Scene #8097: The Return

Owner	Pose
Timespace Riders	September 15, 2014 Twin Peaks, WA The nearest Warpgate is miles away, in the city of Seattle, and so you may have to take a lengthy but scenic bus ride to get here, if you don't have your own means of transportation. The good news is that, as General Briggs sent out alerts to all three factions, it's very unlikely you'll have to foot the bill yourself. Whether it's a Concord expense account, a pre-arranged trip from the Paladins or a dead drop with fare from the Watch... WELCOME TO TWIN PEAKS POPULATION 4,550 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXrjMaVoTy0 Twin Peaks is spread out within an alpine forest, thick rows of pine trees rising with the mountains wherever the hands of man haven't cleared them. At the edge of this vast sea of green there are even the occasional snow-capped peak. A river runs through the town, crucial to the operation of its lumber mill--still in operation. In the afternoon sun, light forms rainbows where it strikes the thick white mists conjured by a breathtaking waterfall at the northern end of town. Though the population of the town is low, its amount of development suggests it could, and perhaps once did, service many more people. There's a picturesque residential district, a surprisingly grandiose bank, an apparently well-funded public school, and the aforementioned lumber mill. Of particular note are "Kikuchi Cleaning Service" (established since 1992!) and the 'Rowan Tree Salon,' which appears to have taken up the space once occupied by something like a department store. All of this is to say that the town is quite large, for its population, and many of the establishments seem like they could comfortably house much more people than are present at any one time. Your destination is east of town--a remote cabin in the woods. Public transit doesn't quite have any routes there. That being said, Twin Peaks is the last slice of 'small town America' in existence, if ever a thing truly existed outside of rosy-eyed romanticization. People here are remarkably friendly, and there's almost always a loitering townie on hand to offer a lift to... Ghostwood National Forest 12:00PM A dirt path winds through rows and rows of Douglas firs, over hills coated with needles and twigs, bedecked with hardy alpine shrubs. Arriving at a clearing, you come upon a quaint log cabin overlooking a gorgeous valley; a sea of green that stretches to the base of a majestic mountain range. Blocking up the view is a 2010s-era SUV marked with the livery of the Twin Peaks Sheriff's department, and a 1975 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide. The rider is probably inside--because standing guard on the front porch is a Sheriff's Department officer. The way he's looking at you, it's not hard to get the idea he heard you coming a mile away. The standard-issue leather jacket, aside from his badge and the department's seal, bears a nametag: B. BRIGGS He smiles, evidently recognizing a few friendly faces. Deputy Briggs has lost most of the color in his hair. His demeanor and posture suggest an openness absent from his younger days, with his brow still easily lending itself to intense gazes from his blue eyes. "Hey there," he says. "Long time no see. And for you new folks, the name's Bobby." A quick, firm handshake. "My dad's inside with James--we've been keeping watch since he came back into town."
Corona Arclite	To add to the growing collection of vehicles a modified motorcycle pulls up to the site. It's hard to miss, with the big quad of exhausts angled out the back, the front molded to resemble a canid head with the headlights in the eyes, and sporting an all-terrain catapillar tread instead of a front wheel. It rumbles to a stop, and Corona swings one leg over to the other side to slide off the machine. A walking talking fox person might be a little odd, but really when we're talking 'exsitential crisis' is anyone going to really worry about that? She takes a moment to pull the goggles from her eyes, snapping them up around the base of her stetson and then tugging the rim to straighten it out. "So, this is the place for meetin' 'bout the weird cosmic threat or whatevah?" She glances off to a side. "... Somethin' 'bout this place gives a fittin' vibe fer that, yeah." Maybe it's just having a name like 'Ghostwood'.
Petra Soroka	Petra slouches out of the woods into the clearing, heavy boots and overalls speckled with bits of foliage and twigs. Coming from the direction of a flying steel contraption that's currently hovering some few hundred feet away, it's an easy assumption that she decided not to park her bus-sized mecha, which was presumably her transport here, on top of this little cabin. Seeing the deputy, she straightens up and wipes the sneer of distate off her face, putting on a bright smile. "Hi, Deputy Briggs, Petra Soroka." She takes his hand and shakes it with the firmness of a soldier. "A pleasure to meet you. We'll talk inside about the details, then?"
Xion	It had not been that long, it had felt, since the events at Twin Peaks. Certainly not the span of time that had taken place within the last, small, big town in America. 2014 was a far-away year from when they had defeated the spirits haunting the poor and kind folks with big small town problems. And for a cozy town that was just a rainy day from a suspense thriller mystery - as it was, twenty five years ago - there were several folks that would show up if the residents put out a call. Not needing to hitch a ride on a friendly van, Xion appears out of the dark forest near the cabin. She wears the clothes she did the first time she was here: jeans, a forest green and brown with tan flannel button-down shirt jauntily misbuttoned so that part of the collar hangs out of her red hoodie with white draws, and an opposite part hangs a triangle out from around the zippered hem. Slinking, slightly, she moseys up to the door like an unwanted cat, peeking around Petra as she finds Briggs at the front door and get a strong handshake going. The noirette looks up with a sad fondness at Bobby Briggs, and sighs as she rests a hand on the white-haired officer's arm. "It's really been a while, hasn't it?" Xion asks, not looking like she aged a day. "Ah, yeah, let's go inside!" She agrees with Petra, going right for the door behind the greetings at it to jiggle at the handle. Dwelling on reunions with old friends didn't have to be depressing! It could be awkward and depressing!
Hellwarming Trio	It's back to the familiar mountainous forest for the pair of youkai from not-Japan. Seeing a familiar face in Bobby Briggs (even if his hairline's changed considerably since then) has the pair greeting him with a familiar-sounding hooting and hollering while looking not a day older than the last time he saw them. "Whoa. Do humans usually age this fast?" Utsuho asks, lacking tact as usual while circling around him from a good two feet off the ground.. "Nah, nah. He must've... Hey, bro. Did you eat something weird since last time?" Rin answers and asks afterwards, circling around Deputy Briggs in the other direction from lower to the ground. After they're done trying to guess what happened to him, they finally settle down. "So what happened out here, anyway?" "Yeah, did more of those rogue Orpho... Whoevers start showing up causing trouble again?" "He said something about it being an existential threat, so... Something bigger, even?"
Aptom	Aptom wasn't invited. This is normal, no one ever invites Aptom willingly. Unfortunately, he has a habit of inviting himself. A poor, nondescript Watch member is now phoneless somewhere in an alley, but at the very least, they have their life. The bus ride to Twin Peaks is relatively uneventful, as is his walk through Ghostwood National park. He's come across dozens of tiny towns like this, and this one seems no different. When Briggs comes up to give a handshake, Aptom sternly returns it, giving the man a smirk. "A pleasure."
