwards for enough space, she notices Mr. 101 considering the belt, and decides to bail before he can put it on. The thief bails by literally getting on all fours like a spider, and then leaping as high as she can, backwards, and continuing doing so until she's gone. She's incredibly hard to follow, because her movement zigzags.
Phasewalker	Ainkli teleports out of the office. He's kind of a show-off. He does accept the robots from the other two, though, and bears their words in mind with a confirming nod to both of them before he leaves. Mostly, he just teleports outside the building, and then starts teleporting from rooftop to rooftop, until he has a good signal and a good spot to just sit and do his research... after placing the drones in key places, sometimes even using telekinesis to put them in windowsills or in weird corners. Ainkli notices the social media stuff... so he creates an account, gives himself the name '@realPhasewalker' and starts taking stoic selfies of himself around the city, and making comments on his account. "Enjoying the city," one picture says, while another says, "Check out this view!" It's a picture from on top of a building, with Ainkli mildly smiling in the photo. He's standing at the edge of the building with a casual ease. Overall, he seems to be enjoying himself, doing his tourist thing even while doing work. The best job is one he can have fun with. He's secretly hoping he gets attacked, because then he can get his adrenaline fix, too.
Brooklynn Bailey	With the situation moving on, and with the data that will be given by her allies. More information is gathered, more that they can work on is known. Active social media...so people who are 'out there.' Despite their poor station...interesting! For that, however, she considers the trap more. "Ok, let me also make sure we can pull this off." She says and shares her massive endurance and regeneration abilities with others, as well as her ability to resist mental influence. It might be overlap, but at least they will have a spell of resistance to help capture. "I will need your assistance with local dress too, Cantio..." She says, because she is still flat broke, "The card hasn't arrived yet.." She says slightly embarrassed. After dressing and all of that, she will move out on her own and go in a different direction than others. She will use this time to try and get herself noticed on social media. Taking pictures of restaurants, selfies with others, generally trying to be a girl with a new phone. She updates profiles with really bad grammar. However, this is probably not on purpose...she's only got about a second-grade reading and writing level.
Kale Hearthward	"Agh - what..." Kale predictably gets caught in the webbing. "Come on, get - agh..." He ultimately has to focus on getting the webbing off of himself before he's completely drained, giving her an opportunity to escape. "Still winds..." he mutters as he scrapes the rest of it off. Then to 101: "Okay." "I think - we can let you hold onto that, but we do need to take you into protective custody and move you somewhere where we won't be at risk of random spider thieves until we know a bit more about what's going on, alright?"
Shinnosuke Tomari	WATCH: Haru just entirely destroyed the casino's important infrastructure. There will be Consequences - not for him, personally, but Crazy Charlie is a known figure, and the assumption of 'who did it' is easy enough to lay on him, even if he has no idea HOW he did it. At the same time, this casino is effectively out of business for a Long Time. The bus leaves quickly, as Charlie does more explanation. "I don't know why they'd want our belt besides to destroy it. Their kind can't use it. But...yes. Kamen Rider was built to stop their kind." Madelyn clarifies, as she smiles lightly at Haru's statement. "The Kamen Rider power armor system is designed to slay Arcgalaels. You can call it humanity's counter-system. It's not the only thing that can, but they're tougher than a gun can handle, and they're likely incestuous with the Corporate Guard, who we couldn't rely on in the first place." Charlie puts back on his fake French accent, only slightly. "But, mes amies! We're willing to join the Watch, after what we've seen. We'll provide all the intel we can, as well as any payment you may need - cash is one of the only things hard to get in large amounts, so we may need to barter efforts or materials - in exchange for help finding this belt."
Cantio	With the drones ready to go and Hirose's cooperation secured, it's time for phase two of figuring out this situation: Hitting the ground and seeing what else there is to find outside of what they're being told. First things first: Getting some fitting clothes. "Ah, sure thing, Brooklynn! This is the business district, after all, so we should have plenty of options here depending on the look you're going for. Now let's see..." Luckily for Brooklynn (and Phasewalker, if he joins in the shopping time), Cantio already has her trusty magical goodies creator/credit card! Unluckily for Brooklynn, Cantio takes a while overthinking her own look. She even buys some extra clothes she doesn't necessarily need, eventually deciding on a very beige and brown getup complete with (fake) glasses and a beret to complete her own tourist special. If nothing else, Cantio's actually gotten pretty good at acting like a vapid celebrity for reasons she doesn't volunteer unless asked. She makes an account with an annoying amount of x's and special characters, takes selfies with garish filters, and posts pictures of food with enough emojis that the food is impossible. Worst of all... She makes sure she (and/or Brooklyn and Phasewalker) are front and center of any otherwise great landscape shots she takes. It kills her a little inside each time.
