Hikaru Rescue Log - uncleaned

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

	In the end, it was right under their nose in Konan Ward the entire time. The building's original purpose had been obsfucated by time and renovation -- it was affordable housing, now, run by a portly landlord who had no black marks on his record whatsoever.

	But it was all a ruse. All a ruse, and in the end, the ruse peeled away.

	The front door is locked, but that surely won't pose a challenge. There are small, blinking cameras which you'll likely want to deal with. Inside, a hall of apartments -- not occupied, though some have their lights on, their televisions running. (The illusion of occupation.) At the end of the hall, an elevator offers to take you up to the second floor, or down to the basement.

	The second floor is supposed to be apartments, too. (Going up will confirm -- empty apartments, one with a radio which is humming popular tunes.) The basement is reportedly storage.

	Reportedly.

	It seems that way, at first glance, though there's more of those little cameras dotted around. Boxes of things, what looks to be the engine of a car, three or four bikes. But slide open the janitor's closet, and instead of cleaning products, you'll find another elevator entirely. And this elevator? It goes down further. The buttons are lit by a faint light: B2, B3, B4.

	Befitting of an elevator hidden in a janitor's closet, it stinks faintly of bleach.

[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'are you really this vivid a color'"
************************************************************
<icon information> Logging Started:  5-24-2015  9:18:50 AM
------------------------------------------------------------
This world is Pueblo 1.10 Enhanced.
______________________________________________________________
\     ________________________________________________________\_
 \   |              __                                Persona   |
  \  |             |__)  __    __  __   __   __   __  M U S H   |
   \ |             |    |__|  |   (__  |  | |  |  __|           |\
    \|             |    |__   |    __) |__| |  | |__|           | \
     |__________________________________________________________|  \
      \_____________________________________________________________\
NEW: 'connect guest guest' to connect as a Guest.
LOAD: connect <name> <password> to connect to your existing character.
DATA: Use the WHO command to find out who's online right now.
EXIT: QUIT to logout.

Welcome to PennMUSH!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yell at your god to personalize this file


Last connect was from 27-33-62-120.static.tpgi.com.au on Sat May 23 16:10:03 2015.

MAIL: 18 messages in folder 0 [INBOX] (0 unread, 0 cleared).
.__________________________ Sumaru City - Konan Ward __________________________.
.================================= Konan Ward =================================.

  The southern ward of Konan is Sumaru's port, and shipments are received here
  from across the world. While in decline, industrial sectors are still major
  players in Konan, though the ward has begun to see a shift towards
  commercial and even cultural interests, the latter started by the
  establishment of several museums in this ward.

  Many apartment complexes have also popped up in recent decades, as the
  lower-priced housing (due to its proximity to the ocean and thus typhoons)
  in Konan attracts further interest from those who want to live in Sumaru.
  Even municipal offices can now be found in Konan as this ward continues to
  grow and change.
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Ran Itoh [X] <Verthandi Cust>          Enoha Koinose [XI] <Sraosha>
 Katsuya Suou [VIII] <Helios Custom>    Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Tlazolteotl>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Sumaru City West                               |
| Northwest <PD>                Konan Police Department                        |
| Northeast <AF>                Abandoned Factory                              |
| West <LP>                     Lunar Palace                                   |
| Central <SM>                  Seaside Mall                                   |
| Southwest <EB>                Ebisu Beach                                    |
| South <AM>                    Aerospace Museum                               |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)
---------------- Unread Postings on the Global Bulletin Board ----------------
Public (#1): 3 unread (1, 3, 4)
Theme Rulings (#8): 8 unread (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Scene Announcements (#11): 1 unread (3)
Vacations (#12): 1 unread (1)
Tarot Readings (#15): 1 unread (1)
IC News (#19): 1 unread (1)
IC Rumors (#20): 11 unread (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Department 4 (#35): 2 unread (1, 3)
Central Sumaru Events (#41): 4 unread (1, 2, 3, 4)
Tatsumi-shi Events (#42): 1 unread (1)
Lunarvale Events (#43): 1 unread (1)
Inaba Events (#44): 2 unread (1, 2)
--------------------------- BBS at 8.2\% capacity ----------------------------

============================ Welcome to PersonaMUSH ============================
                     Remember to keep up with the Boards!

                               PersonaMUSH Wiki
           http://www.mysterymeep.net/mw/index.php?title=Main_Page
               Don't forget to +motd to keep up with MUSH info!
| Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue |
| Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec |
| 12  | 13  | 14* | 15  | 16* | 17  | 18  | 19  | 20* | 21  | 22  | 23* | 24* |
| ~~~ |  *  | %%% | @@@ | ~~~ | @@@ | ~*~ |  *  | @@@ |  *  | ~*~ | ~*~ | %%% |
|     |     |     |     |     |  O  |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|Today is Dec 14, 2013.
|+14 2nd Semester Final Exams End (School Event)
|+16 School Clubs Resume (School Event)
|+20 2nd Semester Ends (School Event)
|+23 Emperor's Birthday (Work And School Holiday)
|+24 Christmas Day (Unobserved Holiday - No Day Off)

================================================================================
MAIL: No new messages.

Ran Itoh's last pose:
<None OR Private>

Kazuhiko Date's last pose:
<None OR Private>

Katsuya Suou's last pose:
<None OR Private>

Kei Nanjou's last pose:

Difficult? 'So much I gathered,' he'd replied, flipping again through the increasingly lengthy, increasingly disturbing file his informants have been putting together for him in his absence.

$$$$$$

"Kidzuki," the Nanjou heir returns, the unadorned greeting accompanied by a slight nod. No real pleasantries needed here.

As for Miwa, Kei steps into the apartment as he's bade, trading his boots for house slippers and lifting the bag so Miwa can see it. "Tea from Hong Kong," he explains. "One or three of these blends apparently has some medicinal value, albeit none of the rhinoceros horn variety. Might even cure a hangover if need be," Nanjou adds, canting one brushstroke eyebrow toward Tohya's offering.

(See? That was pleasant!)

Getting down to business-- 'What' handles it pretty well, to Tohya's credit, so the Fra Mauro student takes a moment to peel off and hang up his leather jacket, and then to find a seat for himself and his teacup.


Enoha Koinose's last pose:
	 The feather. It's.... humming? Vibrating? What?

	 Ran brings up an idea. "A perfect pitcher...?" One can see the baseballs flying through Enoha's thoughts. "O-oh! You mean, pitch, as in singing? Uh, I can try? People say I'm a good singer, I guess..." That is, the very few who catch Enoha sing.

	 And usually, the people who catch her sing have been in situations where, for some odd reason or another, Enoha has to sing due to some urgent issue. Those issues usually are enough to urgently 'coax' her to vocalize, but here? Even if it's just humming?

	 Somehow, the idea of humming just makes it even worse.

	 It takes Enoha a moment. She attempts a few times, her voice varying in pitch in order to try to sync with the feather, but stopping due to her voice going out. She's not a professional. "Ah... um... This is really embarrassing." Eventually, she manages to come close to tune in with the feather's vibration- well, that is, a corresponding note in a key she can hum in.

	 This is where Ran needs to say 'I just wanted to know the music note'. Enoha's cheeks will be red for hours.

Hikaru Kurosawa's last pose:
%r	In the end, it was right under their nose in Konan Ward the entire time. The building's original purpose had been obsfucated by time and renovation -- it was affordable housing, now, run by a portly landlord who had no black marks on his record whatsoever.

	But it was all a ruse. All a ruse, and in the end, the ruse peeled away.

	The front door is locked, but that surely won't pose a challenge. There are small, blinking cameras which you'll likely want to deal with. Inside, a hall of apartments -- not occupied, though some have their lights on, their televisions running. (The illusion of occupation.) At the end of the hall, an elevator offers to take you up to the second floor, or down to the basement.

	The second floor is supposed to be apartments, too. (Going up will confirm -- empty apartments, one with a radio which is humming popular tunes.) The basement is reportedly storage.

	Reportedly.

	It seems that way, at first glance, though there's more of those little cameras dotted around. Boxes of things, what looks to be the engine of a car, three or four bikes. But slide open the janitor's closet, and instead of cleaning products, you'll find another elevator entirely. And this elevator? It goes down further. The buttons are lit by a faint light: B2, B3, B4.

	Befitting of an elevator hidden in a janitor's closet, it stinks faintly of bleach.

[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i guess ran will bring some kirijo party favors like she did a long time ago and get the locks and security cameras if nobody else wants to/can"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose starts punching the elevator "no, hulkoha, no smash"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "enotan, noooo"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose just looks at party ??
[OOC] Ran Itoh :<
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "y'all can stealth if you want or barge through the doors"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "EITHER WORKS"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Enoha will be moving bauxes"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "she gets a painkiller and antibiotics"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "and sure"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "and likely following Katsuya and/or ran"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "based perhaps on a feeling ran got"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "and investigating after that"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "yeah i figured i'd leave how you got here a bit ambiguous because i didn't know if anyone had any specific plans"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah we're just figuring who does what thing"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "maybe an anonymous report to the police from some dude who broke in/stumbled in/whatever, went 'dear lord this is creepy' and went the opposite direction"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "who also called a TIPS line or whatnot"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "This, combined with Ran"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "sounds legit"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'i just want this off my conscience' Police dismiss it as paranoid drunkard, and D4 manages to rescue that report from the recycle bin"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "katsuya's already been looking"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "so it'd just be a matter of looking into it + ran's feelings"
[OOC] Ran Itoh type type
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "been checking filings and stuff i mean"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	There are no people here.

	That's the first thing that Ran realizes as they draw closer to the empty building. She was so busy looking for a specific frequency that she completely overlooked an entire block's worth of radio silence. It's such an amateur mistake...

	But that doesn't have to matter anymore.

	She opens the bag of party favors given to her by Kirijo and withdraws something that looks a little bit like a miniature cordless drill. The bit is sort of weird-looking...? But when Ran slips the bit into the keyhole and pulls the trigger, a quiet BRRRZT noise accompanies the lock being forced open. "Bin-go," she smiles, and tucks it away. The bit will be useless after one or two more uses, but the automatic lock pick gun is a great invention!

	She just hopes the wireless frequency jammer will be half as useful. There's not much to be done about the security cameras other than to attempt to destroy them all. She doesn't have the engineering know-how to try anything fancy, and she doesn't know where the monitors are, and Ran's pretty sure half of that stuff is just movie magic, anyway. 'Reroute the feed into an infinite loop blah blah blah blah...' Yeah right!

	So they have to do it the old fashioned way.

	The elevator is really, really where the creepiness starts. The faint scent of bleach is not the comforting reminder of laundry day that it should be. "..." She wants to say something encouraging. But Ran doesn't know what that would be anymore.
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "what are we doing for the cameras?"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'shoot at them like an action movie hero!!' 'no, ran'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'that's not gun safety'"
ENABLESYS: Katsuya Suou flips a coin and it lands on heads!
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "how good a camera are these?"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "brb"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "unless ran's thing takes them out?"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'm happy for ran's thing to take 'em out if you wanna go that route"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah, i just wasn't sure if that was handling them or if i needed to do that somehow"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "they're probably, like, standard monitoring camera tech; nothing high-end fancy, also not the cheap sort of hobbyist tech"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i left it nebulous so people could do things if they wanted!"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i got nothing which is why i was asking"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "the rumours which spawned these horrible people after all did not specify 'also, amazing cameras'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(that is a different, weirder rumour)"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(soon to appear in my plot: Everyone Is A Master Photographer Holy Shit)"
[OOC] Ran Itoh :)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	In the end, it had come down to work.

	Some of Ran's feelings had managed to suggest a place, somewhere in Konan Ward, and had even come up with an approximate location, but it had been research and regular detective work that had uncovered the rest of the metaphorical buried pathway.

	The analysis of the readings given off by the feather, an overview of businesses and probable buildings in the area, an interview with a few locals, a few rumors and even a report made by someone (who had been quite drunk) calling into the station a few weeks ago, when they'd all been pieced together, the way had been clear.

	Then it had come down to planning. Too many people, and it could go wrong. Not enough people, and it would go wrong.

	Thus--

	The door, now that's a problem. He hadn't come close before out of concern that they might figure it out. Now, the problem is clear. "We might need to find another--"

	Ran walks on up, and a few moments later -- buzzing included -- the door opens. "..." He hesitates, before going in. "Breaking and entering," he sighs to himself, even though he knows there's no other way around it, even if they had found another door.

	There's not much he can do about security cameras. Another time, another history, he would have known someone who /would/, but that isn't now. Frowning, he pats at his jacket pocket, fumbling for something, when Ran pulls out another device. "A... jammer?" he hazards, uncertain.
	It's a good deal better plan than what he had, which he's doubtful whether it'd even work.

	It's clear by now that this place is a shell -- clearer than anything his investigation had uncovered, particularly the part about the complete lack of residents -- and his slight misgiving only grows as they move along. Here and there, he peeks into a side room, only to shake his head and move along. This much effort for a lie...

	It just so happens that they find the elevator when someone thinks to check in the broom closet.

	"..."

	Ran isn't the only one uneasy with the smell. He should say something, but...
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's okay katsuya, they're rumour police, crimes against them don't count"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "so ran's jammer makes the feeds repeat old footage right"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "that or it just gives them blank static"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa thumbs up
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "also yes i'm laughing because 'not again, itoh-san...' katsuya frowns as ran cheerfully goes places she shouldn't"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "just 'yes yes i know we don't have a choice and i know what they're doing is even more wrong but'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'it's not wrong if we're doing it to save someone!'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "katsuya just sighs"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Back! sorry"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "s'coo!!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "dad had to bring back down a pressure washer off the roof of the porch"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "It is a feat that can be accomplished quickly with many tears, or slowly with much celebration"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "as is the usual for anything that concerns gravity and heavy metal machinery"
------------------------------------------------------------
Logging Stopped:  5-24-2015 10:23:37 AM
************************************************************
************************************************************
<icon information> Logging Started:  5-24-2015 10:24:52 AM
------------------------------------------------------------
This world is Pueblo 1.10 Enhanced.
______________________________________________________________
\     ________________________________________________________\_
 \   |              __                                Persona   |
  \  |             |__)  __    __  __   __   __   __  M U S H   |
   \ |             |    |__|  |   (__  |  | |  |  __|           |\
    \|             |    |__   |    __) |__| |  | |__|           | \
     |__________________________________________________________|  \
      \_____________________________________________________________\
NEW: 'connect guest guest' to connect as a Guest.
LOAD: connect <name> <password> to connect to your existing character.
DATA: Use the WHO command to find out who's online right now.
EXIT: QUIT to logout.

Welcome to PennMUSH!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yell at your god to personalize this file


Last connect was from 27-33-62-120.static.tpgi.com.au on Sat May 23 16:18:53 2015.

MAIL: 18 messages in folder 0 [INBOX] (0 unread, 0 cleared).
.__________________________ Sumaru City - Konan Ward __________________________.
.================================= Konan Ward =================================.

  The southern ward of Konan is Sumaru's port, and shipments are received here
  from across the world. While in decline, industrial sectors are still major
  players in Konan, though the ward has begun to see a shift towards
  commercial and even cultural interests, the latter started by the
  establishment of several museums in this ward.

  Many apartment complexes have also popped up in recent decades, as the
  lower-priced housing (due to its proximity to the ocean and thus typhoons)
  in Konan attracts further interest from those who want to live in Sumaru.
  Even municipal offices can now be found in Konan as this ward continues to
  grow and change.
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Ran Itoh [X] <Verthandi Cust>          Enoha Koinose [XI] <Sraosha>
 Katsuya Suou [VIII] <Helios Custom>    Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Tlazolteotl>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Sumaru City West                               |
| Northwest <PD>                Konan Police Department                        |
| Northeast <AF>                Abandoned Factory                              |
| West <LP>                     Lunar Palace                                   |
| Central <SM>                  Seaside Mall                                   |
| Southwest <EB>                Ebisu Beach                                    |
| South <AM>                    Aerospace Museum                               |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)
---------------- Unread Postings on the Global Bulletin Board ----------------
Public (#1): 3 unread (1, 3, 4)
Theme Rulings (#8): 8 unread (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Scene Announcements (#11): 1 unread (3)
Vacations (#12): 1 unread (1)
Tarot Readings (#15): 1 unread (1)
IC News (#19): 1 unread (1)
IC Rumors (#20): 11 unread (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Department 4 (#35): 2 unread (1, 3)
Central Sumaru Events (#41): 4 unread (1, 2, 3, 4)
Tatsumi-shi Events (#42): 1 unread (1)
Lunarvale Events (#43): 1 unread (1)
Inaba Events (#44): 2 unread (1, 2)
--------------------------- BBS at 8.2\% capacity ----------------------------

============================ Welcome to PersonaMUSH ============================
                     Remember to keep up with the Boards!