Hamada Haru	"He got old," Hamada Haru interjects towards Utsuho and Rin, materializing from a sudden and uncharacteristic bank of fog that rolled in. His transteam gun hisses as he does so, some sort of power-down occurring as he returns it to his hip. He considers Bobby distantly, then says, "Orphenoch prognosis definitely improved in our world, but you must have really... reeled it in, to only look like this." He nods towards Xion, and proceeds to not join anybody inside until it looks as if everyone who WILL be here IS here, simply loitering out front quietly until the time comes.
Lilian Rook	Considering the matter of Twin Peaks resolved, with the ostensibly purging of its hostile orphenoc presence and the ultimate defeat of BOB at the Black Lodge, and very glad to finally wash her hands of the whole ordeal, even having barely made a pretense at immediately selling back the mill, there are only two things that could drag Lilian back out here, and a letter from the General is one of them. She never did get her answer about the space observatory and the message. Flying out here, she finds herself faintly hoping that she won't. Despite wearing a very different set of clothes to the stuffy, almost doll-like way she used to dress then, one thing that hasn't gone amiss is the Citizen's Brigade badge that Hawk had offered her before. It seems like something hokey enough to throw away, but it must have been meticulously stored in some over-organized drawer all this time instead. "New friend?" Lilian asks Xion, with exactly the excessively British tone of exasperation that befits her reaching out to grab Utsuho and Rin by their respective collars and pull them off their bullshit, sighing like an underpaid babysitter. "Pleased to see you at work, Deputy. Actually, I'm quite pleased to hear that this town had no need of us again. Forgive me for hoping that circumstances might not be so dire as last time."
Timespace Riders	"Don't half-ass it, Xion," Bobby says with a sad smile, pulling Xion into a hug. He seems all too aware that she, nor Lilian nor the Hellwarmers have aged all that much. "I kept it on the straight and narrow so I could give you one of these," he says, lightly squeezing, "If we ever ran into each other again." Pulling back and regarding her with a warm smile, he remembers where he is. "This would be the place," Deputy Briggs says to Corona with a nod. "Twin Peaks has always been a little bit different." Bobby smiles wanly at Lilian, and makes a peculiar gesture--a tracing of the index finger down his temple. "Sure thing, Ms. Soroka," he says amiably to her. There's a glimmer of something like amusement in his eyes. Had he seen the sneer? He sniffs the air. "Smells like lunch is ready. Dad insisted on cooking for you guys, even under the circumstances." The interior is like a picture of rustic living. A prize buck mounted on the wall. A fireplace. Sturdy, simple furniture, with 'modern' appliances that look a good few years behind this world's 'cutting edge.' General Briggs always had an ageless kind of quality. The man is surely old enough to have grandkids now, but past a few extra wrinkles it's hard to tell. He's prepared a handsome luncheon of smoked, honey-glazed salmon with sides of roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes. "Robert was kind enough to do the fishing himself," says the elder Briggs with a wry smile. "Though his methods were... rather unorthodox." Deputy Brigs dabs at bloodied fingernails with a smirk. Aptom's handshake fortunately confirms it is fish blood and not anything more ominous. "Haru's right," says Bobby to Utsuho and Rin. "Hard as it is to admit." He reaches down and ruffles the hair of each hellion in turn. "I... had a good reason to reel it in," says Bobby to Haru with some discomfort. "A few good reasons." "It saddens me to inform you that Mr. Takuma was not so fortunate," says General Briggs to Haru. "25 years have passed for us since the last time you visited," explains the general as he sets the table. There is no shortage of chairs. "While the Orphenoc crisis is resolved thanks to your efforts, and those of our own Riders..." A man with shorn hair in a biker jacket offers a wave. "Hi." That must be James. The general's southern drawl has a certain weight to it; an employment of the near-extinct 'presidential voice.' "I came to realize the presence of another threat shortly after this world--a split from the one you visited--Unified. The listening station I oversee received a strange transmission. It said, 'Decade will destroy this world.'" When General Briggs turns to wipe his hands with a dish towel, a strange, triangular mark is visible on the back of his head. "I have always been a fervent believer in the power of omens, and, taking to my own investigations, I came to believe there is, in secret, a concerted effort being made to pervert the future of this world, for the benefit of a tyrant known as Ohma Zi-O."
Tamamo	Tamamo arrives with Lilian and, having opted for her usual fantasy miko outfit rather than her still-under-design American garb, looks every bit the foreign tourist. Or at least, as much as she did back then. The very American cowboy boots she chose not to wear probably wouldn't have altered that particular impression, come to that. "Oh, young Mr. Briggs... or, no, has it really been so long? It is 'Deputy Briggs,' now, I understand. It does not quite feel it, to myself, but of the passage of time, I suppose my perception is often hazy. It is good to see you again, and in good health, in any case." After greeting him, Tamamo takes a moment to draw one of her sleeves up enough to offer Xion what is more a hand-clasp than a handshake, together with, "And you, Xion, I have seen recently enough, and yet, I regret, there was much busywork that occupied me, then. Please forgive me that." It was the ritual site she'd chosen, there in the misty mountain valley. The time they'd met 'the other Lilian.' Tamamo had found it hard to spare any of her focus for anything but the task she'd set herself, then. Haru receives a nod of recognition, Tamamo recalling his past involvement, while Corona and Petra receive polite curiosity, Aptom included in that by the mistaken impression that he must be another Watch member.
Hamada Haru	"There's nothing wrong with just wanting to live. It doesn't have to be complicated," Haru says to Bobby, with the faintest rise and fall of his shoulders. Regarding Takuma however, he remarks, "Doesn't matter how much things improve otherwise, if an Orphenoc is using their powers heavily or surviving terrible injuries by means of their special abilities, it cuts into the time they have left. That guy lived in a rough world before you ever met him." Catching on to the fact that Tamamo doesn't recognize some people, he asides, "I have no idea. I came alone, but if I was going to come with anybody it would have been Xion." On the whole, it doesn't seem to concern him that there are strangers here. Twin Peaks is a weird place full of strange twists of fate. Apparently he's got enough friendship meter to cede to the offer of hospitality, because he actually does eat the food that's offered. It's a little heavy for him though; he'll be picking at it for a while. It doesn't seem to reflect distaste or anything, though.
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite's vulpine ears perk against the sides of her hat at the meantion of cooking, and with a nod follows Briggs inside. Only to let out a soft whistle. "Now this feels rawht at home." She's about to ask about what make and caliber that buck was shot with, but her attention is drawn away by the actual food. That, other than being fish besides one of the more common meats (fish don't come easy on a desert frontier planet) is pretty much the sort of meal she'd sit down to when one of her sidekicks decided to cook. "Nawt hard to imagine." The discussion of time passages being greater or less for others doesn't phase her too much as she grabs a chair for herself and sits down, tail hooking off to the side to not get sat on or underfoot others passing by. "Time flows dif'rently in some worlds, 'til they become part o' this one." There's food, but there's also an explaination, which gets her attention as much as everything else. "Ominous shenanigans like that sounds 'bout right for 'exsistential crisis', yup." Tamamo is given a polite tip of the hat in return. And then said hat is slung on the corner of the chair back because it's rude to wear at the dinner table... which Corona only cares about because it's in public, to be fair.
