Scene #8710: Mall of the Dead

Owner	Pose
Angela	Angela needs to get a gift for the Dame Commander but the sad truth is--an adequate gift did not immediately occur to her and that means instead of just custom searching for someting specifically, she elected to visit a mall...in the multiverse! Specifically, she is visiting Nakano Broadway Mall in Tokyo! There is a zombie apocalypse happening, but neither she nor Cinder are aware of that fact just yet because it just started up a few hours ago. Cinder is borrowing the Eggpack today. The Eggpack is a backpack with mechanical limbs and an extendable viewscreen that can spin around a bit to allow for a greater range of view. Cinder is a red aired young woman with blackened tips and bright blue eyes. She IS armed with a blackened blade that looks like it's charred and ashen. (it IS charred and ashen, kind of like a hot poker that is struggling to mantain cohesion.) Angela is on that viewscreen. She is a pale blue haired young woman with golden eyes, though she is a bit... 'chibified' on the screen--it's clearly a representation of someone rather than ... an actual representation of a person. Right now they are moving between stores, looking for one that hasn't been locked down. The zombie count is still pretty mild right now but... "Hm.. What sort of gift are we looking for?" CInder asks. "I should get something too." "I am still thinking. he has a degree in Biology, so perhaps something related to the...Sciences?"
Aya Shameimaru	Tokyo... So, they moved the capital several times, and what was once known to Aya as Edo has become this sprawling concrete jungle. She's decided to come with Angela and crew today out of having nothing to do, but there's something a bit unusual in the air. "... that's the smell of carrion in the air," Aya remarks, bobbing her head. She glances towards the alleyways, then back towards the stores. "Not everyone enjoys being gifted something related to their work. What about their personal hobbies?"
UFO Gang	MEANWHILE, IN A SECONDHAND STORE... Three youkai stand in front of a counter. "Grrhrhhhhhh" moans the shop keeper, a portly Otaku gentleman of leisure who operated this shop to sustain himself from the income of his passion in trade (and also because his dad was probably rich). Now, of course, he's a zombie. One flabby, zombified arm sweeps around to gesture. "Grrrhg. mmmghh... resin... models.... mmmrgh." He sits back down. It doesn't smell that good. ICHIRIN KUMOI looks down with something like sympathy. "This is a very interesting town, but it seems like things just get worse and worse for humans..." "Yuh huh," says NAZRIN, whose dowsing rods are narrowing in on something. "MMrmrghh... imported," the zombie shopkeeper says. "Nazrin, be honest with me," Ichirin says, turning around and raising one hand into a dramatic little fist. "Humans... have they always had this kind of aroma?!" "sorry" comments the zombie. Nazrin ignores the question completely, as her dowsing rods cross together -- and then suddenly whip apart. "Ah, geez," she says. "It's... one of these three things." UNZAN, who is a CLOUD, immediately reaches forwards to try and pick up and shake all of the items. Two of them appear to be boxes for game consoles (Unzan does not know what that is; mysterious objects) which do not have game consoles in them and are just very light. The middle one has something in it, and he puts it on the floor, whereupon Nazrin gets to work opening it with her pocket fish-boning knife. Ichirin looks over Nazrin's shoulder. "What is that?" "Can you read the writing on the box?" Nazrin says cryptically. "It's -" NOW ICHIRIN and NAZRIN enter the space of the mall which Angela and Cinder occupy. ICHIRIN brings up the rear. She is escorted by a CLOUD. It's slightly pink colored, and also moving under its own power, but UNZAN seems to be hiding his face right now, so it's just kind of a cloud hanging out behind her and to the left. "Oh! Other customers." NAZRIN is in front with her dowsing rods. They appear to be leading her forwards. NAZRIN stands out more for the object on top of her head: a white plastic helmet with some sort of red plug-top or perhaps suggestion of a siren/emergency light - a red clear plastic cone. The helmet has been fastened underneath Nazrin's chin. Ominous stickers on the front spell out a cryptic word: SPOCK The dowsing rods begin to tremble. Nazrin looks upwards. "Huh?" The dowsing rods point towards--- Angela! Or Cinder! Or maybe Aya!? Nazrin, now empowered by the SPACE FUN HELMET, says, "Hey, I saw that backpack before. Don't go into any glass boxes, will you?" "What?" Ichirin says to Nazrin, before calling out, "Hello! Are there any ceramics stores or anything here?!"