                               PersonaMUSH Wiki
           http://www.mysterymeep.net/mw/index.php?title=Main_Page
               Don't forget to +motd to keep up with MUSH info!
| Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue |
| Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec |
| 12  | 13  | 14* | 15  | 16* | 17  | 18  | 19  | 20* | 21  | 22  | 23* | 24* |
| ~~~ |  *  | %%% | @@@ | ~~~ | @@@ | ~*~ |  *  | @@@ |  *  | ~*~ | ~*~ | %%% |
|     |     |     |     |     |  O  |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|Today is Dec 14, 2013.
|+14 2nd Semester Final Exams End (School Event)
|+16 School Clubs Resume (School Event)
|+20 2nd Semester Ends (School Event)
|+23 Emperor's Birthday (Work And School Holiday)
|+24 Christmas Day (Unobserved Holiday - No Day Off)

================================================================================
MAIL: No new messages.

Kazuhiko Date's last pose:
<None OR Private>

Kei Nanjou's last pose:

Difficult? 'So much I gathered,' he'd replied, flipping again through the increasingly lengthy, increasingly disturbing file his informants have been putting together for him in his absence.

$$$$$$

"Kidzuki," the Nanjou heir returns, the unadorned greeting accompanied by a slight nod. No real pleasantries needed here.

As for Miwa, Kei steps into the apartment as he's bade, trading his boots for house slippers and lifting the bag so Miwa can see it. "Tea from Hong Kong," he explains. "One or three of these blends apparently has some medicinal value, albeit none of the rhinoceros horn variety. Might even cure a hangover if need be," Nanjou adds, canting one brushstroke eyebrow toward Tohya's offering.

(See? That was pleasant!)

Getting down to business-- 'What' handles it pretty well, to Tohya's credit, so the Fra Mauro student takes a moment to peel off and hang up his leather jacket, and then to find a seat for himself and his teacup.


Enoha Koinose's last pose:
	 The feather. It's.... humming? Vibrating? What?

	 Ran brings up an idea. "A perfect pitcher...?" One can see the baseballs flying through Enoha's thoughts. "O-oh! You mean, pitch, as in singing? Uh, I can try? People say I'm a good singer, I guess..." That is, the very few who catch Enoha sing.

	 And usually, the people who catch her sing have been in situations where, for some odd reason or another, Enoha has to sing due to some urgent issue. Those issues usually are enough to urgently 'coax' her to vocalize, but here? Even if it's just humming?

	 Somehow, the idea of humming just makes it even worse.

	 It takes Enoha a moment. She attempts a few times, her voice varying in pitch in order to try to sync with the feather, but stopping due to her voice going out. She's not a professional. "Ah... um... This is really embarrassing." Eventually, she manages to come close to tune in with the feather's vibration- well, that is, a corresponding note in a key she can hum in.

	 This is where Ran needs to say 'I just wanted to know the music note'. Enoha's cheeks will be red for hours.

Hikaru Kurosawa's last pose:
%r	In the end, it was right under their nose in Konan Ward the entire time. The building's original purpose had been obsfucated by time and renovation -- it was affordable housing, now, run by a portly landlord who had no black marks on his record whatsoever.

	But it was all a ruse. All a ruse, and in the end, the ruse peeled away.

	The front door is locked, but that surely won't pose a challenge. There are small, blinking cameras which you'll likely want to deal with. Inside, a hall of apartments -- not occupied, though some have their lights on, their televisions running. (The illusion of occupation.) At the end of the hall, an elevator offers to take you up to the second floor, or down to the basement.

	The second floor is supposed to be apartments, too. (Going up will confirm -- empty apartments, one with a radio which is humming popular tunes.) The basement is reportedly storage.

	Reportedly.

	It seems that way, at first glance, though there's more of those little cameras dotted around. Boxes of things, what looks to be the engine of a car, three or four bikes. But slide open the janitor's closet, and instead of cleaning products, you'll find another elevator entirely. And this elevator? It goes down further. The buttons are lit by a faint light: B2, B3, B4.

	Befitting of an elevator hidden in a janitor's closet, it stinks faintly of bleach.


Ran Itoh's last pose:
\
	There are no people here.

	That's the first thing that Ran realizes as they draw closer to the empty building. She was so busy looking for a specific frequency that she completely overlooked an entire block's worth of radio silence. It's such an amateur mistake...

	But that doesn't have to matter anymore.

	She opens the bag of party favors given to her by Kirijo and withdraws something that looks a little bit like a miniature cordless drill. The bit is sort of weird-looking...? But when Ran slips the bit into the keyhole and pulls the trigger, a quiet BRRRZT noise accompanies the lock being forced open. "Bin-go," she smiles, and tucks it away. The bit will be useless after one or two more uses, but the automatic lock pick gun is a great invention!

	She just hopes the wireless frequency jammer will be half as useful. There's not much to be done about the security cameras other than to attempt to destroy them all. She doesn't have the engineering know-how to try anything fancy, and she doesn't know where the monitors are, and Ran's pretty sure half of that stuff is just movie magic, anyway. 'Reroute the feed into an infinite loop blah blah blah blah...' Yeah right!

	So they have to do it the old fashioned way.

	The elevator is really, really where the creepiness starts. The faint scent of bleach is not the comforting reminder of laundry day that it should be. "..." She wants to say something encouraging. But Ran doesn't know what that would be anymore.

Katsuya Suou's last pose:

	In the end, it had come down to work.

	Some of Ran's feelings had managed to suggest a place, somewhere in Konan Ward, and had even come up with an approximate location, but it had been research and regular detective work that had uncovered the rest of the metaphorical buried pathway.

	The analysis of the readings given off by the feather, an overview of businesses and probable buildings in the area, an interview with a few locals, a few rumors and even a report made by someone (who had been quite drunk) calling into the station a few weeks ago, when they'd all been pieced together, the way had been clear.

	Then it had come down to planning. Too many people, and it could go wrong. Not enough people, and it would go wrong.

	Thus--

	The door, now that's a problem. He hadn't come close before out of concern that they might figure it out. Now, the problem is clear. "We might need to find another--"

	Ran walks on up, and a few moments later -- buzzing included -- the door opens. "..." He hesitates, before going in. "Breaking and entering," he sighs to himself, even though he knows there's no other way around it, even if they had found another door.

	There's not much he can do about security cameras. Another time, another history, he would have known someone who /would/, but that isn't now. Frowning, he pats at his jacket pocket, fumbling for something, when Ran pulls out another device. "A... jammer?" he hazards, uncertain.
	It's a good deal better plan than what he had, which he's doubtful whether it'd even work.

	It's clear by now that this place is a shell -- clearer than anything his investigation had uncovered, particularly the part about the complete lack of residents -- and his slight misgiving only grows as they move along. Here and there, he peeks into a side room, only to shake his head and move along. This much effort for a lie...

	It just so happens that they find the elevator when someone thinks to check in the broom closet.

	"..."

	Ran isn't the only one uneasy with the smell. He should say something, but...
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "computer pls"
GAME: Save complete.
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 "This is really creepy..." Enoha can't help but make a quiet comment as she follows Katsuya and Ran down the hallway. "Creepier than if it was just an empty building. Even if we don't find what we're looking for here, it's definitely something we need to look into regardless, right?" So it's a win-win situation! Kind of.

	 Despite being a part of this particular force for a decent span of time, Enoha still doesn't have much in the way of 'cop sense'. Some things she's gleaned on through experience, of course, but things like cameras? She's just not used to looking for them without a bit of a prompting first. "O-oh, yes. Though I guess, after that report, I'm guessing they're probably already on the lookout for intruders, right?"

	 If she didn't have the knowledge of persona being handy, as well as the signature of Katsuya's and Ran's auras nearby, Enoha may have been a lot more paranoid. Frightened, even.

	 That all changes when, after rearranging some boxes and some supplies, they reach the elevator. The smell of bleach in the closet elevator is something that one need only watch a few murder mysteries or documentaries on serial killers to associate with things other than disinfecting things and staining clothing white.

	 If Hikaru is here, will they be too late? Or is some other poor soul trapped down here?
Shinsuke Kusagawa has arrived.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "shinsukeeee!"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "heyyyyyyy guess who's garbage"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "me!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i mean, you?"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's definitely me"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "no, it was ME, DIO!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "we're just in the first round! get ye potlast on and get in here if you wanna get on the hikaru party"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i am the garbage, it's me"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "and excellent"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "also the boss heal command is +heal/boss right (and remember to heal up)"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yeah, +heal/boss #"
COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa has fully recovered himself.
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has entered Boss Mode for 4 opponents.
 /=( Hikaru Kurosawa [Persona Assumed: Tlazolteotl] )=========================\
/       The Lovers       | 1. Men in Black | 2. Makara       |=================\
| Persona: Tlazolteotl                     |=================|=================|
| Weapon:  Kindness                                          |=================|
| Special: Will-o'-the-wisp                  EX: [::::::::::::::::::::] (0/20) |
|     | SLS PRC STR | FIR WTR WND EAR NCL ICE ELC GRV | LGH DRK NRV MND |      |
|     | Str Str Str | --- --- --- Wkn --- --- --- --- | --- Wkn Str --- |      |
|==Stat=============================================Sl/Pr======================|
| STR 30 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>::::::::::] 15/45 | PATK:  35 MATK:  51|
| MAG 39 [||||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:] 20/58 | WATK:  49 REC+:  20|
| AGI 36 [||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>::::] 18/54 | PDEF:  35 MDEF:  48|
| VIT 30 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>::::::::::] 15/45 | EVA:   60 CRIT:  5%|
| LUK 20 [||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>::::::::::::::::::::] 10/30 |  STAT GROWTH: Mag  |
|==================================| Skills |==================================|
|                          -( Earth - High Access )-                           |
|                         -( Recovery - High Access )-                         |
|==|Auto|PAS|     Counter      |------|==|Auto|PAS|    Earth Amp     |------|==|
|==|Auto|PAS|    Heal Amp      |------|==|Auto|PAS|   Invigorate     |------|==|
\============( HP: 900/360 )========================( SP: 792/60 )=============/
 \============================================================================/
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has activated Men in Black.
 /=( Hikaru Kurosawa [Persona Assumed: Men in Black] )========================\
/       The Lovers       | 1. Men in Black | 2. Makara       |=================\
| Persona: Tlazolteotl                     |=================|=================|
| Weapon:  Kindness                                          |=================|
| Special: Will-o'-the-wisp                  EX: [::::::::::::::::::::] (0/20) |
|     | SLS PRC STR | FIR WTR WND EAR NCL ICE ELC GRV | LGH DRK NRV MND |      |
|     | --- --- Str | --- --- Str --- --- Wkn --- Str | --- --- Str Wkn |      |
|==Stat=============================================Sl/Pr======================|
| STR 35 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::] 15/56 | PATK:  47 MATK:  37|
| MAG 27 [||||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>:::::::::::::] 20/34 | WATK:  51 REC+:  24|
| AGI 36 [||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>::::] 18/55 | PDEF:  45 MDEF:  46|
| VIT 33 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::::] 15/51 | EVA:   60 CRIT: 15%|
| LUK 27 [||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::::::::::] 10/44 |  STAT GROWTH: Mag  |
|==================================| Skills |==================================|
|                         -( Pierce - Severe Access )-                         |
|                           -( Dark - High Access )-                           |
|                       -( Stat Penalty - High Access )-                       |
|==|Auto|PAS|  Pierce Master   |------|==|Auto|PAS|  Sharp Student   |------|==|
|==|Supt|ALM|     Dekaja       | 16 SP|==|Phys|PRC|Terrestrial Needl | 12 SP|==|
\============( HP: 900/360 )========================( SP: 792/60 )=============/
 \============================================================================/
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "b-but the good guys dress in black :("
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose has fully recovered herself.
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose has activated Horus.
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose has activated Koi-no-Takinobori Custom.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "there"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "don't taze me bro"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose is just on like http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/965/495/8a5.jpg
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "there's language in that link"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "bwahahahaa"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'things you can't do with modern cellphones'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i love that gif"
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

'Bin-go,' and the lock pops open. "That was terribly clever, senpai," Shinsuke effuses, cheerfully unconcerned with the fact that they're essentially breaking and entering. (Sorry, Katsuya.) Too bad about the cameras, but Enoha's likely right that the rescue squad isn't exactly unexpected.

It's almost like the set of some horror movie: deserted apartments, an ominous elevator with far too many basement buttons, the alkaline reek of bleach. The bleach, by the way, is all on its own more disturbing to the med student than the astringent tang of surgical disinfectants would be, having weighed their implications.

The buttons, with their faint glow, draw Shinsuke's eye. "Which level should we start with?" he asks, a frown blooming on his pale face.

[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "sorry about that X("
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "also i am going to make the executive call of letting you guys pose amongst yourselves until you go down, unless you want me to narratively segue into 'and then they got into the elevator and went down'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "which"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "might be a thing you want!! but i don't want to assume"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i'm down for the segue because holy crap pose rounds"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "~pose rounds~"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "seque works"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "go for it"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "everyone gets into the elevator and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsoIfkNQYEg"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "awkward soothing elevator music"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "go for it hikky"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

	Logically, they would keep their prisoners in their deepest catacombs.
	And starting from the bottom will be easier than trying to go down from the top.
	So let's assume you hit 'B4'.

	The grinding of old mechanisms serves as elevator music. Whatever this used to be, it's a fair guess that this service elevator was part of it. It trundles down, down, and then stops with a dishearteningly loud /thunt/.

	The doors slide open to a sterile white hall and artificial lighting and the oppressive stench of bleach. It can't quite mask the smell of something dark and sick, like those shadow-monsters.
	(Like Ran.)

	More than that, it opens on a woman passing by, in a labcoat and glasses and no weapon at all.

	She turns her head to acknowledge the entering agents, and her eyes widen as the strangers are revealed.

	She takes a breath and a step back. She's not armed, but given just one more moment, she'll scream.

[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "b4 d4"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it all fits"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "JET FUEL CAN'T MELT STEEL BEAMS"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "a kloo"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "shinsuke you're not allowed to knife her"
[OOC] Ran Itoh :O
[OOC] Ran Itoh shivers
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "damn it, enoha's weakness"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'people without weapons'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "but katsuya :("
[OOC] Ran Itoh goofy praying mantis powers GO
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah ran will have to handle this"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou is hung up a little about randomly manhandling an unarmed woman
[OOC] Ran Itoh is the best ninja
[OOC] Enoha Koinose has the best tactic though
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "it'll work"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou probably hung up about manhandling women in general
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "enoha no, we can't smile her into submission!!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose( ._.)
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "uh excuse you i do not /manhandle/ people"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "personhandle"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i have a very delicate touch! a surgeon's touch, you might say"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "no cutting people!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "oh"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa grumbles
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "(well yes i do manhandle people in the sense that i am a man and i am handling them)"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose womanahandles
[OOC] Enoha Koinose also, bananahandles
Ran Itoh (Ran) pages: Permission to manhandle Dolores here?
You paged Ran Itoh with 'goferit'
From afar, Ran Itoh (Ran) has randomly decided on Dolores. AWESOME
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	"I saw it on the internet and asked Mits for one," Ran beams at Shinsuke, and though the expression is still a shadow of its former brightness, it's real. Ran is trying. Ran is healing. Slowly, a little bit at a time.