Hellwarming Trio	'He got old.' "You're telling me." "Okuu! Humans don't like it when you say it like that." "Wait. So we should... Lie to him?" "Yeah! You don't look a day over ninety, bro!" "I don't think that's young for humans." They screech in mild surprise when they're abruptly pulled away, only settling down when they realize it's Lilian doing it. "Oh! Hey, sis.""Yo, Miss Rook. It's like the gang's all here now!" Although they're still excitable, the youkai have settled down considerably by the time Briggs gets around to mussing up their hair. They even sit still for it! "Twenty five... Wait. But it hasn't been that long for us. What gives?" Utsuho asks while straightening back up, exchanging confused looks with Rin once he mentions Decade. "This place only has ten years left?" Rin misses the capitalization entirely, but furrows her brow afterwards. "Wait, Zi-O... Think I heard that name once or twice before, yeah. But where...? And what's the plan, bro?" As they look around, however, they notice Petra's hovering machine in the distance. They look at each other, then at Briggs, then at Petra, then at the machine again. "Is that a Zi-O?" "Is that a Zi-O?
Tamamo	'25 years have passed for us since the last time you visited...' "Oh, my," Tamamo says, her sleeve coming up to cover her mouth, as her eyes widen. "That is rather unusual, is it not?" This is explained a few moments later. "A 'split,' you say... ah, yes, I do believe I understand, now." What exactly she understands is unclear, but her demeanor shifts to suggest that the matter is settled. She's on the slow side to actually sit down to eat, not out of reluctance to eat, but out of some sense of propriety regarding sitting down if others remain standing. She does, still, at least sample the food, while motioning for Lilian to join in the seat next to her. "Oh, is this...? I had not thought to use honey to... hmm, I shall make a note of this." And she does, pulling a small pad of memo paper out of one sleeve, and writing onto a page that already contains artistically unreadable scrawls. She's just finishing that when she looks up again to say, "Zi-O? This sounds rather familiar. When and whence have I heard it?" She taps the pen to her chin.
Xion	Xion is caught at the door by Bobby the Grey, and hangs her head facing the swinging door. She tries not to cry, but trying becomes progressively more difficult as she is held and talked to. "You kept going on that narrow, difficult path for a very long time, Bobby." Xion sighs, turning, and breaks down with her arms first. Completing the hug with her face buried in his jacket, the light squeeze pulls out an odd, quiet squeak. Released after, Xion drifts to the side of the room, stuffing her hands into her jeans pockets to retain some semblance of shoulder rigidty. It mostly works. Her eyes glisten. "Old friend, Lilian. Even if it's been so long for you, I'm... I'm sorry we didn't come around sooner. Even to say hello. Mr. Takuma..." She sniffs. "He held on for a very long time. I hope he felt like he did enough good to make a dent in it all. A dent's enough." The talk of Decade doesn't bring any understanding. But Zi-O? "Well, a while ago, there was that Kadoya guy on the radio talking about an Oda Zi-O, and then recently, there's another one. Two, really. Tokiwa Sougo, 'my demon king', and Kamen Rider Zi-O - and his retainer, uh..." Xion tries to remember the other name, blinking cross-eyed for a moment. "Oh. Right. Woz?" His belt had only said it five times at her, and the man himself twice. Only.
Petra Soroka	Petra scans everyone else present, and mistakenly comes to the conclusion that every single person here has met each other before other than her. Her smile twitches and strains, just a little, on her cheeks. "Well, if lunch is offered, I'll gladly accept. I could certainly use it after the trip, and smelling it isn't convincing me otherwise." Following Briggs inside, her stance relaxes at the undeniably homey interior. She murmurs a greeting at all the new faces inside, but doesn't move to sit down yet, her eyes still roving over the other arrivals. Her eyes pass right over the duo right as they call out to her, and she straightens back up in surprise. "Um. That is my mech, the Ekanamsha S1, which, as far as I know, is unrelated to this Zi-O." She turns back to the deputy, her demeanor almost competitive, as if she needs to make up for something. "You've mentioned a prior event a few times, and I seem to be a bit out of the loop on the details of it. Do you think it's relevant to this threat, this Decade, Deputy?" She seems like she's feeling awkward and trying to talk business to overpower it.
Aptom	Fish blood? Well, they are out in the woods. It does make sense, especially if there is some sort of creek or pond nearby. Aptom is not going to sweat the details. He is, however, going to turn down the dinner offer, citing a 'sensitive stomach' as his reasoning. His tone is very unconvincing, but he's clearly giving off the energy of someone who doesn't want to be pushed on the matter. "Zi-O? You mean the brat that prattles on public radio from time to time, yes?" He doesn't talk much there, he's very much more of a listener, especially when it comes to teenage antics that he's too old to get involved with. But he has spoken up on occasion. "Anyway, where are your sources for these claims? You said you've done an investigation, but I'm hoping there's some actual leads and not gut feelings here."
Lilian Rook	"Time is the one thing that is relentlessly fair to everyone, everywhere." says Lilian, equal parts enigmatic and tired. "Which means, by like all things that apply equally to everyone, it is the most apathetically unfair thing in the universe." "My number hasn't changed. Give me a ring, if you get sick of that particular aspect." Pulling back her hand, Lilian absentmindedly runs her fingers through her hair, let down loose save for a single crown braid. She uses the span of casually brushing it back over her shoulder to close her eyes and decide on a mood. In the end, she wears a look of effortless on-the-clock amusement; her smile reaches halfway to sincere. "Well, 'under the circumstances', isn't this a special occasion? He's a classic sort of man. Now I wish I'd brought wine." She looks aside to Tamamo, silently very glad that she'd dressed normally this one time upon an America. Well, failing her having something, Lilian can always fake it. Compared to the stiff, uncomfortable way she'd met with the General at his favourite breakfast diner, Lilian seems oddly relaxed for sitting herself at a table even more quintessentially rural America. Politely non-reacting to the mention of Takuma, and leaving that matter between those who would care for the closure. Instead, she mutters something under her breath about 'alpha timelines' and 'that god damned Lowell', then clears her throat. "I was worried it might be that station again. I don't know what it is, but the last time it heard something, things became very difficult very quickly for this time. I'm inclined not to dismiss it out of hand. But, still. A timeline split? Destroying the world? That all seems a bit much for this sleepy little town that America forgot. Why here? Why again?" An exasperated sigh goes back to the youkai. "Decade is clearly a proper noun. And let the man finish explaining." She subtly glances in the direction that they're point. Idly twirling her knife between her fingers, she adds "Please excuse them. They may not look it, but they're essentially children for their paradigm." An extremely polite way of calling them kemonomimi idiots. "Oda? Knowing the usual patterns, it'll be related to the warlord, no doubt." says Lilian to Xion, having no knowledge to the contrary and thus playing right into the bit.