Angela	Angela thought having a normal person's viewpoint would be helpful so she was happy to have Aya around. IS Aya normal? Well, she's normal to Angela because Angela frequently has to deal with ex-cannibals, professional killers and mercenaries, and generally troubled and tortured cyborgs. Aya is a journalist. She might also be some sort of demon? But it doesn't seem to be impacting her daily life much. "Oh, she doesn't work as a biologist profesionally." Angela tells Aya. "Professionally I believe her actual occupation is leading a group of ... prosocial Fixers." There is a bit too long of a pause before the way she says prosocial like she was unsure that was the right term but went ahead with it to be polite. Behind her, a grey-faced man with sagging skin moves from a candy store, blood smeared on his lips, to a bookstore. Neither Cinder or Angela notice. But she does notice Nazrin, with the dousing rods, and Ichirin. She quirks her head, thinking back--she doesn't forget but hse does have to reflect, it's not constantly all on her mind all the time. "...Nazrin, correct? You were assisting with Niko, weren't you?" She frowns. "It is called a 'World Computer'. We have no plans to do that. Are you looking for anything in particular?" Cinder considers, "I thiiink I saw a ceramic store. Do you think a nice bowl might be nice?" She asks of Angela. "Mm. That's not a bad idea..." The zombie from before hurggghs out of the the book store, slowly approaching...Aya!
Aya Shameimaru	Aya purses her lips and says, "I see. Then that might not be amiss. Perhaps if you found her a gift from a different world, with flora that doesn't exist in her world?" These aren't humans any longer; they've become living corpses. But they don't behave like jiangshi or any of the other kinds of zombies that Aya recognises; there's no ritual or magic to be had here. It's more like a-- A dowsing rod is pointed her way. Her eyes look a little nonplussed as she puts her hands to her waist. "... you're a youkai, aren't you? Both of-- all three of you," she sighs. "What are you doing here?" Nazrin, huh. The zombie from before tries to reach towards her, and it's with a sigh that she suddenly disappears and lightly steps on its head with her shoes, then rises further into the air on black wings. "Ah, now my soles are all sticky..."
UFO Gang	Nazrin's dowsing rods wobble. They continue to point ambiguously, one of them swaying back and forth a little. "Hm," she answers Angela, looking upwards. Her adorable gray-haired glare washes over Cinder, and then rests on Angela. Instead of answering her question -- She asks her own!! "Are you in that backpack thing?" Ichirin turns her attention first to Cinder and Angela. "Oh, yes," she says. "That kind of practical gift is something people can really remember. And a bowl or a tea set or something... that can last a life time!" "Unless they have butter fingers," Nazrin opines, soberly. Ichirin is about to say something back, but her eyes turn and flick then towards AYA * SHAMEIMARU as Ichirin says, in that same cheerful perky polite tone, "Who's asking?" "Shopping," Nazrin answers. "..." Unzan says. The cloud sort of... seems to turn around abruptly, sort of a general swirl. Nazrin snickers at Aya's misfortune. "Aren't humans here tragic?" Ichirin remarks. "These skin diseases... the decay in human languages... This really must be a sinful time." "Or place," Nazrin says. Her attention focuses forwards again. "Who are you shopping for?" she interrogates Cinder.
Angela	A tengu jumps onto a zombie. Cinder slowly turns around at the sound of movement and it takes her a moment to realize what's going on. "...Uh...Is that guy bothering...?" She remembers something from one of Tennant's movie nights. "Ah--" Cinder's eyes widen faintly. "...You're...standing on a zombie?? Watch out he might bite your feet???" He's certainly trying to, ineffectively. This is sadly not one of those zones where the zombies are actually all that spooky. Indeed, Angela distantly recognizes that zombies are being talked about and clucks her tongue in annoyance because it might get in the way of her objective. "Flora..." Se murmurs. "Maybe ... Lilies..." "...She does like coffee." Angela decides. "Some nice set of cups might work." Angela shakes her head. "No, I think...it would be very difficult for her to accidentally drop a coffee cup." ''This really must be a sinful time.'' "Hahnn..." Angela says. "Let us find a store that might have plateware and assorted." Angela tells Cinder. They move forward, Cinder readying the 4th Match Flame in case she needs to cleave through a monster or another. "What are you looking for?" She asks Nazrin. "We are shopping for a birthday gift for the Dame Commander." ''Are you in that backpack thing?'' Angela hesitates. "...No. I am simply communicating through it. I cannot leave this location so Cinder here is assisting me."