	This scent... It's Shadow. It's every dark, gooey, hungry monster she's ever lost a blade in. It makes her fingers twitch, it makes her want to throw up.

	It's like waking up to find herself drowning. Or maybe, like realizing she's still asleep.

#-1 ARGUMENT OUT OF RANGE's only luck that has Ran at the front of the elevator, near the door, when it opens. The woman steps backward, and Ran follows instinctively, like dancing. One two step three four lunge one two grab three four tug--

	And then she's back in the elevator, a hand clamped tight over the woman's mouth (was she pulling her along by the /face/??) and twirling in the cramped quarters to bring the worker in tight, her back to Ran's front, an arm barred across her torso and upper arms and that hand still stifling any cries. "Close the door, Katsuya-san."

	"Ne," SEES's senior combat medic smiles, chin resting just above the woman's shoulder, nearly cheek to cheek with her. "Don't be scared. We're looking for someone and you're going to be nice and help us, okay?"

	There's something terrifying about Ran sometimes.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "rofl, that should be 'it's only luck'"
You paged Ran Itoh with 'hilarious fact: my gw2 engie is dolores so i was REALLY CONFUSED FOR A SEC'
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i guessed"
Ran Itoh (Ran) pages: LOL!
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "glitch girl"
[OOC] Ran Itoh :);;;
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "whoops"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "ran just like "i'm /mostly/ not an eldritch abomination now""
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "almost entirely tentacle-free!!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ranthulhu lives"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "ROFL"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "and dad arrives with a reeses mcflurry"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose +__+ my delicious
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yum!"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	This close, Katsuya really can't /not/ overhear. Lockpicks, jammers for security cameras. Just... what /does/ SEES get up to? It's testament to the severity of the moment that other than stare at them in shocked silence for a moment, he doesn't actually pass judgment.

	They need to keep moving before they're found. He knows that.

	If Hikaru is even still alive in here, they have to...

	The elevator touchs bottom, after a silent ride pockmarked only by the grinding mechanism within. Not just one basement level, but four? The reports -- some of the ones that had tipped him this way -- had suggested that the structure of the building had been altered, but he hadn't realized it had been this much.
	There's a smell, Katsuya realizes, wedged to one side close to the controls.

	The pills had tasted like that.
	Against the wall, Katsuya stands that much straighter, goes that much whiter in the face.

	And then, of all things, there's a researcher. Katsuya reaches for the 'close doors' button, but he's not fast enough, not before she already turns towards them. There's not enough time to do anything, not anything rational. He freezes.

	Ran doesn't. He doesn't in fact realize what's happening until she tells him to close the doors. Thumb already almost over the button, it's work of a second to press it firmly.

	It's only in the few seconds after that he realizes what happened, what he did, and what's going on now. And he realizes too that this is the only way they can proceed properly.

	So he just turns his head to look at the researcher and chimes in, "She's right, we won't hurt you. We're looking for someone, and we're looking for the people responsible for this. Tell us where they are, please." Logically, the best thing would be to rescue Hikaru and get out again, to come back with more people... but what's best and what's right are two different things. He's ending this here, he won't give them the chance to run again.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "oh look, we're having fun in an elevator again kacchan!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "it's just like old times."
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "oh god"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "AND IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF FUN"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose whimpers in a corner
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "hot"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "n-no more elevators"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa 3
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "i don't care if this is not the SHU"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "oh no my eyes"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "NOT THAT ELEVATOR"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "there was a time ran and katsu were in an elevator"
Ran Itoh has reconnected.
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

It may be fainter than before, but it's there and real and she's trying. Thus, Ran earns herself a smile in return, warm as bread fresh from the oven. He's glad to see progress, really truly glad.

B4 it is. The elevator creaks and grinds and groans--

And lets them out into sterile whiteness. The smell is stronger here, and Shinsuke's nose wrinkles at the sharpness of it -- and, he realises, at the thick musky undertone of Shadow it's trying, and failing, to hide. Tartarus smells like this; the Dark Hour smells like this. Even the TV, as much as it tries to cultivate other odors in its myriad dungeons. (He remembers how the scent of roses couldn't quite mask it, in his own.)

When the doors slide open they reveal a woman there, labcoated and -- surprised. She'll scream if--

Almost before Shinsuke can react, Ran pounces and drags the woman back into the elevator with them. It's honestly impressive, especially when Ran ladles sweetness on top of it. Between her and Katsuya, Shinsuke doesn't bother adding to the threat; they've got it well in hand.

[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'i feel so useful :D;;;'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "shinsuke kicks back"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'this mission is so relaxing'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "shinsuke sips a tropical drink with a little umbrella"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "also i'm gonna duck out to grab food (and hopefully ice cream), i should be back before it loops around to me again"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "hahahaha yes"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "OK!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "did anyone mention hikaru's name to this lady btw or"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "nope"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "oh oops"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I can :)"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yes save us enotan!!!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "yaes please do"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i deliberately didn't"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's more a case of like"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'd prefer to give you more than her nodding her head""
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah yeah"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "just, katsuya was like 'yeah not right away'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "so this is a good moment for someone to blab"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose TO THE RESCUE
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(i would totally get down in the nitty-gritty but i am terrible at that so i'm trying to be aware of places to streamline things)"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah no worries!"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "playing a practical character can be a pain in the ass"
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 Which button, indeed. Enoha's mouth twists. "Top? No, bottom. That'd be key, right? No need to double through places we've already be-"

	 /Thunt/.

	 As the doors open to a white hallway that wouldn't be out of place in some spy movie's headquarters, or a secret laboratory, Enoha realizes her mistake. Just because the top levels were uninhabited did *not* mean the bottom ones would be similar, save for possibly some deranged serial killer and his/her victim(s). How could one person or a small group of peoplem even, manage to create a fake backdrop like that?

	 It's so much more complicated, as evidenced by the helpless worker in the labcoat who just happened to walk by.

	 Enoha summons her best, most comforting grin. Which, under the circumstances, may come off as a little awkward, if earnest in its own way. After all, this is the person who is displaying, very openly, that her first instinct in such a situation is not to threaten. "It's okay! They know we're here."

	 It was worth a shot.

	 Ran proves herself to be the more skeptical responder, opting to bring the woman in as prisoner into the elevator. Enoha steps back to allow for some room. Waiting until the elevator doors close and until everyone has their say, Enoha adds, "Yes. Well, the person's name is Hikaru Kurosawa. He's our friend. If you knew him like we did, you'd probably be doing the same thing as we're doing." She chuckles awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, really, it's amazing what lengths a person would go for a friend sometimes, y'know? But yes. Please, help us. I'm quite sure we didn't get here without being noticed, so alerting people is something you can skip."
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yes, but that is why we love katsuya so"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "oh enoha"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "you are so moe"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "just 'oh my god'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "violence only comes to enoha easily when someone has a weapon :("
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i love ran being a goofy blonde praying mantis"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "it's the best"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

She screams, but it's against Ran's hand, now; a doctor or a lab technician, she has little chance against Awakened strength. There's terror on her face, and as the doors close and she gets a look at her captors...

	There's a little hatred there, too, especially as her eyes settle on Katsuya.

	(That man is head of the imposters. The 'other' D4. Surely she's seen his face, before.)

	He assures her that they'll not hurt her, even though this girl rests her chin on her shoulder and speaks with so many layered threats. But the way she talks, the speed with which she took her -- Ran is terrifying. And as much as Enoha tries, her grin and her words have the exact same terrifying effect -- this other D4 would do anything for Kurosawa. Even /kill/ her. The fear over the hate, eventually, because she doesn't want to die.

	And so she nods her head. When she's given the chance to speak, her voice trembles. "That subject is in room four, up -- up the hall from here. T-take my keycard," she glances down to where it is on her belt, "that'll let you in, so... so don't kill me." Her voice is barely a whisper as she repeats that line. "Please don't kill me."%r	The footfalls of approaching security suggest that Enoha's correct -- even if they got down here without a fuss, they must have seen the woman being kidnapped into that elevator. There's the sound of guns being readied, safeties released. A long, protesting beeeeeep as some command or another is sent to the elevator. The doors begin to slide open. There's another feminine voice, this one far more firm, authorative: "Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up!"

	Something about this makes it seem like they're not going to wait for them to comply before shooting. 'Stop and we'll shoot', huh?

[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's ok ran now i, too, have fucked up formatting"
[OOC] Ran Itoh :(
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "r i p formatting"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "formatting is tricky"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "also now the question comes out: do you guys wanna do this narratively or csys-wise, i am prepared for either one"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "but i wanted to give the option to you!!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "I have no preference!!"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i can do this either way"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "sorry!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "no preference, will tank either way"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "why are we all so easy-going"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "flip for it"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "because commitment is hard"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "naw i'll make the call to do it with the sys since kacchan threw the armor at me and everything"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "and so:"
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Myriad Arrows on Ran Itoh for 37 Pierce (Weak!), 39 Pierce (Weak!), and 40 Pierce (Weak!)!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Myriad Arrows on Katsuya Suou for 25 Pierce, 41 Pierce (Critical!), and 26 Pierce!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Myriad Arrows on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 23 Pierce, 24 Pierce, and 27 Pierce!
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
PASSIVE: Enoha Koinose's Counter passive has activated against Hikaru Kurosawa!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Torrent Shot on Enoha Koinose for 18 Pierce, 18 Pierce, and 33 Pierce (Critical!)!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has ended his turn.
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "wargh"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa returns
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "well that was rude"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "what did you expect"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "you just invaded a horrible shadowy hideout"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "did you want a welcome basket!!!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(you probably don't want a welcome basket)"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "just because it's a horrible shadowy hideout doesn't mean they couldn't welcome us with tea and biscuits"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(it's probably filled with, like, shadow kittens)"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "shadow pineapple"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "which is far too funny to me because my black cat is currently draped over me"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "taaannnk"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "mine is begging for garlic parm wings"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "don't give cat garlic"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "toxic"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "that, plus his chicken allergy, is the reason he isn't getting any"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "also because of foods i will probably pose last, rip"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	Someone else should take the keycard - Ran's hands are kinda full.

	"See, that's very nice of you," Ran beams. It's probably lost on the doctor-or-whoever, as she's still being used as a hostage. "Don't worry," she tries provide some comfort, "We /said/ we're not going to hurt you." It's just hard to believe that sometimes. Ran knows.

	She gives the woman a gentle shove toward the corner that contains the button panel, reasoning that it'll be the safest one. "Stay there, okay-- ungh!"

	Being Awakened means that bullets don't necessarily need to be fatal, but it doesn't guarantee that they won't hurt like a son of a bitch. Ran staggers back under the spray of projectiles, hands raised to protect her face and eyes, and falls back against the far wall. "Gh--!"

	Breathe. Act. She raises a hand, palm out, toward the door and Verthandi springs to life in the cramped quarters. Her great turbine spins up into a deafening roar, sending blades of wind howling through the enemy soldiers.
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses Garula on Hikaru Kurosawa for 59 Wind (Strong!)!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh has ended her turn.
ENABLESYS: Katsuya Suou flips a coin and it lands on tails!
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I'll take the card unless someone else wants to"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "a card-carrying enoha"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "she's official!!"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa has fooded
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	It's testament to something -- experience with Enoha, perhaps, or the quick (for Katsuya) realization that her attitude here might not be all that inappropriate here, with a woman who is scared out of her wits and may be a relative innocent here -- that Katsuya's expression doesn't so much as flicker as Koinose does what she does best.

	He can't even say if it's a good or a bad thing that she namedrops Hikaru.
	But if they can get to him faster...
	At some point, all hell is going to break loose down here, and he can only hope they can keep the upper hand. Perhaps SEES' presence here might tip the scales in their favor.
	It's a thought that comes with a guilty twinge.
	Which is followed steadily by the unusually crisp and clear (these days) thought that he won't let anything happen. To any of them. If it comes down to their lives or his, he'll...

	That look in the woman's eyes, though, as they settle on him, it's not often -- lately -- that he's been afforded so much blunt hate. His gaze takes on a questioning, almost uncertain quality. Certainly, uncomfortable.
	It's not just hate, though...

	'That subject'. Still alive? He doesn't say it out loud, instead Katsuya nods. "Koinose-san, could you...?" he asks, looking at Enoha. Because he hasn't forgotten that look in her eyes. "Thank you, we appreciate your cooperation. I do apologize for this, but we are... Where did you say the people in charge were stationed?"

	There's a hiss, and there Katsuya turns towards the door. It opened. Forced? Thoughts speed through his mind at a rapid pace, and he moves away from the space in the corner, drawing his handgun in the same motion as the woman is pushed in where he vacated. There's nowhere to maneuver, though, nowhere with cover where he can shoot /and/ stay out of the way of fire from the weapons now pointed into the crowded elevator.
	This is what the phrase 'like shooting fish in a barrel' was meant for.

	And he couldn't even say how he knew they /were/ going to shoot if he tried. Old instinct, perhaps. The bullets, when the come, cut through him in no less than three places. A Persona helps, a Persona allows you to stand up in the face of damage that would kill or maim someone else, but that by no means suggests that the part where you stand is /easy/. Katsuya grunts, particularly at the one that clips his shoulder in a spray of red, and staggers for a moment.

	Either way -- out or in -- is tantamount to suicide. Thus, out of options, blue light flares around Suou as he rushes out of the elevator, a rolling wall of flame soon leading the way before him.
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou regains his balance!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses Firestorm on Hikaru Kurosawa for 19 Fire and 21 Fire, applying Burn!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou has ended his turn.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "GO KACCHAN"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "most badass boss"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "aw yeaaaahhhh"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yaaay"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou :I;;
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "it's nice admittedly to be able to use fire spells and not have people go 'and then things caught on fire'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "because gosh"
GAME: Save complete.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "well, we're not at Burning Man, so"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "tile isn't very flammable no"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "but that is a good point"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "fwoom"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "just like as a thing overall"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yeah"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "there are times when 'yeah the place is gonna go up' but sometimes it's just been 'really? really now'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "IT'S MAGIC FIRE"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "fight in a bar: YES"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I mean, if that was the case, lightning would be more than, well"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'magic boomboom'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "fight in a building: i assume you can control it unless you choose not to"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "it would be 'OH DEAR GOD'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "light magic works through exorcisms"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou :I
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "people like setting shit on fire even when it's not really appropriate, because fire is cool"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "actually fire is hot"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa tries not to, himself, though sometimes it can't be helped
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i don't care if someone's posed it that way but it's like"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa tosses hikaru
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'and your spell made things go up' 'what'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa sails right into the trash
[OOC] Enoha Koinose sprays everything with water, ruining everyone's electronic equipment
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "thank you, that guy who tried to burn down the lucky 7"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "SADLY IT WAS MADE OUT OF ASBESTOS"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "why /did/ everyone go after the lucky 7"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "because strega"
[OOC] Ran Itoh *shrug*
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "because it was sees-owned and that's how dr. leo & co roll"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "because nwo is a bunch of jerks"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "fuck those guys"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'm just assuming this was sudou"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "because, you know, fire"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "nope, this was strega back in the early days"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "oh, well"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'm still going to blame sudou"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "they attacked the Yomenaido as well"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "they tried to firebomb ran's family's convenience store (which, by the way, the itohs /live over/), without permission iirc"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i wasn't here at the time i think"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "it ended up being a huge thing oocly, for obvious reasons"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "wow what a dick move"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yup"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yeah hinata and i were like 'uh, we don't mind some surface charring but can we oocly agree to not destroy our home???'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "and mostly it was the fire guy who did not listen."
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "lessee, what attacks to use"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "geez"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "some of the other m3ers used that as evidence that pmush was shitty and afraid of consequences and hostile to villains"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "ahahaha wow"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "pmush is the place i most love to play villains even though i have trouble with the /actually playing/ part sometimes"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "this was 2010, so take that as you will"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "so that's especially hilarious to me"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yep"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "that's the m3 mindset for you"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "everything i've heard about m3 has been"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "less than positive"
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 Enoha was expecting that one of the outcomes to her attempt at befriending(?) the lab technician was failure. There have been many times Enoha has tested fate with her belief in resolving things through nonviolent means. Time and time again, she has been met with results that would embitter many souls.