Hamada Haru	Haru turns towards Petra and replies, "A subjectively short period of time ago a group of entities known as Orphenoc colluded with demonic spirits in this town in order to achieve a particular goal of sub-species dominance. This problem was resolved with an alliance consisting in part of the people assembled here presently." Then his attention turns towards Xion, at whom he gestures vaguely, "More than likely this is a result of some sort of time-related anomaly that has caused the simultaneous presence of 1987-A and 2014-B. We should see if 1987-A is still accessible from our point-of-view." His head twitches in Bobby's direction. "Not to downplay your own experience. Even I'm not that big a stranger on purpose."
Lilian Rook	Lilian has already borderline cubed her salmon. This seems to be for the express purpose of drawing Tamamo's attention to the way she is semi-effortfully levitating her fork a few inches from her fingers, so that she can hassle her with leaning over too close and eagerly insist on her seeing if she can take a bite from it while she keeps it steady. "You can just say 'ethnic cleansing' you know." comes the ill-fittingly blasé aside. "So, she's one of you?"
Hamada Haru	"No idea," Haru admits, honestly. Evidently he just decided to be helpful entirely arbitrarily.
Hellwarming Trio	"Ekana...?" "S1? Well, if it ain't a Zi-O, then... Can we look at it later?" "Definitely not a Zi-O. Yeah, that guy's got the right idea." Utsuho gestures at Aptom, then turns right back to Petra. "But anyway. We won't break it! I mean, unless you want us to." After giving the machine another distant look over, they finally sit down to eat. They even manage to behave for once! Maybe it's (definitely) because they know Lilian's watching, but they're actually putting their training to good use: Proper utensil usage, arranging their napkins so they don't make a mess of their clothes, and even chewing with their mouths closed. They also don't seem to take offense to being subtly called idiots. "That's right. We're paradigms!" "That's some kind of smart human thing, right?" It sounds smart to them, at least.
Timespace Riders	"It's good to see you, too, Tamamo," says Bobby fondly. "It was hard to get from there to here. I had to kick more than a few habits. But it was worth it." Sitting down to eat, he casts a glance over to James. "You eating or what, butthead?" "Robert," the general chides. "It's a term of endearment, Mr. Briggs," says James with a grin, much to the quiet disapproval of the general. The attempted flattery from the youkai actually has Bobby laughing--especially when Lilian pulls them away. "I believe that the involvement of temporal interlopers has made this timeline a Multiversal point of interest," the general answers Utsuho. Glancing at Petra, he continues, "I have little reason to suspect she's involved with this tyrant. Particularly because of the nature of the attempt on my life." "Dad had gone on a work trip to Nellis in Nevada," explains Bobby. "The plan was, I'd come and pick him up, instead of him catching a plane straight back to the array here--we'd go hit the casinos in Vegas before we both caught a flight together. Something... I heard it, but couldn't see it. It sounded like an engine," explains Bobby. "I had to transform to fight it off, but all I did was discourage it. Through the whole thing I felt this... heaviness. Like I was wading through deep water." General Briggs frowns at Petra. "I was able to request footage from the closed-circuit cameras at the airport. You're welcome to review them." He inclines his head backwards as he works his knife into his salmon. A hard drive rests atop a laptop. "As for hard evidence of this conspiracy... all I have is the word of an interdimensional being known as Narutaki, as well as my own first-hand experience. He appeared before me in the night and spirited me to the future reign of Ohma Zi-O, and to the world dominated the criminal empire of Decade." There is a glance towards Xion. "If you know either of them, any information you could supply would be of crucial importance." Bobby frowns, next, at Petra. "I... think it might be, actually." The videos on the laptop have to be slowed down significantly in order for anything of import to be seen. A grey, humanoid wolf-creature with a stunning white mane and sharp claws fights near-blind against a blurry streak of red. Pausing it on one frame reveals, on the mask, a single cracked headlight. "When we slow it down, the thing trying to kill my dad looks like a... it looks like someone who helped us through that crisis."
Corona Arclite	When the laptop with the videos is pointed out Corona spears a large piece of salmon on her fork, eating it like a kabob even as she gets up and walks over to join in the watching of the playbacks. Bobby continues to fill in more details as they do so. She hmmhmms, nods a bit, takes another bite out of salmon. Chews thoughtfully. Then looks up. "There's a few possible ways that could be, pardner." She starts ticking off fingers with the hand not holding the fork. "They corrupted or brainwashed this person, hoping they could get close to you. Two, as y'all said this may not be the same timeline due to becomin' multiversal, they may be from another offshoot brought here. Three, possibly healpin' before was a way to get close to ya for this moment. Or just some time-wimey shenanigans in general." In the end, she shrugs and works on finishing her fish meal.
Petra Soroka	"She-" Petra takes a moment to realize that this is referring to her. "Right, obviously, introductions. My name Petra Soroka, and as I don't know anyone here, it'd be helpful if everyone introduced themselves as well." The duo's pestering puts her off balance, and she looks a bit dazed by their rapid-fire shifts in topic. "Look at it...? I'm," She instinctively glances at Lilian, who's established herself as their handler in her mind, "I don't think I'd mind showing you around it, after we're done?" The suggestion sounds somehow apologetic to both herself and to the pair. Petra squints at the video, hoping to divulge something from the blurry, stuttering video that wasn't already just mentioned to her. "Someone who helped you previously? That would suggest some kind of mind control or coercion, along those lines, and with criminals like that I would definitely expect that." Finally, satisfied with the video, she thanks the general for the meal and sits down to eat, her back still straight and the flatware carefully held, by habit.
Hamada Haru	Haru takes a moment to observe the footage of the possible friendly-turned-assassin. He squints at it for a moment, looks rather agitated for another, and then leans back in his seat to look at the ceiling. He has a low opinion of Shinnosuke; he's pretty certain the man played dumb and enabled Lilian's murder of a guy who, honestly, probably deserved it anyway. On the other hand, he has a hard time imagining Shinnosuke taking a run at General Briggs for no apparent reason. There's a dozen other possibilities, of course. "I'd say it's a case of 'stolen driver'," he says, "but it almost looks like somebody melted his suit. I would assume it's somebody attempting to cause confusion with something quick and 'close enough to call Shinnosuke into question'." "Hamada Haru," he asides to Petra again, off-handedly. No pleased-to-meet-you, though he doesn't seem disgruntled at the mid-business introduction either. His gaze flicks towards Xion. "What do you think of Dollar Store Drive, there?"
Corona Arclite	When Petra mentions she's new Corona ohs softly. Well, she doesn't have her hat on so she just gives a similar gesture with two fingers to her forehead in a sort of small salute in place of the hat tip. "Corona Arclite. Machinist. Gunslinger. Gen'ral investigator of weird shite goin'ons." A wave of the fingers at the computer screen as an explaination. "All that fun stuff." She returns to her spot at the table, and jabs a finger towards Hamada. "Inpersonashun or other kinda set-up, reckoned Ah was forgettin' a possibility." Then digs into her mashed potatoes.