Aya Shameimaru	Aya has the high ground, so she gets to look a bit cool with her crow wings all spread out as she folds her arms gently, the breeze flowing in one direction to make her all aflutter as she announces: "I'm Aya Shameimaru, a tengu from Gensokyo." It's not as cool an announcement as she'd want, because she's off duty right now. Cinder's concern is a valid one, but a moment later, she falters because the zombie she's standing on falls apart, and she sighs as she resorts to just hovering in the air. "This is what happens when you don't take proper care of your humans. The Outside World truly is..." The topic of dinnerware is brought up. "Hmm. I can certainly appreciate a fine piece of pottery, or lacquerware."
UFO Gang	"Mmm... yeah, some kind of drinking cup or something would be a great gift," Ichirin enthuses moderately. "You'd really be able to make an impression! Here, let's go together~!" Awww, she's enthusiastic! After this, both of the youkai with faces look up at Aya. Nazrin's gaze seems more intent. She can see that cryptic glyph: SPOCK. What does it mean? "Oh, did a caretaker mess up?" Nazrin speculates as they stroll along. Ichirin leans slightly forwards as she looks at the Angelascreen. "Oh, so it's as if you're manifesting through the thingy. Like it's a portable shrine or something!" As she says this, a zombie wearing, of all things, an eyepatch swings out of a gap between stores, holding a knife. There is a silent scuffle as Unzan engages him. However, the conflict is inconclusive and it's as if the eyepatch zombie has disappeared completely. Either way, Ichirin didn't get jumped, so Unzan calls that a win, and floats to catch up. "As for what we're looking for," Ichirin says, "it's... hmmm-m... the best way to describe it is..." "It's just a little thing," Nazrin says stolidly. "We need it, though. For... our own birthday. Party. Yeah, it's a gift." Ichirin purses her lips and swings her eyes into a nearly full 360 roll around before smiling a little. "That's right! It was a gift!" "And it's going to be a gift again," Nazrin continues. "It's about yay high," Ichirin says, indicating an object maybe 12 inches tall, or wide? or long? "-- and--" Nazrin's tail flicks over the back of Ichirin's knee. Ichirin seems offended. The pink cloud suddenly looms over Nazrin. She leans over to whisper-whisper-whisper. The SPACE FUN HELMET conceals her lips a little, but the message is simple: 'don't spill all the beans or they'll charge us more' "... but they might have seen it," Ichirin says aloud. "Goodness! That's a really uncharitable view of the nature of sentient beings you have there!" "Is it? Oh, sorry," Nazrin continues; she puts her dowsing rods away at this point, possibly because she isn't getting useful intel from them and she might need her hands free to use the Mouse Style. Back to Aya, she asks: "What brings you all the way out here?"
Angela	Angela has no idea what a SPOCK is and she is determined to not be the one to ask the question. Cinder desperately wants to ask about SPOCK but is thinking about the right time to do this. Cinder jogs forward, slicing across zombies with her fire sword and-- --she starts running back the other way the way she came. "Fire just makes them fire zombies!" She shouts. "Maybe there's a plateware store this way, Aya??" Angela continues to speak as if she doesn't have any horse in this race because if Cinder gets eaten by zombies that'd be annoying and a hassle (and she isn't going to admit to liking Cinder) but SHE won't be eaten. Easy to stay calm this way. "I woulnd't use that term but--per--" She stalls for a moment, observing the eyepatch wearing zombie. "Alright, we can shop together. Since there seems to be a disturbance in the mall we can get a good deal." Cinder glances back to Nazrin. "OH YEAH What is a Spock???"
Aya Shameimaru	Aya has no idea what SPOCK is either. She's not terribly curious about it, though, as if it was just one of the many things in the Multiverse she doesn't know about that will just be explained to her in time. "No, this area isn't anywhere in the Youkai Sages' dominion," Aya remarks to Nazrin. "With how modern it is, I doubt any youkai have survived in this area. It's a bit sad, really..." Nazrin and Ichirin describe the thing they're looking for, but they sound a bit shady. And... "Well... what is it? A jewel? A pot? Some kind of scroll or..." What brings her all the way out here, though? "I'm just accompanying these two, nothing more exciting than that," Aya remarks, as she hums to say, "I can't begin to imagine where plateware might be sold in a place like this. There's no rhyme or reason behind it. You have a dowsing rod, Nazrin, can't you help?"