	 Enoha was not expecting that mix of hatred (even if it was focused more towards Katsuya) and utter fear. It's a new and altogether appalling feeling. Shame tints her cheeks pink as she reaches out to take the card. "We don't want to kill you." 'Please don't kill me.' "No, really!" Even as Ran holds onto the woman with a rather expert grip, Enoha's eyes go to Katsuya.

	 It feels like, in times like these, circumstances and events make a stubborn attempt to ensure such dire fates and fears do happen. Can they protect this woman? This woman didn't ask for this, after all.

	 The sounds of many guns being loaded draws Enoha's attention next. Enoha's concern is for the woman they're currently holding, though Ran seems to be of the same mind. As the woman is pushed (hopefully) to safety, Enoha's words come out as quickly as she can manage. "As soon as there's an opening we'll leave you here. They might not stop shooting if you show yourself, so keep calm and-"

	 The doors open. Bullets fly. "Gh-!" The woman is safe, presumably, allowing Enoha's priorities to shift to Ran. Moving towards the blonde SEES member, Enoha attempts to shield Ran from a future attack, all while preparing one of her own. The Koi-no-Takinobori appears soon afterwards in a fury of water and blunt force, a complimenting force to the wind and fire before it. "Ran-chan, stay by me!"
COVER: Enoha Koinose is now covering Ran Itoh.
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose regains her balance!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose uses Heavy Rain on Hikaru Kurosawa for 30 Water and 23 Strike (Strong!), applying Soak!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose has ended her turn.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "welp"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose just walks away
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "sorry, i can't punch the thing, so there's nothing else I can do"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose ignores her other personas
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "enoha just 'well i'm out of ideas'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa tosses eno after hikaru
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

Shinsuke can't really say if mentioning Hikaru's name is good or bad at this point; it might get them to him faster, sure, but it might also give whomever's almost certainly listening a chance to do away with him before they get there.

Either way, their captured researcher doesn't put up a fight, relinquishing Hikaru's info along with her keycard -- and begging them, more than once, not to kill her. She's so afraid, moreso than Shinsuke expected. Nor had he anticipated the hate that colours her fear.

The elevator doors choose that moment to grind open, revealing the sec ops they'd heard coming down the hall. Persona makes you tougher than the average human, but not so tough that the bullets those guards send hailing into the elevator don't draw their share of blood. "Tch--!" hisses out between Shinsuke's teeth as hot metal grazes his thigh and bicep; the hiss rises to a yelp when the third bullet lodges itself in his shoulder, just under his clavicle. He can feel it grating against the bone, but now is not the time to dig it out.

Translucent blue glass circumscribes a ring at his feet (though half the ring is lost outside the elevator; Persona doesn't care about walls) and explodes, scattering evaporating shards across the floor and loosing Kay into the hall. Icy water follows suit, slung at the guards via the Azure Knight's empty left hand.

"If this is how your coworkers respond to potential hostage situations," Shinsuke snorts, glancing at the terrified researcher, "perhaps you should consider finding a different line of work." Because seriously, there's no way they don't know she's in there with the intruders.

COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa uses Suiha on Hikaru Kurosawa for 43 Water, applying Exhaustion and Soak!
COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa has ended his turn.
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yissssss it procced"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yay"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "not that he's likely to run out of sp any time soon, but it's the thought that counts"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yaaaaaay :D"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'll still /act/ exhausted"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

"Second basement, e-end of the hall," the woman murmurs, in answer to Katsuya's prodding. By the reluctance in her voice, she didn't want to betray her superiors to them.

	Her loyalty doesn't seem worth much, as security opens fire on the elevator. It's people she hates who shove her into the corner, away from the hailstorm of bullets. She screams, pressing herself into the ground, trying to make herself as small as possible. A bullet scrapes over her back, ripping through the labcoat and leaving a burning tear in her skin.

	She is, perhaps, the most lucky person here. She only gets scraped.

	The guards -- three of them, the woman and two men, all clad in black -- empty their guns into the elevator. By the end, anyone would expect the intruders to be dead, but...

	But just like that subject, they're different. They're Awakened. Better than. And so instead of dying, they instead surge outwards, all fire and wind and water and. Verthandi's wind knocks them back, and then they're mowed down by Katsuya's charge. Their burning skin is anything but soothed as Koi-no-Takinobori hammers down, slamming them into the ground when they try to rise.

	And then Kay shatters her ice, pinning them to the ground.

	If the woman in the labcoat has anything to say about this treatment, she's far too shaken to comment -- and the opportunity to leave this beaten squad behind surely won't be missed. The rooms are numbered, helpfully; lower numbers are down the hall. From the elevator it's seven, six, five...

	They'll clash with another squad at the door to room four -- three men, this time, all in black. One has his keycard out, about to swipe, when he sees them.

	He takes a moment to reach for his gun. The other two aren't so unprepared. They open fire without hesitation. What sort of sinister force is this, that they would be so bloodthirsty?

[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "i think 'concerned cat' is a thing when it comes to yoga"
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Aeon Rain on Katsuya Suou for 50 Pierce (Critical!) and 27 Pierce!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Aeon Rain on Enoha Koinose for 16 Pierce and 15 Pierce!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Aeon Rain on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 24 Pierce!
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'person why are you on the ground stretching'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'why are you irritated by my moving in a spot where you need to step in order to relieve yourself'"
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose takes the attack for Ran Itoh!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Cursed Name on Enoha Koinose for 84 Dark, applying Scourge! 6 SP lost!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has ended his turn. Takes 11 SP from Exhaustion!  Burn and Soak expired.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "ow"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa pat pat
=================================[ Konan Ward ]=================================
Name               Idle  Pose
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hikaru Kurosawa      1s    3m  HP[====================] SP[====================]
Shinsuke Kusagawa    12m  13m  HP[==============      ] SP[=================   ]
Enoha Koinose        30s  39m  HP[==========          ] SP[================    ]
Katsuya Suou         44m  58m  HP[===========         ] SP[=============       ]
Ran Itoh             7m   >1h  HP[=============       ] SP[================    ]
========================= [ Sat May 23 21:18:27 2015 ]==========================
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "ow"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "gettin' crit tonight"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "that's what you get for being the leader of the fake d4!!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "get that EX going"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "already did"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "jesus"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i could break out my special right now"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "katsuya just like 'squad i'm gonna let you finish but'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "that's the downside of tanking things"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "LOL"
ENABLESYS: Katsuya Suou flips a coin and it lands on heads!
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "right, works for me"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "these squads will go down pretty easy, think of them like those enemies which constantly stream in when you're escaping from the ship on FF12"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "annoying but not the Real Boss"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(shinsuke is the real boss)"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'get edge summon lucifer'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa >_> hikaru don't spoil everyone
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "you're /clearly/ the temporary party member cmon"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "also which ship, you escape from a lot of ships in ff12"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "way too cool to be permanent"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "you know, the one where you rescue ash"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "aw- wait i'm vossler??? oh come on"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	"E-enoha-san," Ran pants, already pushing herself off of the wall. She has to get out of here. There's nowhere to run but forward, and if she stays in the elevator she'll be a sitting fish in a barrel! So she follows close on the heels of the others, leaving the poor hostage on the elevator floor. Hopefully she'll be okay.

	They're leaving drops of blood on the clean white tile floor, but Ran is experienced enough to know instinctively that she's the worst injured so far. This is good. This is okay, because all she has to do is stay behind and --

	Oh. There are more of them.

	And they have more guns. The noise is going to start summoning other things soon...! She doesn't even stop, just summons while running. Verthandi is a ghost in brass and green, her wings clipping through the walls as Ran casts her heal. "Hurry! We can't slow down!" If they get tied up, Hikaru could be moved somewhere else...
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses Mediarama on Katsuya Suou for 99 Heal, applying Energy!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses Mediarama on Enoha Koinose for 103 Heal!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses Mediarama on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 103 Heal!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh has ended her turn.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "they get into cell four and find a trapdoor leading even further down"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "katsuya just "OH COME ON""
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "ROFL"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ROFL"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'WHAT THE FUCK'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'FUCK YOU'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose loool
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'FUCK YOU ALL IN THE EAR'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "LOL"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "katsuya just has a meltdown right there"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "everyone else slowly backs away"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'this is some house of leaves shit right here'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'i'm out'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'wow i didn't know suou-san knew those words :o'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "unfortunately i am not running silent persona, even though i probably should"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa :C
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "because those two themes go together so well"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yeah it'd be pretty easy to do"
[OOC] Ran Itoh <3 <3
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'take this five and a half minute hallway and go shove it up your-' '.....' '....'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "pleeeeease in the future please please"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "''sona hill'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "god"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "don't tempt me"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i fucking love silent hill"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I only love it due to let's plays"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'll put it into consideration, i'd have to like, draft up stuff to help my bad brain out"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "'by popular request: 'sona hill!'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i love silent hill so much"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "and i don't know who i'd subject to it first"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ran or yoko"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "On a related note, the newest Siren game (a game I only mention due to, uh, some of the same staff worked on it???) had Yosuke's English VA voice the 'main' character and it gets hilarious in parts"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "omfg"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i played a bit of the first siren but i really need to give it a fairer shake, since that got interrupted by moving and junk"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i love the tbfp of siren: blood curse"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "They released a 'remake' though it's more of a reimagining"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "aka Blood Curse"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose will be That Person and say some things were done better story-wise in the original, but some things were neat in the remake too
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "there were a few weeks where any time i needed ambient noise or conversation i just turned on one of the 'shitstorm of scariness' videos"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "where tbfp do a bunch of walkthroughs of horror games"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "and it's hilarious to hear angry tough guy pat's voice reach falsetto when something spooky happens"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "pfff"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "and when i'm not in the mood for spooky i watch their play of P4"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "haha, yes"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	"Second basement. I understand."

	He catches that look in Enoha's eye, for just a moment.

	He's not used to being hated by women.
	And he's really not used to being feared by women. He doesn't know what to say, especially now, especially as who he is now. So he said nothing, and then...

	He's just grateful she's in the one small safe place in the elevator. They were willing to fire on one of their own. There had been no negotiations. They hadn't even said anything about here before they opened fire. These people were--

	Focus, he reminds himself, struggling against the flare of anger that would give the flames before him a run for their money. Don't lose control. You know exactly what you've become, but that doesn't mean that you have to give in to it...
	It's as good a mantra as he's managed, over these months. This year.

	Just like that, it's ended, Katsuya crouching momentarily to check a fallen guard's pulse. With only a glance back at the elevator, he motions ahead, movement colored only by a wince. "Is everyone all right? Let's head to room 4. We'll need to move fast, they know we're here. Be careful, they'll be armed." He just has to hope there aren't more of them.

	It's a hope soon ruined. "Freeze!" Katsuya shouts, drawing on them just a split-second faster than the one, but not as fast as the others.

	There is a decided lack of shelter in a hallway like this one. A hiss escapes Katsuya's lips as he's again shot, gun twitching towards the floor as his blood there spatters. So much for speed, so much for careful-- a part of his mind snarls at himself, and he grits his teeth, and he lifts his arm again. Can't stop...

	Energy surges through him at the moment he fires.
	And again.
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou regains his balance!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses Snap Shot on Hikaru Kurosawa for 63 Pierce, applying Fallout and Cursed!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou may act again!
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "niicce"
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou has taken aim and focused!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses High Attack - New Nambu M60 on Hikaru Kurosawa for 126 Pierce (Critical!)!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou has ended his turn.  Energy expired.
[OOC] Katsuya Suou oh godddd
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "dayuummn"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou blames this on ran
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "katsuya just looks at his gun in bewilderment"
[OOC] Ran Itoh `u`
[OOC] Ran Itoh helps
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "ran is the best helper"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa whistles
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "squad just looks at bullet wounds, looks at katsuya"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "'ok you win'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(and promptly fall over)"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "that's, like, looney toons shotgun damage"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "/none of us are getting paid enough/"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "rumordollars don't count"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "overheard at the lucky 7: "what you mean this isn't real yen???""
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'fuck you, fuck your psychologist, and fuck this job i'm out'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "PRETTY MUCH"
[OOC] Ran Itoh slams her hand down on the counter "BULLSHIT!!!"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "see, this is why we at the nwo have stimpack marines"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "they're less likely to morale quit"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "the cat looks so wistful now that the kotatsu's disassembled"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "aw"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "maybe if you'd stopping shitting on blankets i wouldn't have taken it apart!!!'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "god my cat does that too"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa just like KITTY YOU SLEEP THERE WHAT THE FUCK
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "god why can't cats use their catbox"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "at least now that they've had surgery the sisters have stopped pissing on everything and have settled for pissing on a few things"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "usually moony is good about it"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "No-Longer-Feral Black Kitty still likes to get on bags of garden soil and mulch, stretch all 'AWW YYEAAAHHH' and pee"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "but i can't leave folded or rumpled cloth lying around :/"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "He sometimes sprays plants too and we just 'well at least we know you're neutered'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "also I'm typing I swear"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "i hate it when I get to the end of a pose and then 'oh god, strategy'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "rofl"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "the struggle is real"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "how many ex do I need for a special"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "five"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose :)
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 The hostage has to be okay. They gain nothing by shooting their fellow employee now, especially with their main focus running in full view down a hallway.

	 It's what Enoha wants to think. It's what she needs to think. It's this logic that she uses to keep her mind on their main goal.

	 Besides, there's no telling what script the rumors have placed into the cogs of this machine. The people shooting at them may have their view of the stage specifically lit to show them what they need to see in order to fulfill their role. And really, how far removed are any of the 'real' Department 4 members?

	 Katsuya asks if they are all alright, directly Enoha back to the present. She nods. "Could be better. But seeing how he's likely gonna be here, I'm willing to give it my all." She looks back, her question asked only with a glance.

	 It's not always a good idea to ask a leader 'are you alright too?' out loud.

	 Especially when danger's right around the corner. Enoha hisses in pain as more bullets tear past her, some into her, drawing blood. "Not a good setup, but at least I'm here." She can take the pressure for at least one of them.

	 Then something else hits her, dark and cold like hell's burning black coals, drawing out her breath sharply "That smarted," she manages to say.