Lilian Rook	"Beg pardon? Attempt on your life?" Freezing her pose, Lilian looks to General Briggs with widened eyes. "Beg pardon, but would you have minded leading with that? Present, attempted assassination is a far different matter from cryptic radio warnings and phophecy in cosmic background radiation." "Who or what in god's name is Narutaki? Decade is the name of an empire? You went to the future? Was this before or after a monster tried to kill you? I know that you're trying to be polite and objective-oriented, but I feel as if you're skipping over some details, General. Especially when this concerns your immediate, physical safety." Lilian herself pays no mind that she has taken the tone of a shocked and concerned teacher with a man sixty years older than her. "Of course, it goes without saying that I'm thankful you were able to protect him, Deputy." she says, not quite audibly swerving from using 'Bobby'. "Even if you would have done so either way, I know that it didn't cost you nothing." She leans over as far as she can to peer at the video without shifting too much. "Like the orphenoc? At least, I believe that it was at the time. I don't remember it having any such powers."
Tamamo	'I had to kick more than a few habits. But it was worth it.' "That is truly wonderful to hear," Tamamo says to Bobby, temperature raising a few degrees in a subconscious sign of her sincerity. Her warmth is both figurative and phantasmally literal. "To change one's life by one's own will is ever admirable." 'We should see if 1987-A is still accessible from our point-of-view.' "That is quite right," Tamamo nods. ...and eagerly insist on her seeing if she can take a bite from it while she keeps it steady. Tamamo, who treats 'knife and fork' as someone would only by having seen others use them, even after spending more than two years in the British Isles, is first curious by the amount of dicing Lilian is performing, and then, quietly, quite willing to comply with being fed by levitational experiment. She'd not been too hurried about finishing her own plate, and so, she has plenty of room. '...an interdimensional being known as Narutaki...' Tamamo considers the name. "'A ringing cry' and 'cascading water,' perhaps...? Ah, I suppose the spelling may not be important." Looking at the footage, she says, "Is that not...? No, I suppose it is not possible to tell with any certainty, under the circumstances." The sight, and implication of familiarity, clearly bothers her. 'My name Petra Soroka, and as I don't know anyone here, it'd be helpful if everyone introduced themselves as well.' "Oh, please pardon my lateness, Miss Soroka. I am known as Tamamo-no-mae," she can't quite stand, because Lilian is still trying to feed her honeyed salmon, "bunrei of Amaterasu-omikami, She of the Pale-Gold Face, Goddess of the Sun. A pleasure, it is, to meet you." Her mind turns back to Bobby's story. "As if wading through water, is it? This feels significant, in some way. I believe I could divine some useful information, were I to be brought to the site of battle, or else, brought some memento of the event."
Hellwarming Trio	"Wait, so a bunch of people are hitting this place now?" "That makes sense, yeah. 'If there's smoke' and the rest of that sayin', you know?" With the youkai generally calmed down by now, they promptly get worked up again after hearing that an attempt was made on Bobby's life. It only lasts for a moment, however, as they realize that he's still right in front of them, and then they beam at Bobby proudly for no apparent reason. "Too bad for them that you can take care of yourself, huh?" "Looks like we taught you well!" "I don't think we ever taught him anything." They remain calm, though, but still seem agitated when he goes into deeper detail about the encounter. Looking over at the hard drive, Utsuho and Rin both look right at it before looking towards the rest of the group as if expecting someone else to handle the actual technology aspects of showing the footage. They'll get around to figuring that out another day. For now, they finally remember to introduce themselves to Petra, although their tones sound considerably more subdued and almost distracted. They don't even get up to pose, but it definitely sounds like they should be doing just that. "Utsuho Reiuji." "Rin Kaenbyou. And we are-" "-Junior Detectives!" "-Junior Asskickers!" "Oh yeah. We did get upgraded." Both agitated at the news and pleased at getting a chance to look at a shiny new thing later, they turn their attention back to the footage. As it goes and the perpetrator is revealed, they both get up with naked shock on their faces. "That can't be right." "What the hell is Teach doin' there?" "And why's he look so messed up?" "Yeah, he looks too... Melted, yeah! That can't be him. No way..." The only thing that calms them down somewhat, then, is more food.
Lilian Rook	Once she has the opportunity, Lilian tankes back her fork with a slightly unnecessary little spin-flourish, a shade of a second pair of gossamer faint fingers flickering visible for just a fraction of a second. She straightens up with some not-slight reluctance, stabbing her fork into her potatoes where it will stay, and lacing her fingers below scar level. In the blink of an eye, with the subtlest of shifted tones, her entire countenance palpably radiates deadly seriousness. "Dame Commander Lilian Isabelle Rook. Paladins Chevalier, Immunes Officer Commander. If you're a friend of Xion's, then I'm pleased to meet you, miss Soroka. I'd welcome you to Twin Peaks on behalf of those who came before, but this is ostensibly a more interesting time than most." It takes her just a second to realize that by 'friendly' people meant Tomari. Which makes a lot more sense, but it doesn't make her look any happier about it. "It's important combat intelligence either way." she says to Tamamo. "But you're right. I'm familiar with something similar. That 'Chase' person, who also happens to be related to the man you're all thinking of." She turns her eyes more than her head to look at General Briggs again. "I strongly urge you to accept my placing some of my subordinates here as guard detail whilst we sort this out. It's unfair to the Deputy to have to fight at this point."
Aptom	A mysterious man that came to him in a dream? Aptom has half the mind to tell the man he's clearly hit his head and be done with this. Then again, it's not much like he has anything else to do, and at the very least, the video shown seems to indicate that there is something actually going on here. It still might be worth it to hang around. "He came here to warn you about the dangers of Ohma Zi-O and Decade. I would hazard a guess that if anything is going to summon this "Narukami', it'd be those two. Though it's just as likely that they'd keep him away, given that the only thing he's done so far is cry about them." Aptom strums his fingers against the table in thought. This person is supposedly supernatural, so he has to wonder just how easy they are to bait? If he had a photo of either Ohma Zi-O or Decade, this would be rather easy for him to test, but it looks like it's going to take work to even set up a simple trap. Annoying. "How much of an artist are you? You've said that you've seen both Ohma Zi-O and Decade, could you try drawing a picture?" Well, he might as well take a few stabs in the dark while he tries to come up with something better.
Xion	Xion seems to realize there's food around and begins to load up her own plate with the embarrased realization of a physical truth: she's hungry, and it will also fix how off she feels. How sad it is, to show up too late for a last word with a friend. Haru's prompting on the specifics of how the 'false' Drive look and act - and the feeling of heaviness - are all-to-familiar to Xion, though why it would be Officer Tomari escapes her. "Well... It's not en-ti-re-ly unlikely that it's some sort of copy of Officer Tomari's Rider power." She continues, tapping her chin with a clean-tined fork as she carries a plate and stands. Petra introduces herself and asks for a response, which Xion seems surprised and embarrased to provide. "Oh! Sorry, I've really not introduced myself in a while." 25 years, subjectively speaking. "I'm the hero of everyone's hearts, X." Pronounced 'Key', Xion explains, with a fork salute off her temple. "It's spelled with an X." Pronounced 'ecks'. "But you can call me Xion." Pronounced 'Shion'. Scooping some potatos into her mouth, Xion thinks about Rin and Utsuho's clear recognizance of Drive. "I don't think it's a coincidence. But I don't think it's Officer Tomari. We can just call him on the phone. It must be Drive's power, being used for some bad purpose. Zi-O was introduced to me as the one who'll inherit 'all rider powers'. . . and that's definitely 'Drive's power'. The Heaviness, and the speed, and the armor. Do you think it's Drive's power for some reason? Or not?" "And what could that reason be?"