UFO Gang	Ichirin and Nazrin seem content to jog along with Cinder. Nazrin's short li'l legs means it's somewhat more compical for her. "Is 'zombie' what you call sentient beings in this period?" Ichirin asks Cinder as they keep going. And then NAZRIN is put on the SPOCK. "Huh?" she says. Her eyes turn up. Then she takes her Space Fun Helmet off and examines it for a few moments. "It has to do with jewels," Ichirin says, "but it's funny you mention scrolls, how come you thought of scrolls, huh? Huh??" Jog jog jog. Nazrin looks upwards. "It's a Space Fun Helmet," she answers Cinder. "It doesn't have to mean anything." She puts the helmet back on. On some ancient instinct, Nazrin quirks one eyebrow up. "It's pretty bold of you to think I'm willing to exercise such valuable talents to find bargains at a flea market," Nazrin tells Aya, but, perhaps without really thinking about it, she got the dowsing rods out. "Hmmm. Plateware... ceramics..." Ichirin keeps on joggin'. "Unzan, can you just keep an eye out if any of these strange humans attack these nice people we're shopping with?" The pink cloud manifests a craggy old man face!! "Un," agrees Unzan, before he turns his face away again. (Somewhere down the road, a manhole pops up; the eyepatch zombie scans the area, but ducks back down again.)
Angela	Put on... the SPOTCK. "It says Spock." Cinder says. "...Well I can see like SP standing for Space, but OCK doesn't really stand for Fun Helmet...?" "Is this really important?" Angela asks. "It's hard not to notice!" Cinder ducks into a store that seems to have a lot of pretty little kitchenwear. A zombie sits at a display table, another head is on the plate there and they are kind of poking at it with a fork. "Well we aren't getting that set." Angela decides, still completely oblivious to the sewer eyepatch zombie. "Aya is a professional colleague." Angela says. "She used to be a journalist." "I wonder if she covered wars" Cinder murmurs. "I don't actually know much about her body of work." Angela admits. "But she is the best, and only, journalist I know."
Aya Shameimaru	Aya has some cunning when she really wants to employ it, so she points out to Nazrin: "Plateware is often a luxury enjoyed by the rich, as are jewels. Since you are looking for something jewel-like, doesn't it stand to reason you might find what you're looking for near a plateware store?" Unzan has her attention for a moment, humming quietly. Sadly, she misses Zombie-Majima Everywhere... you'll have to do better than that, Aya. "How did you two get to know each other, Miss Ichirin?" SPOCK... "Could it be... the Superlative Patchouli Occultic Chimerae Kinematic..." Aya murmurs to herself. "Miss Knowledge has a lot to answer for." What on Gensokyo are you talking about, Aya? But Cinder wonders if she's covered wars. "In a way, I have," Aya speaks, not getting into specifics, but smiles at Angela. "Well, I'm terribly happy to hear you say that, Miss Angela."
UFO Gang	"I'll be honest with you," Nazrin says as they trundle along. "I don't know what it means. It fits pretty well, though." Somehow, her mouse ears have managed to pop out through the helmet despite it being a solid white body. Mysterious... Then they are faced with a SEVERED HEAD! "Ah... it reminds me of the transient nature of life," says Ichirin. Nazrin narrows her eyes (standing on the balls of her feet to look at that table set). "Wait -- you can wash it off, you can probably get a discount," Nazrin remarks to Cinder. "Hm?" Ichirin remarks to Aya. "Oh! I met Nazrin when I was studying under --" An awkward four second silence as Nazrin's tail has been drawn back as if to flick at the back of the knee again (what a mean little mouse) and Unzan's face reappears to glower down the back of Nazrin's neck. It's a real Mouse-and-kin Standoff for a few seconds... Before Ichirin clears her throat. "We were studying at the same time, and things happened," Ichirin continues, "and we all sort of went our separate ways but then we ran into each other and it's very touching in a -- um -- nonspecific kind of -- hm." Unzan nods once and stops having a face again. "So! Platewear! Or a drink or a bowl or something! What kind of patterns does your friend like, Miss -- Oh, how rude of me. I'm Ichirin Kumoi," she says, patting her collarbone. "This is Unzan," the cloud apparently, "and THIS is" "Redacted," Nazrin says \| "Nazrin!" Ichirin says. "You really need to be less suspicious of other people," Ichirin tells Nazrin. "Unlike you," Nazrin says, and there is a sudden intense spike in the amount of smugness on her face and in her tone, "/I/ have to answer to a higher authority, so I don't have the luxury of chitter chat when I'm out and about."