	 Katsuya's attack makes a gracious opening, and Enoha obliges, her persona issuing up from her soul as her mouth exhales a sigh of some sort of relief. Taking out her own gun, she takes aim, and fires, her bullet followed by the koidragon's many clones of the same bullet, done in water. "Ngh!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose places a period in there
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "ran, just to make sure, can I +cover you again?"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "sure!"
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose uses Dragon's Gate on Hikaru Kurosawa for 39 Pierce and 42 Water, applying Enervation and Soak!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose has ended her turn.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ran could kinda use the assist, she didn't get to heal herself last turn"
COVER: Enoha Koinose is now covering Ran Itoh.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "protecting the healer is important!!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose is the paladin
[OOC] Enoha Koinose mustn't die
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "people die when they are killed"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose is sure she has enough TP for these FOEs
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "okay I'll just come out and link the damn video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUs2_7SYAI8 I somehow spent a few years playing EO and only found this a bit ago"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa rubs his face, ran would you like a heal too
[OOC] Ran Itoh D:
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "i'll be fine! won't i, hikky? +_+"
[OOC] Ran Itoh subtly sharpens knife
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'm sure you'll be just fine, no one /ever/ targets the healer :)"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa :) :) :)
[OOC] Ran Itoh <3 but do whatever you like, shinsuke-- you get away from me hikaru kurosawa!!
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa :::)
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yeah i don't trust that face"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "neither do i e_e;;"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "hey i know lots of trustworthy six-eyed people"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "you're just /bigots/"
=================================[ Konan Ward ]=================================
 Name               Idle  Pose  Status (If Any Removable)              Condition
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Enoha Koinose        8m   13m                                              Good
 Katsuya Suou         44m  59m                                              Good
 Ran Itoh             3m   >1h                                             Tired
 Hikaru Kurosawa      1s   >1h  Statdwn Nerve-Ailed                         Hurt
 Shinsuke Kusagawa    4m   >1h                                             Great
================ [ Scene Closed ]==[ Sat May 23 22:52:58 2015 ]=================
/========= (-Hikaru Kurosawa-) =================== (- Men in Black-) ==========\
| HP:   435/360   [==================================================]         |
| SP:   721/60    [==================================================]         |
|==============================================================================|
|       SLS PRC STR | FIR WTR WND EAR NCL ICE ELC GRV | LGH DRK NRV MND        |
|       --- --- Str | --- --- Str --- --- Wkn --- Str | --- --- Str Wkn        |
|=========================================== EX: [||||||||||||::::::::] 12 ====|
|       Cursed        | 4 |     Enervation      | 4 |      Exhaustion      | 3 |
|       Fallout       | 1 |        Soak         | 1 |                      |   |
\=====================- BOSS MODE: 4 | HP: 900  SP: 792 -======================/
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "just to warn, but I really need to get to bed soon"
[OOC] Ran Itoh blankets Enoha
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "how's about we call it after shinny poses and we can come back tomorrow?"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "sounds good to me"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "Sounds good to me! I'm exhausted too and it's not even midnight here."
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "sounds good!"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i might be a bit late tomorrow since i'm having my birthday party :I;;"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yaaaayy"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "BUT it's memorial day weekend so 'whatever i'll stay up till 5 am'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'i do what i like'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "let's be real here we'll get through, like, half a round before you get back probably"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa, the worst
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "rofl"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "rofl"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i should be back by 9 est"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "hella"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "no worries! GO HAVE GOOD TIME"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou o/`
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

The first wave goes down quickly enough, but there's another waiting for them at the door they seek. The keycard in one guard's hand couldn't be more obvious, confirming that it's a good thing the team hurried. Only one, though: the other two guards already have their guns drawn, ready to fire.

It's impressive, in a way, the apparent fact that they default to lethal force. Not even Kirijo, with all its world-warping tech and Shadow research, takes such extreme security measures right off the bat.

More pressing, however, are the fresh wounds Shinsuke can feel burning in his side and calf. Ran's timely healing magicks knit the broken flesh (the bullet embedded in the med student's shoulder drops out, thankfully, and lands inside his shirt) and stint the bleeding, though each healed-over wound still aches a bit and he knows he'll have bruises no matter what.

Letting out a breath, Shinsuke turns his head to Ran. She's the only one still bleeding. "Thank you, senpai," he tells her, "and here." Kay reappears at that, a scatter of blue rose petals heralding his presence; his healing magicks, when they settle down upon the older girl, fill the air with the brief perfume of clove and cinnamon.

At least they're at the door. Hopefully Hikaru isn't a Shadow -- or worse, already dead.

COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa uses Diarama on Ran Itoh for 84 Heal, applying Energy!
COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa has ended his turn.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yaaaay best kohai <3"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa bows
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "and yeah sorry about taking foreeeeverrrr, i kind of zoned out"
Your Social Link with Shinsuke Kusagawa has improved!!
Your Social Link with Enoha Koinose has improved!!
You improve your Social Link with Katsuya Suou!
You improve your Social Link with Ran Itoh!
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa pap pap
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "tomorrow: we see what has become of hikaru"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "PLACE YER BETS"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "he dies as he lived"
[OOC] Ran Itoh puts tenbux down on 'newly addicted to mexican soap operas'
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "and his soul lives on in a line of clothing that is so garish to hurts to look at"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "katsuya why are you wearing that offensively lilac shirt" "i..." "a-are you crying" "no!!""
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i'm gonna go with 'bald and skinny'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "pfffffft"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "awww"
GAME: Save complete.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ran just 'waaaaaaah he was so talented'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "carrying a purse sewn from the remains of the potoo shirt"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "NOOO"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "NOOOOO that's too tragic"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa wipes away a single tear
[OOC] Ran Itoh ;o;
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa salutes the potoo purse ;_;7
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "the potoo lives on in you"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "https://youtu.be/hjfM6NiMGG4?t=1m25s single tear down cheek"
[OOC] Ran Itoh ;_;> salute
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "ps thank you for running hikky"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa <3
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "god i had this on cassette tape https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQbW_OYYfHrnQwDU4OCtQLXeycCGE2T2H I played it over and over and over"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "it'll be good to have you back, instead of that poopy fake"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yes"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Accept no substitutes"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i actually buy the /nice/ cupcakes"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "oh and a bunch of stuff about not traumatising you in therapy i guess"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "also important"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yoko 'oh hey it's the real one again'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'he's way less boring'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "the best interpretation of that is obviously"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "'yoko did you know this /whole time/' 'well duh'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa just imagining a garry and xelloss moment
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "ROFL"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "haha"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "LOL"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'i thought it was obvious :I'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'yoko why'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "meanwhile i"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "kind of look forward to 'but he's a nice lion :)'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "oh??"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "haaaahahahahahahaha fuck"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "heeheeheeeee"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yoko & sudou amazing miracle team up action"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'we'll save you, officer suou!!'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "omfg"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Katsuya: http://nadreck.me/trunk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fine.png"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "/pretty much/"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I know that's not the whole comic, but god those two images are perfect"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "wiat, there's a whole comic?????????"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "HOLD THE PHONE"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "http://gunshowcomic.com/648"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "oh i was looking for those panels the other day"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i don't remember what for tho"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "my god"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "man, it's weird to go one page over and see a former classmate's work"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "this changes everything"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Nedroid- damn it, I forget his irl name"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I was still going through my dork college phase, so I was annoying to many people"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "ie 'learning how to function in a world that wasn't high school and realizing that, for once, people might be interested in the same things you are'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "so yeah, if he remembers me, it's probably as 'oh'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "to which I say"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "http://nadreck.me/trunk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fine.png"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "and now, I go to bed"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "nini eno"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Hikaru you are wonderful and thank you so much for the scene"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "and thank you all for letting me get my enogroove on with all of you ;_;"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "it's always a pleasure"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "yessss"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "night"
Enoha Koinose has disconnected.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "tomorrow i get to have hikaru velcro to people it'll be great"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "awww"
[OOC] Ran Itoh kicks the door in
[OOC] Ran Itoh using her freakishly strong legs
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "bunnylegs"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "ran has evolved to mega lopunny!!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh +_+/
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "+fighting type"
[OOC] Ran Itoh hi yaaah!
Ran Itoh has partially disconnected.
Ran Itoh has left.
*** You have been idle for more than an hour. You will be sent OOC ***
Player Name          On For   Idle  Ftaires! Ftaires!
Hikaru Kurosawa       07:49     0s  i'm kawaii as fuck
There are 15 players connected.
Katsuya Suou has left.
Shinsuke Kusagawa has disconnected.
*** You have been idle for more than an hour. You will be sent OOC ***
*** You have been idle for more than an hour. You will be sent OOC ***
GAME: Save complete.
*** You've been idle for over an hour and are being sent OOC. ***
.======================== Nameless' Piano - Quiet Room ========================.

   This area of the Velvet Room is filled with the sounds of the a piano,
  often playing accompaniment to the song that echoes through the room.
  Nameless, the blind pianist, is more than happy to see people here enjoying
  his talents. But please, don't interrupt his music...

   (This is the Quiet Room. Please do not disturb the occupants, as they may
  be working on an application or other task!)
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Men in Black>    Katsuya Suou [VIII] <Helios Custom>
 Ran Itoh [X] <Verthandi Cust>          Ayaka Watanabe [V] <Rosenkreuz>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Velvet Room - OOC Lounge                       |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Katsuya Suou has disconnected.
GAME: Save complete.
Ayaka Watanabe has disconnected.
Ayaka Watanabe has connected.
GAME: Save complete.
Ran Itoh has disconnected.
GAME: Save complete.

*** Inactivity timeout ***
Thank you for visiting.

Persona MUSH

 New Game
 Load Game
>QUIT

------------------------------------------------------------
Logging Stopped:  5-25-2015  6:14:37 AM
************************************************************
************************************************************
<icon information> Logging Started:  5-25-2015  7:26:24 AM
------------------------------------------------------------
This world is Pueblo 1.10 Enhanced.
______________________________________________________________
\     ________________________________________________________\_
 \   |              __                                Persona   |
  \  |             |__)  __    __  __   __   __   __  M U S H   |
   \ |             |    |__|  |   (__  |  | |  |  __|           |\
    \|             |    |__   |    __) |__| |  | |__|           | \
     |__________________________________________________________|  \
      \_____________________________________________________________\
NEW: 'connect guest guest' to connect as a Guest.
LOAD: connect <name> <password> to connect to your existing character.
DATA: Use the WHO command to find out who's online right now.
EXIT: QUIT to logout.

Welcome to PennMUSH!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yell at your god to personalize this file


Last connect was from 27-33-62-120.static.tpgi.com.au on Sat May 23 17:24:55 2015.

MAIL: 18 messages in folder 0 [INBOX] (0 unread, 0 cleared).
.======================== Nameless' Piano - Quiet Room ========================.

   This area of the Velvet Room is filled with the sounds of the a piano,
  often playing accompaniment to the song that echoes through the room.
  Nameless, the blind pianist, is more than happy to see people here enjoying
  his talents. But please, don't interrupt his music...

   (This is the Quiet Room. Please do not disturb the occupants, as they may
  be working on an application or other task!)
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Men in Black>    Ayaka Watanabe [V] <Rosenkreuz>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Velvet Room - OOC Lounge                       |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Huh?  (Type "help" for help.)
---------------- Unread Postings on the Global Bulletin Board ----------------
Public (#1): 3 unread (1, 3, 4)
Theme Rulings (#8): 8 unread (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Scene Announcements (#11): 1 unread (3)
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Tarot Readings (#15): 1 unread (1)
IC News (#19): 1 unread (1)
IC Rumors (#20): 11 unread (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Department 4 (#35): 2 unread (1, 3)
Central Sumaru Events (#41): 4 unread (1, 2, 3, 4)
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Inaba Events (#44): 2 unread (1, 2)
--------------------------- BBS at 8.2\% capacity ----------------------------

============================ Welcome to PersonaMUSH ============================
                     Remember to keep up with the Boards!

                               PersonaMUSH Wiki
           http://www.mysterymeep.net/mw/index.php?title=Main_Page
               Don't forget to +motd to keep up with MUSH info!
| Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed |
| Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec |
| 13  | 14* | 15  | 16* | 17  | 18  | 19  | 20* | 21  | 22  | 23* | 24* | 25  |
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|     |     |     |     |  O  |     |     |     |     |     |     |     | |)  |
|Today is Dec 15, 2013.
|+14 2nd Semester Final Exams End (School Event)
|+16 School Clubs Resume (School Event)
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|+23 Emperor's Birthday (Work And School Holiday)
|+24 Christmas Day (Unobserved Holiday - No Day Off)

================================================================================
MAIL: No new messages.
.======================== Nameless' Piano - Quiet Room ========================.

   This area of the Velvet Room is filled with the sounds of the a piano,
  often playing accompaniment to the song that echoes through the room.
  Nameless, the blind pianist, is more than happy to see people here enjoying
  his talents. But please, don't interrupt his music...

   (This is the Quiet Room. Please do not disturb the occupants, as they may
  be working on an application or other task!)
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Men in Black>    Ayaka Watanabe [V] <Rosenkreuz>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Velvet Room - OOC Lounge                       |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
.__________________________ Sumaru City - Konan Ward __________________________.
.================================= Konan Ward =================================.

  The southern ward of Konan is Sumaru's port, and shipments are received here
  from across the world. While in decline, industrial sectors are still major
  players in Konan, though the ward has begun to see a shift towards
  commercial and even cultural interests, the latter started by the
  establishment of several museums in this ward.

  Many apartment complexes have also popped up in recent decades, as the
  lower-priced housing (due to its proximity to the ocean and thus typhoons)
  in Konan attracts further interest from those who want to live in Sumaru.
  Even municipal offices can now be found in Konan as this ward continues to
  grow and change.
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Men in Black>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Sumaru City West                               |
| Northwest <PD>                Konan Police Department                        |
| Northeast <AF>                Abandoned Factory                              |
| West <LP>                     Lunar Palace                                   |
| Central <SM>                  Seaside Mall                                   |
| Southwest <EB>                Ebisu Beach                                    |
| South <AM>                    Aerospace Museum                               |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
.__________________________ Sumaru City - Konan Ward __________________________.
.================================= Konan Ward =================================.

  The southern ward of Konan is Sumaru's port, and shipments are received here
  from across the world. While in decline, industrial sectors are still major
  players in Konan, though the ward has begun to see a shift towards
  commercial and even cultural interests, the latter started by the
  establishment of several museums in this ward.

  Many apartment complexes have also popped up in recent decades, as the
  lower-priced housing (due to its proximity to the ocean and thus typhoons)
  in Konan attracts further interest from those who want to live in Sumaru.
  Even municipal offices can now be found in Konan as this ward continues to
  grow and change.
----------------------------------- Players ------------------------------------
 Hikaru Kurosawa [VI] <Men in Black>
.==============================================================================\
| Out <O>                       Sumaru City West                               |
| Northwest <PD>                Konan Police Department                        |
| Northeast <AF>                Abandoned Factory                              |
| West <LP>                     Lunar Palace                                   |
| Central <SM>                  Seaside Mall                                   |
| Southwest <EB>                Ebisu Beach                                    |
| South <AM>                    Aerospace Museum                               |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Player Name          On For   Idle  Ftaires! Ftaires!
Hikaru Kurosawa       01:12     0s  i'm kawaii as fuck
There are 6 players connected.

Kazuhiko Date's last pose:
<None OR Private>

Kei Nanjou's last pose:

Difficult? 'So much I gathered,' he'd replied, flipping again through the increasingly lengthy, increasingly disturbing file his informants have been putting together for him in his absence.

$$$$$$

"Kidzuki," the Nanjou heir returns, the unadorned greeting accompanied by a slight nod. No real pleasantries needed here.

As for Miwa, Kei steps into the apartment as he's bade, trading his boots for house slippers and lifting the bag so Miwa can see it. "Tea from Hong Kong," he explains. "One or three of these blends apparently has some medicinal value, albeit none of the rhinoceros horn variety. Might even cure a hangover if need be," Nanjou adds, canting one brushstroke eyebrow toward Tohya's offering.

(See? That was pleasant!)

Getting down to business-- 'What' handles it pretty well, to Tohya's credit, so the Fra Mauro student takes a moment to peel off and hang up his leather jacket, and then to find a seat for himself and his teacup.


Hikaru Kurosawa's last pose:
%r"Second basement, e-end of the hall," the woman murmurs, in answer to Katsuya's prodding. By the reluctance in her voice, she didn't want to betray her superiors to them.

	Her loyalty doesn't seem worth much, as security opens fire on the elevator. It's people she hates who shove her into the corner, away from the hailstorm of bullets. She screams, pressing herself into the ground, trying to make herself as small as possible. A bullet scrapes over her back, ripping through the labcoat and leaving a burning tear in her skin.

	She is, perhaps, the most lucky person here. She only gets scraped.

	The guards -- three of them, the woman and two men, all clad in black -- empty their guns into the elevator. By the end, anyone would expect the intruders to be dead, but...

	But just like that subject, they're different. They're Awakened. Better than. And so instead of dying, they instead surge outwards, all fire and wind and water and. Verthandi's wind knocks them back, and then they're mowed down by Katsuya's charge. Their burning skin is anything but soothed as Koi-no-Takinobori hammers down, slamming them into the ground when they try to rise.

	And then Kay shatters her ice, pinning them to the ground.

	If the woman in the labcoat has anything to say about this treatment, she's far too shaken to comment -- and the opportunity to leave this beaten squad behind surely won't be missed. The rooms are numbered, helpfully; lower numbers are down the hall. From the elevator it's seven, six, five...

	They'll clash with another squad at the door to room four -- three men, this time, all in black. One has his keycard out, about to swipe, when he sees them.