Timespace Riders	"You already know me," says Bobby. "And my dad. The quiet guy there trying his damndest to outrun male pattern baldness is James Hurley, AKA Kamen Rider Ixa, thanks to Xion." James scoffs. "Thanks, Bobby." The completely bald general gives his son a flat look, but continues. "I must agree with Haru, Ms. Arclite--Officer Tomari was one of the most scrupled men I have ever had the privilege of knowing. If it is him in that suit, he's certainly not in his right mind." He offers a wan smile at Lilian. "I take your point, Dame Rook. My apologies. The timing of the attack happened only a night after my visit from the being Narutaki, which makes me believe it's hardly a coincidence." "It looks like he got into a crash," says James in grave agreement with Haru and the youkai, staring at the sneering, crumpled face on the still image of the laptop. "As for a 'plan,'" continues the biker, "We were actually thinking something along the lines of what Tamamo and Haru suggested. I don't know how many of you guys she told, and I know that Petra, Corona, and Aptom wouldn't have been there for it." "We have a friend named Audrey," James says, knife and fork down. He finished fast. "All of us were at the reception for a local girl's funeral." Laura. "Audrey stepped outside for a smoke and met a guy she'd never seen before, with a pink camera. He said, 'I'll see you again in 25 years.' Well, here we are, 25 years later, and that's right when all this time garbage starts cropping up. I know it's not much to go on, but I figured you guys could either meet him there, or get in contact with Audrey and wait him out." On the topic of security details, General Briggs nods. "I'm in complete agreement," he says, leveling a stern look towards Bobby. "As is James." Surprisingly, General Briggs is something of an artist. In response to Aptom, he takes a few minutes, once he's finished eating, to produce two charcoal sketches. One depicts an armored figure with a grated helmet reminiscent of barcodes, or the stripes of an Italian striped shield bug. Beside this figure is a man with the demeanor of an adult delinquent; wearing tailor-made slacks, a turtleneck and a blazer, and carrying a twin-lens camera. The other depicts only an armored figure. A regal baldric like the band of a wristwatch lies over dark, bulky armor, while the helmet is reminsicent of an analog clock, complete with antennae formed of hour and minute hands. Xion gets a concerned frown from Bobby. "Ever since I changed, my hearing and smell have gotten better. It... sounded like Drive's power, but different. Like the engine wasn't burning clean."
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite looks up from her dinner and nods to General Briggs. "So some brain messin' gunk or such. Someone else takin' control of him. Multiverse presents too many possiblities to nail down just how without farther investigatin'." Then back to eating mouthfuls of potatoes.
Hamada Haru	"Wouldn't need to be 'Shinnosuke' in order to be 'Drive'," Haru observes, spearing an asparagus on the end of his fork. "But if the timelines are branched we can't really determine the particulars of the situation from 'our' end, can we? I agree with Xion's assessment. It's some sort of copycat, but the specifics are still up in the air. As for Mashin Chaser..." He shakes his head. "It may be that he is stylistically similar to what we saw, but it's even less in his nature to do this sort of thing than it is for Shinnosuke to. Even if he's hard-headed about admitting it in some ways," he says. Then he resumes eating for a couple of minutes, because he's fallen behind while theorizing and prompting. Nobody likes cold potatoes and asparagus.
Hellwarming Trio	Xion's reassurances do quite the job on calming the duo down, getting them to exchange looks again before settling back down to munch away on more food. "But someone with his power... That could still cause plenty of trouble." Utsuho concludes with a heavy grunt, managing to get one more aspargus spear and salmon chunk into her mouth before getting up to start pacing around. "And using his face to do it... Kind of?" "Only the armor looks like his. The face is all jacked up, though." Rin seems content to keep sitting and eating, although she pauses when James fill the group in with more details about the pink cameraman. "Twenty-five years, eh? Yeah, we'll find this guy. We'll get any answers we can outta him, and then... We'll figure out the rest later!" Seemingly satisfied with that plan of action, Rin keeps on eating while Utsuho does a few more laps to calm herself. When General Briggs starts giving them more info in the form of charcoal sketches, however, they both get up to start looking at his work in more detail. "That doesn't look like any we've seen before." "Nah, it's too... The colors are all off." "Even Mach was more... Bright colored." "Chase was dark, but more purple-purple. Not... That. But whatever's goin' on, it sounds like we're back in business!" "Heh. Just like the old days." "You can't keep callin' 'em old!"
Petra Soroka	Petra raises her eyes from her food to try to track the drawing, but almost seems stuck rigidly upright, prevented from leaning over her plate to get a closer look. Really heavy on that time aesthetic, huh. "Well, with a distorted-seeming power and a known rider specific power copier in Zi-O, we can at least rule out the idea that this friendly attack was a sudden change of heart." Her mouth opens and closes a few times, without saying anything, before looking back down at her food to continue to eat. "From the description, that cameraman didn't sound very sympathetic to the plight he knew you'd be facing in 25 years, so we should be on the lookout when we track him down."
Aptom	"Color me surprised. Not exactly what I needed, but close enough to do what I wanted." Aptom looks over the pictures with interest as he speaks, though just from a glance, he already noticed something. Ohma Zi-O... Decade... These are... Not organic designs. He assumes there are people behind these suits, but this man clearly hasn't seen them if he doesn't have any art of them. Despite slightly praising the man earlier, he begins to frown. Can't complain too much, however, it's still something to work with, even if these sorts of designs are a lot harder to replicate. Well, whatever, he'll hash out the look later, it just needs to be 'good enough' after all.
Xion	"It could be something like a Roidmude, though." Xion offers, looking up at Haru, and then the Duo. And realizes Petra isn't informed, again. The noirette puts down her food for an explanation, her hands lifting to gesture as she speaks. "Roidmude are. . . A kind of humanoid vehicle-mechanical life that was developed by a scientist in the world Haru and a few others come from. They have a transforming power that evolves as they improve their handle on their emotions -- which they jump-start in themselves by copying human hearts. Unfortunately, the fast path to power for them is through negative emotions, and they were very abused by the ones who created and developed them, so they learned to hate humans and dark negative feelings." Smiling faintly at Bobby, Xion shrugs. "The most likely case would be something like: a Roidmude copied officer Tomari, to pursue a strong power like Drive's. That's why the 'engine' isn't running right: It's a negative copy of his heart. Crashed before it even started." She shrugs. "Or it's something else entirely. Maybe Zi-O's ability to copy Rider powers can also grant them to others. He used... someone named Fourze. I've never heard of that Rider, but it's definitely possible if he can manipulate the powers that much."