Taelveras	Tael is very hard to notice when she's trying not to be, and she's letting Kale (and now Mr. 101) draw the attention. She restrains herself, staying in the shadows. She manages to avoid getting webbed by a combination of not being a primary target and dispersing entirely into shadow when stray strands come her way anyway; they fall right through where she was a moment ago. Which means that when she runs, Tael follows - and she might not even notice that she's being chased. Taelveras is slowed by the zigzagging movement, but not by as much as might be expected. The sun is on its way down if it hasn't gotten there already, which means that - even in a modern city, with lights - there are more than enough shadows for her to step into one and out of another. And the ground-floor obstacles - any other pedestrians, cars, trash cans, who knows what else - are relatively easily avoided by her agility (or the shadow-steps) unless they've been placed to bog down someone chasing her. She isn't trying to actually completely catch up to the would-be thief. She's trying to figure out where she's going. Tracking, not capture or assault. If there's a weakness in her plan, it's that she doesn't know the city and that she can only follow on foot.
Hamada Haru	"What do you want to give?" Haru asks Charlie, bobbing a foot to a rhythm that's not obvious to anybody who isn't getting up in Haru's face.
Shinnosuke Tomari	PALADINS: Kale gets a pause from Mr. 101, and then a nod. "I don't need protecting - but I understand. Thank you." Taelvaras, meanwhile, can track her target - back to the Red District. She disappears into an alleyway while there, and when Taelveras tries to follow her in, she's gone. It seems this is where she hangs out, though. Dimitrio's casino isn't far.
Chase	"I would say I do not need payment. But I know the Watch as an organization requires any sort of funding, so I will offer no complaints." Back on the bus, Chase finally decides to sit down this time. Not because he's tired, but because he's thinking.
Shinnosuke Tomari	WATCH - HARU: Haru asks what they want to offer. "Salvage, at minimum. We get good electronics from those who do want to donate to the cause, and some are more rare and expensive than others. More importantly..." Charlie glances at Madelyn, and gets a nod. "We can offer what blueprints we have for some of the weapon and vehicle systems designed for Kamen Rider, but usable by others. We can't offer our prototypes, though - there's only one per, and those are necessary for once we get the belt. If you can make more, they might be able to arm your cause!"
Hamada Haru	"Do you have someone capable of activating a Rider system?" Haru asks, tugging his one in-use earbud free and sitting up.
Taelveras	That's what Tael wanted to find out. She stares at the alley for several long moments before she starts to work her way back, this time taking note of street names and buildings - she wasn't really watching those the first time around aside from the bare minimum required to be able to find her way back now. She'll meet up with Kale, Mr. 101 and Kiriko shortly.
Shinnosuke Tomari	Madelyn responds to Haru. "Technically, any pure-strain human can activate our belt. More specifically-" Charlie cuts her off before she can confirm who. "We have someone well-suited for it, yes. But we need the belt first before anything else happens."
Rita Ma	"Then we'll help for sure," Rita says, her voice as firm and brave as she can make it sound. The effect is somewhat ruined by the fact that she's barely peeking over the headrests of the row of seats ahead of her. "Whether it's getting you Kamen Rider, or taking these monsters out ourselves... I'm willing to help you. No, I need to help you, after what I saw." "Thank you, Dr. Madelyn. Thank you, Mr. Sanson. I promise, we won't let you down." Her hands clutch her towel-cocoon with white-knuckled conviction.
Hamada Haru	"Don't spend yourself for nothing, Mashin Chaser," Haru says to Chase, dully. He puts his headphones back in, surveying Madelyn distantly, eyes flicking briefly towards Charlie. "There are few Rider systems that do not demand a certain minimum of fighting spirit. Few, but not none. You may find that your candidate has everything but that to do the job. And then again, you might now. Have alternatives." "And tell me the name of the Rider. Not the person inside it, the Rider," he says, laying his head back.
Phasewalker	Ainkli will meet up with Cantio and Brooklynn in the middle of his stuff. He takes pictures with them and will even teleport them to nice spots for better pictures, if they're up for that. He wants to have a good time. His interest in this is clearly far beyond just work. He'll give Brooklynn pointers about how to make a good social media account, too, if she needs it, helping her navigate the UI and use the text editors.
Kale Hearthward	"Alright." "Then - let's get established here. We've got more to look into here than Mr. 101, and we'll need a reasonably secure spot to work out of." "Like a hotel room - ideally with like, balcony access to the outside of the floating city, so we can come and go that way as needed." Kale glances back at the shipping container. "I doubt we can work out of that, even if it's apparently comfortable enough to fall asleep in."
Shinnosuke Tomari	The Concord make their accounts. It'll take some time - not today - before an abduction. The Paladins have a plan. Make a base, stash Mr. 101 there, and make sure he doesn't get kidnapped or attacked. The Watch, meanwhile, have allies. Rita gets a smiling nod from Charlie, who turns to Chase. "Don't worry, we'll pay you." Madelyn nods to Haru. "Yes, we're aware. Our candidate should be enough, but we will." And then, Charlie answers his question. "They're called - and I swear we didn't name it this..." "Kamen Rider Guilt."