Angela	Angela doesn't really know what kind of patterns Lilian would like. Perhaps if she could actually visit Lilian's home, she would know what patterns she liked. Instead, Angela has another idea. "I was thinking flowers." Angela says. "Sunflowers and lilies." She looks to Nazrin. "Would you mind helping us look? We will, of course, help you look for what you'd like as well. I am thinking mugs and bowls, preferably matching. This is something that has utility as well as aesthetic appeal so it hould be an easy... 'slam dunk', so to speak." Cinder bites at her lip to avoid commenting on the basketball metaphor. She nods to Aya. "It may seem surprising to you but I actually take some enjoyment in respecting and acknowledging the feats of capable people. There is a certain small joy in acknowledging a captain is a captain, a doctor is a doctor, a journalist is a journalist, a Commander is a Commander. That sort of thing. Maybe it is a peculiar trait of mine, but nevertheless--I am sure you will find your stride once more." Cinder readies her blade, keeping it pointed at the zombie as she scans around te store. "Nice to meet all of you." Cinder says, struggling to keep track. "Unzan, Ichirin, and uh--Redacted Nazrin."
Aya Shameimaru	"I get it, I get it, you're sworn to secrecy," Aya shrugs to Nazrin. "It's not exactly the first time I've encountered someone who needs to keep things mum, so that's fine." The use of the word 'studying' is interesting, though. And the way Nazrin pointed out scrolls earlier... "It's not like it's my business to stop whatever you might be planning," Aya says, unaware that the other incident resolvers aren't exactly active at the moment. The feats of certain people... "Well, I can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking," Aya does admit. There's a quiet smirk to Nazrin. "You know, I do see a lot of things in my line of work. I might just be able to help you out with your little search efforts."
UFO Gang	REDACTED NAZRIN a tiny, tiny commander stripped of her space fun helmet Nazrin continues wearing the Space Fun Helmet. "Hm," Nazrin answers Angela noncommittally. "It's the least you can do," Ichirin nags Nazrin. "It's way off the least I can do," Nazrin says. "I'm very good at not doing things for people." "It will take you a quarter of a minute and you'll make these people very happy! And besides --" Ichirin leans over to whisper into one of Nazrin's adorable fluffy widdle ears something conspiratorial that seems to take long enough to say: 'they'll think they owe you and we can use that' Nazrin frowns and gets out her dowsing rods. For some reason they point directly at Angela's screen for several seconds. Nazrin raises an eyebrow. Ichirin continues cheerily, "Sunflowers and lilies! That'd be perfect for any time of year, but it's going to be really great for when spring's blossoming into summer!" (Unzan seems to float with extra contentment.) Nazrin glances towards Aya. The eyebrow thing again. (Does she have a tic?) It's a look that speaks of future secret meetings, possibly in an escalating battle of one-upmouseship. "Hm-m... so, sunflowers and lilies, huh? I don't think there's both of them on the same thing here, but..." The dowsing rods twitch. "There's definitely sunflowers on something over that way. Maybe you can mix and match the set." "see!" Ichirin beams :D. Nazrin is smirking as she provides some shopping assistance. For unclear reasons, Aya can see an ordinary-seeming if unusually plump mouse peeking at her from behind a commemorative plate.
Angela	Angela doesn't smile. She just nods to Aya like this is obvious. ''I'm very good at not doing things for people'' Angela thinks of Qetra in the sense of seeing Nazrin as an anti-Qetra, not in the sense of being entirely opposite of her but by simply having a life philosophy that seems to be wholly counter to her philosophy. Angela doesn't really have time powers so much as she has a time curse. Her percpetion of reality is a thousand times slower than everybody else. This means that when Ichirin leans in to whisper into Nazrin's adorable fluffy widdle ears--Angela has a couple hours to watch her sloooowly lean in, sloooowly whisper. Angela doesn't know how to read lips, but the fact that she's whispering is pretty evident. Angela's body cannot move at 1,000 times speed though so she all she can do is observe, observe, observe Ichirin and Nazrin's interaction. She hopes Lilian will enjoy her gift, she thinks for about on and off in those hours. Nazrin's dousing rods point at Angela's screen. Angela thinks it'd be ridiculous to imagine that the dowsing rods can pick up Carmen but ... it is a little weird she could even think about that right? ''Maybe you can mix and match the set''. Angela cups her chin thinking about this. Let's see, having one be a saucer and one be a cup seems like it'd be implying something, judging from the documents that Lilian has lent her aboutt partnerships between women. Hm... "Understood. I have an idea." Angela gets two mugs and two plates, both matching each other--one set patterned with lily flowers and the other one patterned with sunflowers. "This ought to do it. Cinder, please pay for the goods." Cinder scribbles 'IOU 4000 AHN' on the sales counter with her firesword. "Excellent. I think we are ready, then. We can wrap the gifts at the facility."