Lilian Rook	'I'll see you again in 25 years.' Lilian sighs explosively in aggrieved recognition. "Who does that? Who goes back in time just to say that? How hard is it to just do the thing you plan on?!" she grouses. "I am so sick of Riders." She glances to Haru as an afterthought, and says "No offense intended." It sounds exactly as white as anyone would expect. She obliterates the remainder of her food while it's still warm, begrudgingly giving up on continuing to be an obnoxious table presence with Tamamo, then glances over the sketches. Her finger hovers over the first picture. "So, a main fork of our new investigation will have to be tracking down this lousy git." Lilian grumbles. "You can leave that to me as always. There's nobody who can get away from me when I really have to find them." Her finger drifts over to the second. "I get a worse feeling about this one, though. It's hard to tell whether it's the fine fashion in amongst all these absurd costumes, but I feel it'd be best if we didn't get involved in anything your dream spirit showed you about him." Making a discontented noise, Lilian leans back in her chair, and absently fingers her white gold hairpin in thought. A few seconds go by, and then she calls up her smart device interface, scrolling through a list of professional contacts, selecting 'Oda Satsuki', and rapidfire tapping out a brief message about 'organizing four from Sword Unit'. She talks as she texts. "I wouldn't overfixate on the attacker's resemblance to Officer Shinnosuke. Frankly, it wouldn't matter even if it were a 'change of heart'; none of the possibilities presented change what we have to do. If they have the same powers then it'll just be easier for us to take them out. I'd like to prioritize capturing this entity as a third fork, between protecting the General and investigating our alleged time-traveler. Whether it turns out to be a person or not, they'll be an ideal piece of focal material to track their relation to everything else going on, and we can learn if there are any more assassins in the process." Lilian softly snorts to herself. "Show me a sympathetic upper class photographer and I'll show you someone very gullible indeed."
Hamada Haru	"Haven't been a Kamen Rider in a while," Haru reminds Lilian. This is, of course, completely pedantic bullshit because the spirit of it definitely lives on in whatever the hell he happens to be doing and his transformation device is just some weird thing his mother came up with. He rests a fist against his cheek in what might be a weary gesture, and adds, "I don't expect you to feel kindly towards a group of people that are all varying degrees of defiant to specifically you, either way. Especially..." Especially Shinnosuke in particular, even if he's not the most immediate subject of her agitation. But he doesn't complete the thought. He's sure she gets it, and it doesn't help to dig it up more deeply. Slowly, his eyes turn towards Aptom. He inhales deeply, preparing to say something-- probably something lengthy, if the "rev-up" is any indication, but-- "I preferred our last government spook," he drones, before returning to his food. In spite of the negativity, this seems to be Haru's way of indicating he'd prefer if Cooper was around, rather than actually a shot at Aptom in particular.
Petra Soroka	Petra studies Xion out of the corner of her eye, and softens a bit at the unprompted explanation. Without, of course, directly acknowledging that she needed it. "My wondering about the 'change of heart' wasn't just for musing about motivation for this former ally of yours, knowing what exactly was behind the assassination attempt gives us hints about who directed it and why." She straightens up, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Her plate still isn't completely clear. Despite the grim topic of assassination attempts and world ending threats, her expression is brighter than before, still restrained, but covering some level of excitement.
Timespace Riders	"I'm afraid I must agree, Ms. Arclite," says General Briggs. He moves to begin collecting plates from everyone that's finished, but is stopped by Bobby, who does it instead with a quiet 'I'll get it.' The general continues, adjusting the rolled sleeves of his flannel slightly. "Even if it's out of my son's jurisdiction, it's far from out of mine, Ms. Tamamo. I'll make the necessary arrangements to get you a closer look at the scene of the attack." "None taken," says James to Lilian after a snort. As he washes those dishes from the investigation team who've finished, Bobby laughs. "You think you're sick of them? Imagine living in the same small town as three--" He sighs. "Two, now. I wish you could have come here in time to see Mr. Takuma. I think you would have really liked the new him." He pauses, the hiss of water filling in the silence. "You should check out the library, before you leave town." James nods at Petra. "It's where I'd start, too. Especially since Audrey might have spoken to the guy since then. Actually--Lilian, Audrey's pretty private these days and busy besides. But she always did admire you. If she has met this guy since then, and it wasn't just... toying with us, she might be a good place to start." "As did I, Haru," says General Briggs, who is only marginally different from a government spook. "But, as Robert said, Agent Cooper quit unexpectedly and in most concerning fashion. We spoke, briefly, before he left. I would assume his experience with the Lodge changed him profoundly." The general's expression darkens. "Whether it was for the better, I cannot say." LEADS DISCOVERED: NEVADA AIRPORT: The site of the attempt on General Briggs' life, several days ago. As it is still a crime scene related to an active investigation, the area should still be cordoned off, much to the irritation of the airport's management. THE CAMERAMAN: Known thus far only as "Decade," this figure appeared at the reception for Laura Palmer's funeral to offer Audrey Horne a cryptic greeting. No one is sure whether Audrey has seen him since; she evidently stays busy and is rather a private person these days, though she does own a salon in town. Past that, the only lead would be tracking him down in 1989-A. OHMA ZI-O: A 'tyrant' who is thought to have designs on this world. According to the interdimensional entity known as Narutaki, a battle between this tyrant and 'the destroyer of worlds, Decade,' will be catastrophic for this world. Possibly connected to the Zi-O of the present, a young man named Sougo Tokiwa, who dreams of being a 'Demon King' himself. NARUTAKI: An interdimensional being, whose Tamamo intuited to mean 'ringing cry' or 'cascading water.' He appeared before General Briggs to spirit him away to future timelines. In one, Decade reigned over a massive criminal empire. In another, Ohma Zi-O fought over the ruins of civilization with other terrible powers, maintaining an iron grasp over his corner of that forsaken world. General Briggs posited it may be possible to summon him through occult means (evidently experienced at such), while Aptom suggested using Decade or Zi-O to lure him out.
Corona Arclite	"Experiences can do that to a man. Both ways." Corona sits back, rocking her chair a bit to balance on the back legs and thoughtfully cupping a hand to her chin. "If Miss Horne is more person'ble towards Lilian pro'ly best fer her to look into that. Other than that, Ah reckon checkin' out the crime scene is our best bet." She lets the chair thunk back down on all four. Gets up and grabs her hat off the back. "Before it's cleaned up and the potential clues are gone."
Tamamo	'There's nobody who can get away from me when I really have to find them.' 'I'll make the necessary arrangements to get you a closer look at the scene of the attack.' "My thanks," Tamamo says to the general, and, "Shall we?" to Lilian. "There is little that could escape our notice, together, knowing the event we seek. It shall be little more difficult than having been there, ourselves." Lilian, at least, will recall the specific ability Tamamo plans to use, having been there to witness the past message left by a different Tamamo-no-mae, when that ability had called to the history of a certain blade.