	He takes a moment to reach for his gun. The other two aren't so unprepared. They open fire without hesitation. What sort of sinister force is this, that they would be so bloodthirsty?


Enoha Koinose's last pose:
	 The hostage has to be okay. They gain nothing by shooting their fellow employee now, especially with their main focus running in full view down a hallway.

	 It's what Enoha wants to think. It's what she needs to think. It's this logic that she uses to keep her mind on their main goal.

	 Besides, there's no telling what script the rumors have placed into the cogs of this machine. The people shooting at them may have their view of the stage specifically lit to show them what they need to see in order to fulfill their role. And really, how far removed are any of the 'real' Department 4 members?

	 Katsuya asks if they are all alright, directly Enoha back to the present. She nods. "Could be better. But seeing how he's likely gonna be here, I'm willing to give it my all." She looks back, her question asked only with a glance.

	 It's not always a good idea to ask a leader 'are you alright too?' out loud.

	 Especially when danger's right around the corner. Enoha hisses in pain as more bullets tear past her, some into her, drawing blood. "Not a good setup, but at least I'm here." She can take the pressure for at least one of them.

	 Then something else hits her, dark and cold like hell's burning black coals, drawing out her breath sharply "That smarted," she manages to say.

	 Katsuya's attack makes a gracious opening, and Enoha obliges, her persona issuing up from her soul as her mouth exhales a sigh of some sort of relief. Taking out her own gun, she takes aim, and fires, her bullet followed by the koidragon's many clones of the same bullet, done in water. "Ngh!"

Shinsuke Kusagawa's last pose:

The first wave goes down quickly enough, but there's another waiting for them at the door they seek. The keycard in one guard's hand couldn't be more obvious, confirming that it's a good thing the team hurried. Only one, though: the other two guards already have their guns drawn, ready to fire.

It's impressive, in a way, the apparent fact that they default to lethal force. Not even Kirijo, with all its world-warping tech and Shadow research, takes such extreme security measures right off the bat.

More pressing, however, are the fresh wounds Shinsuke can feel burning in his side and calf. Ran's timely healing magicks knit the broken flesh (the bullet embedded in the med student's shoulder drops out, thankfully, and lands inside his shirt) and stint the bleeding, though each healed-over wound still aches a bit and he knows he'll have bruises no matter what.

Letting out a breath, Shinsuke turns his head to Ran. She's the only one still bleeding. "Thank you, senpai," he tells her, "and here." Kay reappears at that, a scatter of blue rose petals heralding his presence; his healing magicks, when they settle down upon the older girl, fill the air with the brief perfume of clove and cinnamon.

At least they're at the door. Hopefully Hikaru isn't a Shadow -- or worse, already dead.

*** You have been idle for more than an hour. You will be sent OOC ***
Player Name          On For   Idle  Ftaires! Ftaires!
Akemi Ohashi          00:16    16m
Hikaru Kurosawa       02:16     0s  i'm kawaii as fuck
Shiko Mori            02:16     3m  Just like clockwork.
Naomi Suzuno          05:56    17s
Kohaku Tsukino        09:24     9h
Ayaka Watanabe        10:05    10h
Mikiya Ryouhara    3d 16:32    10s  No huggies!! ;_;
There are 7 players connected.
Enoha Koinose has connected.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "hallo"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "enochan"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "are you ready to get glomped in the worst way"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yes"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "er i mean"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "nooooo"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose is eating now, then will take a shower
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "because i am covered in sweat and dirt"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "that is a good reason to shower"
Katsuya Suou has arrived.
[OOC] Katsuya Suou returns from OOCness.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "kacchan"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "hi hi"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "now to find rans and sudous"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "ps. just to be sure"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "eno and kacchan weren't shooting to kill, right"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i /assume/ not but"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "well, that is police training but these guys are kind of jacked up"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "it's up to you"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i thought police training was 'shoot the core' but i have never actually"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "gone"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "to police training"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah it is what they train for"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "ohhhh"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "handguns are woefully inaccurate, if you aim for the arms or head, you could miss"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "and if they're armed, then you're dead"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "okay in that case are you cool with killin a dude"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "that is an important question to ask!!"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "this is not to justify police shooting, but, it is important if the other person is trying to kill you or others"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "oh yeah"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "and yeah i'm cool with it, it's probably not the first time on the mush"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "a dead officer can't protect people, and if he's dead, then the SEES kids are dead"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "so he's willing to do that"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "also same question for enochan since she also shot a dude"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "in enoha's case she's not an officer so it's more ambivalent"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "katsuya though has been trained to shoot to kill so"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "not that japanese cops are good shots typically but 1) he's the type to actually attend practice 2) personas improve your skills there"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "japanese cops basically never fire their guns, but eternal punishment is basically an action movie save the world flick up until it suddenly gets into mindscrew territory"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "but yeah in canon he's definitely killed people during the game, and he's already done it here so :I;;"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "headgods involve more duedly fitan"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yes"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "most people here have probably killed someone at one point or another, buuuuut"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "it depends on how much people want to focus on that fact"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's still not something i wanna just assume yeah"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'self-defense' covers a number of ills -- yeah totally"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i don't unless someone has either made their intent clear in pose or if i've talked to them"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Enoha probably wouldn't shoot to kill if she could help it"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "so one dead dude and one guy shot in the leg or somethin', got it"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "it'd probably be leg at the very worst"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "her aim wouldn't be the best, but she'd probably make up for it by not targeting a vital area"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "ie 'if my aim is off here, this person will die'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "'so I'm not even going to try'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, ".... If Enoha ever kills someone she'd probably freak out about it for a while"
GAME: Save complete.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "enoha has the card, so she's probably be at the forefront when the door opens, right"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "yes"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "also because she's the tank"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "or, well the one who's most likely to withstand something on the assumption that it is purely physical"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose also idles to take a shower
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

	They fire, but it's still not enough, not even with the strange bullets one of them has loaded. Two are taken down by Katsuya's gunshots -- both shots strike the core, and blood streaks the far wall even before the bodies hits the ground. The last, his outer thigh lanced through by Koi-no-Takinobori's water even as the shot goes wide, collapses and curls into himself with a pained sound.

	The keycard blips green when swiped through the slot -- no one's responded quickly enough to deactivate the woman's card, it seems. Beep-beep, and a heavy lock can be heard uncoupling. The door swings inward, not outward.

	As it opens, a man within stumbles back from where he was listening at the door. He is bald, though there's a few days worth of stubble on both his face and his head. His eyes are sunken, with dark bags underneath; his cheeks are sallow, his lips chapped. The nondescript white hospital scrubs hang loose off of his thin body, and there are no sleeves to cover the red fingernail marks running down his left arm, faint scars suggesting a constant habit. No obnoxiously-coloured shirt to obscure the hannya tattoos across his shoulder, trailing down his back.

	Hikaru Kurosawa looks awful.

	He blinks, openly staring at Enoha. Is she... real? Is this actually happening, this time? He reaches out with one shaking hand, fingers clutching at her arm.

	Either she's real, or the tactile hallucinations are really stepping it up.

	Hikaru sobs, stumbling forward and clutching at her. His grip is weak, and so is his voice. "You're -- you're here, you're real, really here, aren't you?"

[OOC] Katsuya Suou sobs
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "'this time'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "if sudous and rans still aren't here by the time you two both pose we can just chill out for a bit but i thought i'd give you time to START WRITIN"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "haha"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i'll brb i need to get something"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose gets back
Ran Itoh has arrived.
[OOC] Ran Itoh returns from OOCness.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "hi sorry i just got home from work"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's ok!!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "my post is in potlast"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH HIIKKKYYYY"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa 3
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa :333
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE +_+"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "that's what they all say! but you never really come."
[OOC] Ran Itoh drags
Shinsuke Kusagawa has connected.
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa faceplant
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "shinny~"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "my pose is in pot!"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	Part of an officer's training -- even in Japan -- includes preparation for the event where one might need to kill a civilian. It rarely happens in this country, but sometimes to save someone's life or to save one's own life...
	Katsuya knows that these people would have been reasonable in any other circumstance. It's rumor that's done it, rumor that's twisted them around and caused them to do this.
	But he also has a duty to the kids from SEES, and he has a duty to all the people held here. He has a duty himself not to die needlessly. There's no choice but to perform as he was trained.
	They wouldn't hesitate to do likewise.

	There's still a part of him that twitches as the guards fall, even if it's swiftly buried. He lowers his weapon towards the ground, not even walking over to ascertain what he already knows, and indicates towards the door with a nod of his head. "Koinose-san," is all he says.

	The door beeps as the keycard is inserted. Katsuya remains motionless, as rigid as a statue, half-turned as the door opens, as if expecting someone else to come rushing down the hall. He can feel his heart in his chest. There's still more to be done, he knows that.
	He'll never 'get used to it' even if it's his duty as an officer and as a defender with Department 4.

	It's all the time he has to dwell, as someone comes stumbling out a moment later from within the room. At once, Katsuya turns towards the doorway.

	Who is that?
	And with a sudden paralytic spasm of a shock, Katsuya realizes exactly who it is. "Kurosawa...?" As if brought into sudden focus, he can see all the little details at once. Scars. Sunken eyes, hollow cheeks.
	Tattoos.

	He takes a few steps forward, one after another, only to stop, still about twenty feet from him. A hundred thousand apologies are born and die before even passing his lips. They're not enough.

	"We're here to rescue you. It's over now," Katsuya says at last.
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "aw hikky :("
Player Name          On For   Idle  Ftaires! Ftaires!
Shinsuke Kusagawa      00:08     5m  How do you take your tea?
There are 15 players connected.
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	Ran closes her eyes briefly at the familiar sight and smell of blue rose petals. She knows this feeling, though not as well as she does others-- still, it's good. The wave of power has a taste that's all Shinsuke, and Ran is glad that she's not the only one here who can stitch a wound. "Thanks, Shinsuke-kun!" They press on.

	She can't feel anything. Anything but them, or maybe it's just that she's feeling /everything/ and it's so smooth that it looks like nothing. That's how it works, right? If you get really close to a newspaper page, you find out that all the smooth, flat colors are really just dots...

	And yet, when the door opens and they rush inside, the bow-taut string of Hikaru's Resonance practically snaps her in the face. "Whuh--"

	It's him. It's him. He feels just like the fake did, only better, /truer/, no longer an echo or a reflection.

	Ran Itoh remembers this.

	Hikaru-san! I swear I'll come and save you--

	Ran stumbles, pushes Enoha and Katsuya aside without even thinking, and collides with the bony form of Hikaru Kurosawa.

	They made it. Ran holds on tight to him like she /knows/ him, like he's important. "I told you," she mumbles into his shoulder. "I told you we'd save you!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "he's clutching at me, so you'll have to hug him from the side or back :U"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "a cornucopia of love"
[OOC] Ran Itoh adjusts!!
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "for double the hug- yes"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	Ran closes her eyes briefly at the familiar sight and smell of blue rose petals. She knows this feeling, though not as well as she does others-- still, it's good. The wave of power has a taste that's all Shinsuke, and Ran is glad that she's not the only one here who can stitch a wound. "Thanks, Shinsuke-kun!" They press on.

	She can't feel anything. Anything but them, or maybe it's just that she's feeling /everything/ and it's so smooth that it looks like nothing. That's how it works, right? If you get really close to a newspaper page, you find out that all the smooth, flat colors are really just dots...

	And yet, when the door opens and they rush inside, the bow-taut string of Hikaru's Resonance practically snaps her in the face. "Whuh--"

	It's him. It's him. He feels just like the fake did, only better, /truer/, no longer an echo or a reflection.

	Ran Itoh remembers this.

	Hikaru-san! I swear I'll come and save you--

	Ran stumbles, pushes Katsuya aside without even thinking, and collides with Hikaru and Enoha.

	They made it. Ran holds on tight to them like she /knows/ him, like he's important. "I told you," she mumbles into his shoulder. "I told you we'd save you!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "fix'd"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ran just being rude all over the place :("
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa sob
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "hilariously hikaru's resonance is the worst"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "katsuya you are going to hate me"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "why"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "hahaha yaaaay"
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 It's odd. There have been many times Enoha has had to shoot people, or to send her persona to provide an offensive, but this environment, with its white walls and its mix of civilians and soldiers, makes the violence and its outcomes so much more real to her. She was expecting something spawned by rumors, not actual people with flesh and blood. People who have jobs, have a paycheck, have likes and dislikes. Have families.

	 "I-I thought they'd have armor. Like the ones we've dealt with before," Enoha says, her shaken state bleeding in through the edges of each word. Maybe they did, and she was that violent with them?

	 'Koinose-san.' Katsuya's words place Enoha back in the present. She nods, promptly completing her jog to the door in question. As the card unlocks the door, images of alligator-scaled mutants and experiments gone wrong wring through her mind. "Stay back, guys. No telling what's behind here." She opens the door, cautiously, revealing

	 A poor, skeletal shell of a man, marked with tattoos. Someone from the yakuza, or-?

	 Enoha doesn't have time to even think beyond her kneejerk associations, as Hikaru clutches at her like a drowning man upon a life preserver. She obliges quickly, grabbing ahold of the man in the hospital scrub and hugging him, silencing whatever discomfort she may feel at being touched by an apparent stranger.

	 A nanosecond later, Hikaru's resonance needles through Enoha's shock, and that grip becomes heartfelt. As Ran joins the embrace, voicing her faith, and Katsuya declares Hikaru's ordeal to be over, tears begin to stain Enoha's cheeks, her face flushing with emotion. "Hikaru..."

	 He was unrecognizable to her. Has it been that long? "Hey, hey... it's okay now, okay?" Her words flop clumsily from her mouth in their intent to comfort, but her grip, combined with Ran's is probably far more successful in showing the earnestness of her intent.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Enoha T_T"
[OOC] Ran Itoh T_T
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "IN MY HUBRIS I DID NOT ACCOUNT FOR OTHER PEOPLE MAKING ME SAD AFTER I MADE THEM SAD"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa falls to knees, shakes fist at sky
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "damn you, skyyyyy"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa just like http://i.imgur.com/91sn32Q.jpg
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "me.jpg"
[OOC] Ran Itoh nerds about her new yarn needles
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "aah i'm close to finishing one... rabbit head"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "that i started two weeks ago"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "..... :("
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "rofl"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "http://shop.happyknits.com/collections/accessories/products/chibi-tapestry-needle-set-bent-mini-3121"
[OOC] Ran Itoh did find her plastic yarn needle though, she lost it at HK
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "good jorb"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "s-so tiny"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "we're waiting on shinsuke to get home right?"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i'm here, just writing like a snail"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "wait where the hell did you come from!!"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "um"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "if he was a snake he would've bit me @_@"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "well you see when a man and a women love each other very much"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i was inside the house all along!!!!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "no no, i know that part"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa holds up the cordless phone
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "and then the man and the woman XXXX and XXXXX and maybe sometimes they XXX each other's XXXXX--"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou suddenly expires
[OOC] Ran Itoh makes sure to traumatize Katsuya every chance she gets
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "rofl"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "the shinsuke was coming from INSIDE THE ROOM"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "...the /shinsucall/"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa ( o_o)/
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "eee"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "dohohohooooo"
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

To be perfectly honest, the SEES officer isn't terribly broken up about the downed sec ops. Ruthless pragmatism long ago won out over his compulsive need to apply the Hippocratic Oath to everything he does, especially in the fulfillment of his duty.

He gives Ran a quick wink as the door clicks open. Shinsuke's Resonance sense isn't the best, but he can still feel the way the air seems to moisten with sweat and sex. The Shadow was like that, he remembers; only, it was somehow shameful and lewd all at once, a kind of degrading enticement designed to inspire as much guilt as it did arousal. It's a sensation he recalls with uncomfortable clarity, a feeling that dogged his heels during the early part of his tenure in SEES.

The difference in what he senses now is subtle enough that it's hard to articulate amidst the sudden flurry of emotional hugging. This is the real Hikaru Kurosawa, this bald broken man clinging to Enoha and Ran with the desperation of a drowning child: frankly, he looks just shy of a Holocaust victim.