Hellwarming Trio	"Library? Wait, with all the human books?" "Sounds cool, but how's that gonna help us with all this weird Zi-O. .. Decade stuff? Or the fake Drive?" They'll figure it out later. As it stands, there's plenty of leads to follow, and so they begin the monumental task of smashing their minds together to try and figure out where to look first! It takes all of two seconds for them to simultaneously name "the Airport" as their chosen destination. Judging from their earlier reaction to the strange Drive's appearance, it's probably not too hard to guess that they'd want to check that one out first. Also, just saying it outright. "Our bro might be there. Or whoever's fakin' it." "We can get answers from him, or we can beat the crap out of whoever's copying him."
Hamada Haru	"Lilian and Tamamo bound for the site of the assassination. I think I'll go speak with Audrey sometime soon... might just end up priming her for Lilian, though," Haru says, finishing up his plate and standing up. He follows Bobby's route to dealing with his own dishes, quite probably over the objections of SOMEBODY. Maybe not, though. He doesn't listen, though, and for a little while the water runs as he washes up-- the dishes, and a little bit himself. When he returns, he nods to General Briggs. "In the meantime, I suppose that I'll hang around. I don't think I'm an adequate security detail by myself, but we'll work something out, I guess..." He makes a vague noise about the 'government spooks' thing, but doesn't follow it up. It's probably not hard to guess, though he doesn't say so, that he'll visit the library as-suggested.
Xion	Xion lets her plate get taken from her with the dregs of dinner still on it, a reluctant shame lingering on her as it's taken with still some left. It's rude! But also she was talking. She can tell people don't mind, at least, so she follows Petra's thankful gaze with a thin smile of her own. "It's honestly a lot. I've not seen you around dealing with Kamen Rider stuff before, so don't worry if it doesn't make too much sense. Everyone's got their own myth to them, and a lot of the times they mix and tumble together." Producing a golden medallion with a pinwheel-like spiral and wing like frill at ten and four o'clock on the grip. Within the face is a circle depression bearing a picture of some kind of overwrought motorcycle helmet with two blue lenses and lines of red. "This medallion of mine has the power I've gotten from Kamen Rider Drive's partner, Kamen Rider Mach. It's how I know that the powers can be copied, borrowed, shared. They're the power of a strong heart." She pockets the medallion. "Thanks for being willing to help -" She carries on towards Aptom. "It means a lot folks still are willing to take on the task of helping others, even now. Twenty-five years later. We're a little late!" She pumps a fist. "But we'll get to the bottom of this. It's the least we can do."
Petra Soroka	Petra nods in directionless assent at the growing crowd wanting to check out the airport first. "Right. We should go to the point of interest with a time pressure first, make sure we don't miss anything." She starts to clean up her spot at the table, continually tucking that same strand of hair behind her ears like a fidget while she brings her plate up to the sink with Bobby. To Xion, she says, "There's more powers, with their own worlds of stories, in the multiverse than any of us could hope to ever know. I'll wrap my head around the terms soon enough." She smiles wanly, "I've been thrown into the fire a bit, but I'll catch up, believe me."
Aptom	Aptom makes no effort to correct the various assumptions that he's a government worker. People want to believe he's something he isn't, so he's just going to take advantage of it until someone eventually catches on. Though honestly, the pros of having people assume you're some sort of G-Man are few and far between in his opinion, but at least for the moment, it seems to have had some benefits. "Heh, don't mention it. Anyway, I've got work to do. I'll get back to you all later." Aptom reaches into his coat as he stands up, rummaging through it before he pulls out a slightly busted up phone that he just throws on the table. He doesn't elaborate why he's done this, however, given that he quickly strides towards the door to leave.
Lilian Rook	"Oh I can imagine." Lilian says to Bobby. "It's only the difference between being stuck with a few of them forever, and rapidly cycling through no end of them. I honestly wonder what it's like to deal with one who isn't a sixteen to twenty eight year old rebel without a cause and some incredibly complicated backstory, causing problems in the name of something or other." Her cooperative griping drifts away into what could be charitably be assumed to be a quietly remorseful smile, if one were of the opinion that anyone raised in the United Kingdom has a soul. "I would have liked to see it for myself. But I'm sort of glad that I didn't, in a way. Hearing how it worked out is good enough for me; I don't need to see the answers in the back of the book." She looks sidelong to Haru, and in the brief cooldown before she can put her cheefully professional aloofness back on, she says, "I'm used to worse things than amateur superheroes being comitted to the opposite of doing whatever I need them to. It's the way they tend to quickly become the center of the universe, to match the way that they act." She sighs wistfully. "Indeed, agent Cooper would be rather welcome now. But I can hardly blame him for changing his outlook on government work after all of that." Lilian hands over her plate when prompted, already entering the new information into her notepad app. "Oh? I'd wondered if it were appropriate to pay her a visit. It'll feel a little strange, I'm certain, but it does seem like the most logical place to begin, once we've cleared the time sensitive matter first. I hope she's been doing well. That girl-- woman, now, I suppose, deserves it." Her gaze wanders over to Petra. Lilian stares at her contemplatively, and then her eyes narrow with something like suspicion. Like she'd just noticed something very unusual about a seemingly unremarkable person, and wondered how she'd missed it. "I suppose that is true." she says, trailing off in laser focused silence for a few seconds. "Is something amusing, Miss Soroka?" Oh well, no time to grill. Tamamo wants to get moving, and that's when Lilian finally hairpins right back to cozily pleased to be here. It's as if she has a totally different set of talksprites just for her. "Of course we shall~ I was hoping you were thinking the same thing, actually! Even if this ends up waist deep in timeline nonsense, it shouldn't be any trouble for the two of us~" The way she stands up first, takes Tamamo's hand, and handles both their chairs, is so utterly stereotypical, and so blindingly earnest. "Oh, and please be kind to my cute junior when she shows up. She might try a little too hard to fit in, but I assure you of her qualities as a Paladin. I'll know if someone gives her a hard time."
Timespace Riders	Bobby has arranged it so that accomodations are provided to everyone (yes, even Aptom) at the Great Northern Hotel in town, to serve as a temporary place of rest during the ongoing investigation. Word spreads before long, this being a small town, and by the end of the day there are gifts waiting at the reception desk. Everything from home cooked meals to frozen prized catches from the river (helpfully dropped off in the freezer portions of the mini-fridges), to good luck charms and bouquets. Yes, even for Aptom. Consensus seems to be that the best step is the one with an inherent time limit, and so, General Briggs makes arrangements to have access granted to everyone present, as well as tickets to the first flight out to Nevada tomorrow morning. "Is something the matter, Robert?" "Nah," says Bobby, who'd been staring out the window. "Probably just a bird." Balanced expertly on the branch of a fir, the royal retainer excuses himself, flinging his scarf outwards. It envelops him and folds impossibly into itself, like water down a drain. Empty air occupies the space he once did, the thin branch bobbing lightly for his absence.