How long has he been trapped here? It hurts to think about; unconsciously, Shinsuke winces.

As much as he feels like his heart's been kicked in the dick, though, the med student's got a job to do. (Ruthless pragmatism isn't bulletproof.) Gingerly, Shinsuke approaches the trio. Clearing his throat a little, "It would be best if we got moving. I would not interrupt you if I were not /quite/ sure we aren't still in danger. And we need to get Kurosawa-san medical attention. I'm- not qualified to attend to him myself, not to the degree he almost certainly requires."

Despite his best efforts, his last few words come out wet.

[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "there!!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "wheeeeee!!! oh shinkun you are so practical"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "someone's gotta be li'l butler in these situations"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "LIL BUTLER"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'you people have too much money!'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "*canned laughter*"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "this is why Shinsuke is here"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "btw i had my first coffee today"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i suspect i will never sleep again"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "just... fyi"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

	'We're here to rescue you.'
	'I told you we'd save you!'
	'... it's okay now, okay?'
	'And we need to get Kurosawa-san medical attention.'

	Enoha sounds like Enoha; Katsuya sounds like Katsuya. There's a male voice he doesn't recognise, and... and the one he heard in some dream or hallucination, the one which /felt/ real, the one which needed help he couldn't possibly give. Hikaru turns his face to look at the person who adds herself to the hug, the one he doesn't know, the one who swore to save him even after everyone else had forgotten.

	"You're..." His voice is sluggish, tired. No, not just tired -- drugged. Is that how they kept him under control, when he wasn't healing the experiments down here? Is that how they kept him on such a short leash?

	(The one thing they couldn't temper was his resonance. It's uncomfortable, all sweat and sin and regret, but it is him all the same.)

	The sound of thundering footsteps announce more guards, frustratingly /real/ people who bleed when you shoot them and cry when you scare them. Hikaru speaks again, voice quiet and strained. "There's... there's stairs... at the end of the hall."

	There is so much he could say, but he can't /think/, and he's still scared this might just be a trick of his mind. So, in the end, he sticks with the facts. He and Shinsuke might not know each other, but perhaps they'd have an understanding, that way.

	And then the guards are upon them, three to a group once more. One speaks into a receiver: "Room four's compromised." The other two shoot right into the middle of that group hug.

	Hikaru flinches back, but he keeps as tight a grip as he can on Enoha's arm. Right now, he's beyond useless... and he's terrified of letting go.

=================================[ Konan Ward ]=================================
Name               Idle  Pose
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hikaru Kurosawa      0s   31s  HP[====================] SP[====================]
Shinsuke Kusagawa    10m  13m  HP[====================] SP[============        ]
Enoha Koinose        5m   >1h  HP[===============     ] SP[==============      ]
Ran Itoh             11m  >1h  HP[==================  ] SP[=========           ]
Katsuya Suou         46s  >1h  HP[================    ] SP[============        ]
========================= [ Sun May 24 19:54:59 2015 ]==========================
COMBAT: You don't appear to have that attack.
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Terrestrial Needle on Ran Itoh for 41 Pierce (Weak!) and 32 Earth (Critical!), applying Enervation!
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
[OOC] Ran Itoh hlk!!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Torrent Shot on Enoha Koinose for 8 Pierce, 11 Pierce, and 22 Pierce (Critical!)!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has ended his turn. Takes 5 SP from Exhaustion!  Fallout and Soak expired.
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "ow"
[OOC] Ran Itoh just starts humming Rinbu Revolution to power up
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yasssssss"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "also i just attacked you two because attacking myself would not make much sense"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "but enochan's a tank anyway!!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "STOP HITTING YOURSELF, STOP HITTING YOURSELF"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "clearly you were just behind eno enough that you didn't get hit"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "fish shield"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Eno probably would have tried to shield Hikaru"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "ran may be squishy to pierce, but Hikaru's sort of in a bad state"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "and if the escort is killed, we have to reload our save and start over. :I"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's true, escort missions are the worst"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	As much as she'd like to stay here a moment, to look over Hikaru's wounds and heal what she can... Shinsuke's not wrong. "I know," she sighs, petting Hikaru's shorn head with sure fingers. Even the both of them together could only begin to fix the scratches on his arm - Hikaru needs actual rest, actual treatment, to recover. "That's right," she smiles into the man's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

	And then there are footsteps and guards and bullets, and a punching kind of pain that shoves Ran back against Enoha and Hikaru. It hurts. It hurts, and the taste of dirt in her mouth is turning into blood... "Enoha-san," Ran coughs, inserting her body more fully between the other woman and the guards, "Please take care of Hikaru-san, okay?" He's the mission objective. More than that... she /promised/.

	Ran has been fighting for a long time. She hasn't always been good at it, hasn't always been confident, but the desire to save as many people as she can from the things out there in the dark hasn't wavered. Just like Shinsuke, Ran can turn off that part of her that realizes that these men are human. There are knives in both hands when she crouches low to the ground, limbs strong like a dancer's, and lunges forward-up, daggers leading the charge.

	She doesn't want to kill them, but they wouldn't be the first human enemies to lose a hand to her.
COMBAT: Ran Itoh regains her balance!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses High Attack - Brass Handles on Hikaru Kurosawa for 41 Slash and 44 Slash, applying Enervation!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh has ended her turn.  Energy expired.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Don't kill the escort, Ran- oh yeah"
[OOC] Ran Itoh <:3a nyoroooon
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa high-five fellow situational sociopath
[OOC] Ran Itoh n_n/]
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "why can we all be friends :("
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says this as her persona tears up the hallway in the background
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "well you see enoha sometimes shadows make everything twisted up"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "well clearly someone's just never hugged the shadows"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "hey man, no one keeps the world's greatest butler from doing his job"
[OOC] Ran Itoh goes to take a bath and will return soon!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	Something in him twists at Enoha's words, if only for a few moments. But it's not the first time. It won't be the last time. He refuses to 'get used to it' but this is how it goes and will continue to go.
	This is the mantle he accepted on becoming an officer: to protect and take responsibility for what no one else should have to take responsibility for.

	He said he'd stop it all here, at last. If they use force, then he has no choice.

	For the time being, though, there is the pale shadow of Hikaru Kurosawa before him at last.
	Ran pushes past him so fiercely that he staggers for a moment, still removed from the nucleation site taking place around their long-lost psychologist. He stares for a moment as Ran and Enoha wrap Hikaru in an embrace, then looks away. "I'm sorry. It's been far too long," he says at last, unable right now to look at Hikaru. He didn't know, it wasn't enough, he...
	He pushes ahead, regardless. He shakes his head. "We're getting you out of here, and we're putting a stop to this, immediately." He nods, as Shinsuke chimes in. "Koinose-san, Itoh-san, would you please see him out?" In his state, he needs medical intervention, and quickly. "--Yes, the stairs. I'll call for further support from in here and hold our ground. Kusagawa-kun, I'm asking a lot of you, but if you would support me until reinforcements..."

	Footsteps.

	Katsuya turns too late. Shots ring out from further down the hallway and a barrage of bullets rip past him. There's just a moment, one instant where he turns to look, shocked for half an instant over who's been struck, before reality and instinct firmly take hold again and turn him, direct him towards what he ought to be doing. He runs ahead, and it only occurs to him distantly that he's running for a moment alongside Ran. He'd told her to leave with Hikaru, but right now--

	He opens fire before she can close on them. He doesn't want to risk hitting her.
	Just like he doesn't want to risk letting them get in any more shots.
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses Mid Attack - New Nambu M60 on Hikaru Kurosawa for 71 Pierce!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou has ended his turn.
GAME: Save complete.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yessss go kacchan!!"
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 Enoha holds onto Hikaru as tears freely stream down her face. However, when Shinsuke proves to be of a more practical mind, suggesting they begin moving, she doesn't take too long to loosen her grip, though it's not disengaged entirely. Hikaru's emotional health (or whatever's left of it) is probably the one thing that will keep him going when his physical health falls below the amount needed for him to get out of here without being carried out like a rag roll. She nods to Shinsuke and Katsuya. "Yeah. We got what we came for. The longer we stay, the more people that'll get drawn into this mess."

	 In Enoha's mind, even as she holds onto the pale hand of the emaciated Hikaru, it's hard for her to find fault in anything that's human. Rumors probably built this place and ran it, and the people who walked these halls where only as guilty as a conscripted soldier. To find fault would only point the finger back at her and everyone who ever spoke or even acknowledged that the rumors of these places ever existed. It is a machine as devious as the Midnight Channel, only spread over a more numerous population.

	 Besides, she can find someone or something to hate later. There's a lot more important things to be worried about.

	 As bullets fly, Enoha's first objective is to protect the frail Hikaru. "Gh..." Was that Ran hitting up against her...? Her eyes search as her body attempts to shield Hikaru's body, locating and assessing the conditions of everybody else. Right. They need to stick to Katsuya's plan. Keep a cool head. She pulls at Hikaru, encouraging him by grasping ahold of his grip on her arm. "Gonna get you out now, okay?" She looks to Ran. "Follow me. If we run up against trouble and I have to carry him up those steps, I'm gonna need a bodyguard."

	 Even as Enoha says this, the koi dragon manifests, unveiling a wave of healing energy where she can manage. "C'mon. You have to trust Katsuya-san on this."
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose regains her balance!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose uses Media on Ran Itoh for 35 Heal, applying Energy!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose uses Media on Katsuya Suou for 55 Heal!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose uses Media on Enoha Koinose for 56 Heal!
COMBAT: Enoha Koinose has ended her turn.
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Enoha: 'i need you for a bodyguard, here, let me heal you' *applies a Dora the Explorer bandaid to one of Ran's bullet wounds* 'good to go'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "LOL"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "omfg"
[OOC] Ran Itoh 'thumbs-up! n_n d'
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

Horribly, it doesn't take long for Shinsuke to be proven right. The stairs may be nearby, but they won't be helpful if the four (now five) of them are gunned down here. At least this time, the fencer grimly notes to himself, he's escaped injury.

It won't be difficult to fulfill the request Katsuya makes of him in the wake of this most recent salvo. A few blinks clear away the wetness in the young man's blue eyes; by the time it's gone, that Boolean switch has flipped and the azure light of his summoning has already begun to floresce across the tile. "It's no trouble at all," Shinsuke calmly assures the detective.

He, like Ran, strikes out with efficient lethal force: Kay extends a steel-clad finger, and fireballs dive like falcons toward the guards.

Is this strange trick of conscience something all SEES members are taught?

COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa uses Firestorm on Hikaru Kurosawa for 28 Fire and 27 Fire!
COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa has ended his turn.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "mitsuru makes sure we know how to do it :|"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou :I
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa :)
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "hmm"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou ends scene by arresting everyone
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "rofl!"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

Katsuya shoots the first guard, and he slumps to the ground; Ran slices the legs of the second, sending her stumbling. Fire sends the last one down, and she rolls about the ground even after the supernatural fire has left because fire /feels/ as if it should catch and burn.

	Hikaru feels guilt knot in his stomach as he hears the women in pain -- pain they took for him. But even in his current state, Enoha's words are clear enough. He swallows, and nods.

	There's no fear of him letting go.

	The stairs are likely the best place for them -- both for Shinsuke and Katsuya to get to the second basement floor, and for Enoha and Ran to get Hikaru out. The elevator, after all, could be stopped, and they've already shown they won't hesitate to empty bullets into it...

	A panicked researcher is in the stairwell, and he pales and bolts out into the third basement floor. There's another two, the last leading to what seems to be a dead end -- with a switch which pulls back the fake wall and empties them out into the fake basement. (There's another stairwell, there, next to the elevator which would take them up to the surface. This one, of course, is not hidden.)

	When Shinsuke and Katsuya exit into B2, the door they need is obvious: at the other end of the hall, fancy, embossed, with roaring shisa-heads on the handles. There's another squad there, easily dispatched. Inside --

	A portly man in a black suit, who breathes out black smoke as he turns to face them. His eyes are sick-yellow and this, /this/ is the Shadow, this is truly a rumour-thing and not a real person who has been twisted by the rumours.

	There is a letter on his desk with the headquarter's seal. It's been crumpled as if in frustration or annoyance.

	"Gyah," he huffs, glaring at Katsuya, "what a nuisance. Why won't you inconvenient people just go away?!"

	The shadows rise and strike.

[OOC] Ran Itoh somehow ends up handcuffed to herself 'help'
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "ew"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'this is like christmas all over again!!'"
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Terror Eyes on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 63 Dark, applying Rage!
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "oh dear"
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Cursed Name on Katsuya Suou but he dodges!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has ended his turn. Takes 5 SP from Exhaustion!
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "sorry that took a bit i was like "shit do i have all the thing i need to put down""
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "no worries!"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "well this might be bad"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "hm"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	Run and fight, run and fight. She's pretty sure that the woman will walk again, in a few months' time. She'll feel bad about it later, maybe. If Ran is lucky, she'll forget.

	She follows Enoha up the stairs, casting glances over her shoulder as they all rattle upwards. Don't follow them, don't follow them...

	So when they crash through another squad of guards, tumbling into the lair of some Shadowy caricature of a headman (where are his rings, his cigar, his bad combover?), Ran isn't thinking. She's only reacting, trying to step faster, reach higher, protect as many people as she can.

	She sees the shadows rising up toward them and summons Verthandi with a rush of howling wind. "PERSONA!"
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses Eternal White on Hikaru Kurosawa for 36 Light and 38 Light!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh has ended her turn.  Energy expired.
COMBAT: Boost self-applied! 6 SP restored!
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "well, it's not like the stairwell led to the lair"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "sorry if that was unclear!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "oooops :("
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it's like... you could get off at b2 and go down the hall"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i'm sorry :("
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "that's what i thought, i guess it was ME, DIO, WHO WAS UNCLEAR"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "there was just"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose LOL
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "so much running"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose catches up
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "now I just imagine shinsuke just becoming the hulk"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "butlerhulk"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "butlerhulk is the worst butler"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "more like sebastian michaelis reverting to his true form for more efficient murders, but it's the same general idea"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose sneaks downstairs to get some salsa
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "ow"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i was playing with bari just now and he caught skin"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "ow :("
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "kitty"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "just another day in the life of the world's dumbest cat"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "he was playing hard"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yeah he was murdering that feather"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "he kind of tore the feathery tip off of his feather stick earlier today (and i'm pretty sure he did it on purpose because it took some deliberate forceful yanking), and after that he tore one of the peacock feathers out of the bunch"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "that reminds me"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I was staking up some plants that have decided gravity was their worst enemy"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "found a chipmunk's tail"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "unsurprisingly he prefers the stick sans feathers"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "just... the tail"
[OOC] Ran Itoh :I
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "yeah chipmunk tails are weirdly easy to deglove"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "don't...ask me how i know that"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose laughs
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "if the cats are to go after an animal, I'd rather it be chipmunks and moles"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "especially moles"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I have come so close to twisting my ankle so many times due to mole hills"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa's russian blue brought in a mole once, speaking of sad stories
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "god knows how she caught it"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "i don't think i've ever actually seen a molehill, so i'm pretty sure they're fictional"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "well, mole tunnels"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/Gardening/Gardening0Help/images/Pests/Moles36.jpg 'twisted ankle's playground'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa was kidding
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I figured XD"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I just realized that I never... saw a 'mole hill' either, so maybe I have a vole problem"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	That's how it works. He's realized it by now. Normal people -- not perfect, but by no means deserving of this fate -- get swept up in rumors and carried away, distorted until they've changed into someone or even something else. Even people with Personas aren't immune.

	There's nothing he can do about that. But he can see that this ends.

	He glances back as the soldiers fall, just in time to see Enoha vanish, just after a surge of empowering energy wriggles into his body. He glances ahead, towards the elevator doors, and shakes his head, coming to a conclusion. "Let's use the stairs. They know we're here, and the elevator isn't safe." They could trap them in there, or worse. "That woman before said the people in charge were on the second level. ...It's taking advantage of the situation, but we can't afford to let them slip away again. Please assist me," he says again, before turning to follow in the wake after Enoha and Hikaru.

	Holstering his firearm, Suou pulls out a cellphone. There isn't much left in the way of staff here in Sumaru -- a few guards, some researchers -- but it's all he has.

	The stairs aren't empty.
	It takes a little doing to find the hidden entrance to the other elevator, the one tucked away like a hidden nest.

	And all the while, the little thoughts seem to wriggle ever deeper. If there are others up towards the surface, if Enoha and Hikaru meet an obstacle...
	And he finds in the same instant that he can't afford to think like this.
	He'll trust in her, because it's the only way.

	The door opens easily.

	Of all things, Katsuya's gaze falls on the letter. That seal...? "Who sent you that--"

	He can feel all the hairs running down the back of his neck stand on end as he twists out of the way of a twisting shadow. Light thunders in after that, and it's only then that he glances back at Ran, his reddish-brown eyes widening briefly.

	Helios rises in a rush of blue-white light, clawed hands raised as if to the heavens. As if in answer to a prayer, pale blue light wraps around his allies here as if in a benediction, what little protection he can offer against the twisting mass of shadows. "He's not human, be careful--"
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses Masukukaja on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 0 Heal, applying Acc/Dodge Up!!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses Masukukaja on Ran Itoh for 0 Heal, applying Acc/Dodge Up!!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou uses Masukukaja on Katsuya Suou for 0 Heal, applying Acc/Dodge Up!!
COMBAT: Katsuya Suou has ended his turn.
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "wheeeee"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "oh boy, suku'd and raged"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "this is gonna get bloody"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "do it to it"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeah i finally decided that would be best"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose meanwhile at the top of the stairs with Hikaru 'hey did you hear some yelling'
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "enoha runs into the biggest bear ever"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'why is there a bear' 'they're alley bears, they're awful'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i don't even know what i'm talking about"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose LOL
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Enoha just approaches the bear "I have found my true calling in life""
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "stop out-akihikoing akihiko"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "well at least she's not shirtless"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i think that would violate several public decency laws"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "enoha flexes out of her shirt"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou arrests enoha with a hand over his eyes
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "'how did you even do that' 'i work out'"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose just http://www.quickmeme.com/img/b2/b2e90f19aa56d4bb8f91db3e9dc70384b0776140956f516f07ee4edbe03c6da2.jpg
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "though that might be more Shinsuke right now"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "mmmmyep that's me"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "Hikaru, mind if Enoha just hefts you up piggyback for those stairs"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "goferit"
<Pose Tracker> Enoha Koinose [D4] has posed.
	 It takes a few steps up the stairs before Enoha realizes a potential problem: stairs are not exactly good for anyone in Hikaru's condition to attempt for long. "I hope you don't mind," Enoha says, turning her back to Hikaru, "but this'll be faster."

	 Racing up the stairs as fast as she is able, Enoha almost finds herself feeling glad that Hikaru is so light, only to feel a severe jolt of guilt as she remembers exactly *why*. Yet, even this weight becomes a bit of an obstacle on its own on top of Enoha's own wounds, prompting Enoha's shouts to the scientists on the stairs to be more... terse than usual. "Get to the side! Please!" The last word can't help but drop from her mouth, barked out of her mouth almost as a compulsive afterthought than with any real thought.

	 As her protectors break away, Enoha continues to move upwards, sweat beginning to pool annoyingly along the edges of her glasses. "We're almost there, Hikaru-san! Just keep with me!"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "GO ENOHAAAAA save the therapist, save the world"
 /=( Hikaru Kurosawa [Persona Assumed: Men in Black] )========================\
/       The Lovers       | 1. Men in Black | 2. Makara       |=================\
| Persona: Tlazolteotl                     |=================|=================|
| Weapon:  Kindness                                          |=================|
| Special: Will-o'-the-wisp                 EX: [////////////////////] (20/20) |
|     | SLS PRC STR | FIR WTR WND EAR NCL ICE ELC GRV | LGH DRK NRV MND |      |
|     | --- --- Str | --- --- Str --- --- Wkn --- Str | --- --- Str Wkn |      |
|==Stat=============================================Sl/Pr======================|
| STR 35 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::] 15/56 | PATK:  40 MATK:  29|
| MAG 27 [||||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>:::::::::::::] 20/34 | WATK:  44 REC+:  20|
| AGI 36 [||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>::::] 18/55 | PDEF:  38 MDEF:  38|
| VIT 33 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::::] 15/51 | EVA:   37 CRIT: 11%|
| LUK 27 [||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::::::::::] 10/44 |  STAT GROWTH: Mag  |
|==================================| Skills |==================================|
|                         -( Pierce - Severe Access )-                         |
|                           -( Dark - High Access )-                           |
|                       -( Stat Penalty - High Access )-                       |
|==|Auto|PAS|  Pierce Master   |------|==|Auto|PAS|  Sharp Student   |------|==|
|==|Supt|ALM|     Dekaja       | 16 SP|==|Phys|PRC|Terrestrial Needl | 12 SP|==|
\============( HP: 150/360 )========================( SP: 659/60 )=============/
 \============================================================================/
[OOC] Enoha Koinose is supreme
GAME: Save complete.
<Pose Tracker> Shinsuke Kusagawa [SEES] has posed.

They fight through more guards, ascending the basement levels as though the building were Tartarus -- of course, Shadows don't have bones to crack or flesh to melt, and when they bleed it isn't vital scarlet.

What confronts the team in the opulent office on the penultimate basement floor, though, cannot by any metric be mistaken for human, human guards (leaving aside the question of how humans could be recruited to do its bidding in the first place) or no. Oily black smoke wisps from its nostrils; the eyes it trains on Shinsuke and the others are the putrid yellow of an infected wound.

It grumbles, and darkness leaps for them, catching the med student full in the (physical and metaphysical) face and wresting from him a cry of shock and pain. He can feel the pus-bile slop of those eyes pressing into his own, taking a scalpel straight through bone and soft brain matter and cutting into the amygdala, loosing--

A split-second's all it takes. Shinsuke's yelp of pain blossoms into a wordless cry of rage that suffices to call blazing-eyed Kay up, sword in hand. Bolstered by Katsuya's benediction, the dark-armoured Persona leaps savagely toward the Shadow, and swings its blade in an arc that trails fire -- an arc that, given Shinsuke's current state, may well take the fat asshole's head off.

COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa uses Blazing Burst on Hikaru Kurosawa for 40 Fire and 41 Slash, applying Burn!
COMBAT: Shinsuke Kusagawa has ended his turn.
 /=( Hikaru Kurosawa [Persona Assumed: Men in Black] )========================\
/       The Lovers       | 1. Men in Black | 2. Makara       |=================\
| Persona: Tlazolteotl                     |=================|=================|
| Weapon:  Kindness                                          |=================|
| Special: Will-o'-the-wisp                 EX: [////////////////////] (20/20) |
|     | SLS PRC STR | FIR WTR WND EAR NCL ICE ELC GRV | LGH DRK NRV MND |      |
|     | --- --- Str | --- --- Str --- --- Wkn --- Str | --- --- Str Wkn |      |
|==Stat=============================================Sl/Pr======================|
| STR 35 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::] 15/56 | PATK:  40 MATK:  29|
| MAG 27 [||||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>:::::::::::::] 20/34 | WATK:  44 REC+:  20|
| AGI 36 [||||||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>::::] 18/55 | PDEF:  38 MDEF:  38|
| VIT 33 [|||||||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::::] 15/51 | EVA:   37 CRIT: 11%|
| LUK 27 [||||||||||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::::::::::::] 10/44 |  STAT GROWTH: Mag  |
|==================================| Skills |==================================|
|                         -( Pierce - Severe Access )-                         |
|                           -( Dark - High Access )-                           |
|                       -( Stat Penalty - High Access )-                       |
|==|Auto|PAS|  Pierce Master   |------|==|Auto|PAS|  Sharp Student   |------|==|
|==|Supt|ALM|     Dekaja       | 16 SP|==|Phys|PRC|Terrestrial Needl | 12 SP|==|
\============( HP: 69/360 )=========================( SP: 659/60 )=============/
 \============================================================================/
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "are we trying to finish up tonight or is tomorrow the plan?"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "it'll only take another round i think"
=================================[ Konan Ward ]=================================
Name               Idle  Pose
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shinsuke Kusagawa    8m    8m  HP[================    ] SP[===                 ]
Enoha Koinose        11m  35m  HP[================    ] SP[=========           ]
Katsuya Suou         53m  >1h  HP[=================== ] SP[============        ]
Ran Itoh             3m   >1h  HP[================    ] SP[====                ]
Hikaru Kurosawa      0s   >1h  HP[===                 ] SP[====================]
========================= [ Sun May 24 23:35:09 2015 ]==========================
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Kurosawa [D4] has posed.

	Hikaru is easily lifted, the state he's in. (Even if they tried to keep him functional, being used to keep so many people healthy for so long...) The scientist flattens against the wall -- he doesn't have clearance to carry weapons, and he certainly doesn't want to tangle with the 'other' Department.

	It's a good thing, perhaps, that there's no security in the first basement or the upper floors. Once Enoha gets them out of that shadowy facility, they're safe.

	For as good as safe does them.

	-

	Down in the second basement, the others are anything but safe. The man is more of an /ideal/ than a person, the imagined fears of so many salarymen of fat cats rigging games against their favour. The shadows are dashed away by Verthandi's wind, the Awakened bolstered by Helios's light. Kay leaps forward, its sword tearing through the Shadow's chest; he does not bleed blood. Darkness like smoke billows from the wound.

	He gasps. The smoke which once poured from his mouth is escaping from somewhere else, now.

	"No," he rasps. "Not after everything I've done..."

	He clutches his chest, as if to hold his scraps of darkness together and make it all right. But it won't work. Of course it won't. Realisation flashes over his face, followed quickly by rage.

	"... not without taking you with me!"

	The shadows flare, darker than the artificial lighting, darker than Persona-fire. In pitch black, they are assaulted by terrible, piercing wounds --
	And when the darkness fades, the Shadow is on one knee.

COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Dekaja on Ran Itoh for 0 Almighty, applying Dekaja!  Statups Cleared!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Dekaja on Katsuya Suou for 0 Almighty, applying Dekaja!  Statups Cleared!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Dekaja on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 0 Almighty, applying Dekaja!  Statups Cleared!
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "oh screw you"
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Sonic Bullet on Ran Itoh for 124 Pierce (Weak!)!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Sonic Bullet on Katsuya Suou for 90 Pierce!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa uses Sonic Bullet on Shinsuke Kusagawa for 113 Pierce!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has ended his turn. Takes 4 SP from Exhaustion!  Burn and Exhaustion expired.
COMBAT: Focused self-applied!
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i am The Meanest"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa checks pot, yeah hikky's in ze red
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "'ow'"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "gotta be in the red to use your desperation moves!!"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "I actually might ftb or whatever is needed here- need to get to bed badly"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "enoha escapes as reinforcements arrive"
<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

	Almost as soon as the extra speed settles into her bones and joints, it's wiped away again. That's fine. She doesn't need it, not really. It just would've been nice.

	When her light fades, when the shadows rise up all around them again, Ran doesn't have time to protect herself. She's nearing the end of her first wind, but the second one is taking so LONG to show up--

	Something pierces through her. She /feels/ it burrow into and out of her side, a white-hot lance of pain that has her gasping soundlessly for breath. "V," Ran tries to say, and has to swallow blood. Try again. "Ver,rthandi--" The Persona ghosts to life in front of its mistress, enameled wings spread out in a wide, protective arc. Their underside bristle with shining metal - brass blades that aren't quite organic enough to evoke the image of feathers - and as Ran takes another wet breath, they tremble and loose into the air.
COMBAT: Ran Itoh uses Wind Slash on Hikaru Kurosawa for 34 Wind (Strong!) and 43 Slash, applying Dizzy!
COMBAT: Hikaru Kurosawa has been knocked out!
COMBAT: Ran Itoh has ended her turn.
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yeaaaaaah"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "eat it x_x"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "aw yiss"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "also yeah because i realized i forgot it -- obviously suou put away his phone after using it and barging in here"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'can you hear me now'"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "lol"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "v. rude to be on the phone during fite"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose can go to bed knowing the Ebil has been defeateds
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "nini eno"
[OOC] Enoha Koinose says, "nigght"
Enoha Koinose has disconnected.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "aaa dangit i missed enochan"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "but yeah from here it can certainly be assumed that, like, shadow gets supermurdered and D4 calls in the Actual Police to handle the situation"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "since i know it is very late!!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(thank you all for coming and doing the thing with me <3)"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "yaaaaaay we got the real hikky back <3"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "thank u for having me it has been good times"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "even though i was late both days like snash (snail+trash)"
[OOC] Ran Itoh says, "snail trash"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "i think you mean that you snock, or snake rock"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa <3
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i wonder how katsuya explains this to shimazu"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'uhhh'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'gotta go'"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "snonsters (snake+monsters)"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "works for the internet"
[OOC] Ran Itoh drags herself to bed, is out of wakefulness x_x
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "nini rans <3"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "nighto ranchan <3"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "you did it, you saved hikky"
Your Social Link with Ran Itoh has improved!!
Type their full name to +sociallink someone.
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You improve your Social Link with Katsuya Suou!
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "NIGHT!"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou [D4] has posed.

	Even someone ridden and possessed by a Shadow wouldn't look like this. Down to the way his body moves and twitches, this is not a human being, this Katsuya knows as assuredly as he knows the police handbook. This is the heart of the sickness, the thing that had spun out the web of misery that had snared so many innocent people? This is the result of a rumor parasitizing another rumor?

	The mind reels.

	And there's little time for thinking at all.

	He's coming apart. /It's/ coming apart.

	Katsuya's gaze again flickers at the desk, then back up at the Shadow. "Wait--"

	He draws his handgun in one motion, faster already than most would, but it's still not fast enough. The world is in negative for a split second as Katsuya pulls the trigger.

	Something feels as if it goes right through him.

	The shot goes wide.

	Katsuya staggers, righting himself more slowly than before. Slowly, too, does the muzzle of his gun train on the Shadow.

	Verthandi erupts into reality in a torrent of wind and blade.

	And only in the aftermath does Katsuya again holster his gun.

	Support should be here eventually. So, too, will likely be the police. Misgiving squirming in the pit of his stomach, he approaches the desk and takes the letter, tucking it away into his jacket. It's tampering, and yet...

	He needs to get to the bottom of what happened here, first, before true justice can be applied.
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa gasp
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "katsuya that's /against the law/"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "it is :("
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "corrupt department tho"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "and potentially corrupt d4"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "sometimes a man must make his own law"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou heads down the lonely vimes road
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "ow the edge"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "(<3)"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa says, "adorable"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "meanwhile hikky needs lots of no-persona rest"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "because"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yes"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "being a healing battery is suffering"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "is there going to be a slumber party"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "absolutely"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "i swear if he ends up in katsuya's bed, and i mean this in a non-sexy way"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou is a hugger
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "when sleeping"
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa bites his tongue
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "the ambulance gets there 'hikaru-san you need to let go so they can... ok ok' and then enoha gets dragged to hospital with him"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa bap shinny with newspaper
[OOC] Shinsuke Kusagawa murf
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "'enoha needs to go home at some point'"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "but no it would go down as 'stare at wall, try not to breathe or move, wake up hugging hikaru 'uhh this got weird''"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "katsuya do you /really/ want to be the one to tell hikky that everyone is /abandoning him again/"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "well"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "that's how he'd end up clinging to katsuya gosh!"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "point"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "yoko'd probably also climb in i guess"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "so there's a small group"
[OOC] Katsuya Suou crushed
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "oh no i forgot pollyanna was on hikky's playlist"
[OOC] Hikaru Kurosawa says, "THIS SONG IS TOO CHEERFUL FOR THIS SITUATION"
Ran Itoh has left.
Katsuya Suou has disconnected.
Shinsuke Kusagawa has disconnected.