vatheon | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Ky Kiske and Naoto Shirogane
What: Talking about a possible case for Naoto
When: A little while after Naoto's arrival
Where: Start in the Plaza, then move to a teashop
Style: Whichever feels more comfortable. Will start one way, but willing to switch
Summary: Naoto and Ky take some time out after she first arrives to speak about a possible job for the young detective.

[Naoto had only just arrived but she found out that there may be a case for her. She had tried to dry off as much as she could, however she knew that she would probably need a new set of clothes before too long. But that didn't matter. The person she was meeting would be there soon.

She had moved over to the side of the Plaza area. The young detective did not want to make a scene when the other arrived there. While she was unsure if she could trust him, at the same time she felt like she could. Something about the way he presented himself said that he was trust worthy - more so than Adachi at least. And it didn't hurt that he may actually be a part of this Defense Force that she was hearing about. She had memorized his appearance through the video conference - something she believed all good detectives needed to learn to do. She would recognize him instantly when she saw him.

In the meantime she was ringing the water out of her hat and jacket, not wanting to remove anything more for the moment. She had even removed her shoes to let those dry some.]

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[Ky felt a little bad about dumping so much on someone who had only just arrived, but the situation was what it was and if Naoto could help, then, well. Ky wasn't asking for himself, he was asking for the people who were hurt. For those who have been murdered, and those that might still be. He was trying to sort out in his head which things were important for him to mention first. Since Vatheon wasn't precisely a normal city, by any definition of the term.

It was with a strictly polite smile that he greeted the young man he'd seen on the SFC. It was hard to muster anything more genuine, given the circumstances. Although the sight of water dripping from the figure did give Ky a brief moment of pause.]

If you'd like to stop by a shop to get some clothing, I can show you one.

[Naoto looked up at the sound of Ky's voice. So he had arrived, that was good. She stood up from her spot, having wrung out the water as much as she could. She had placed the jacket back around her shoulders, wanting to try to be at least a little warmer. She also replaced her hat on her head and slipped her shoes back on.

Moving closer to him, she was already willing to learn of what was going on. Getting new clothes would come soon enough. The case was more important right now.]

Let's not worry about that right now. I can purchase clothing in due time. I believe you wished to speak to me about the case.

I do. The tea shop is this way. It isn't far, but I can fill you in on some of the background while we walk.

The first thing to know here is that when people die here...it doesn't seem to last. It's like our fates are bound to our destinies in our world, and no matter what happens here it can't affect what we have to do there. That's my own interpretation of it, but sticking to the facts: people seem to return to their worlds at random from this place, and when they do they don't remember what they've done here. If they are killed here they revive in five days, fully healed.

[Naoto nods as she listens to his explanation. What he says almost reminds her of something that would happen if one of the team "died" in the TV world back in her own world. They would eventually be revived before moving forward into the dungeons. However this world seemed to only allow them to be revived after a decent amount of time passed.

She lowered her head, taking note of this for future reference. It's good to know that death in this place is not permanent.]

I see.

Yes, it's...a little unusual, but at least it means that the obligation we have to our worlds we will be able to fulfill.

[They just need to also do what they can in this place.

He was speaking truly when he said it wasn't far, and he's silent for a moment as they both take seats in the tea shop.]

It's relevant because someone's been murdering people in this place.

[She sits down, sitting back in her chair. This was a lot for her to take in, but at the same time she can tell that he's telling her the truth and nothing but.

She places a hand gently on her chin, fingers slightly curled. This was going to be interesting.]

Murdering? And when they return, do they remember anything of their murderer?

No -- not because they lose any memory until they go unconscious but because they seem to be knocked unconscious almost immediately. Before they see anything.

[Naoto feels her heart almost stop. That sounded too familiar to her - just like the case in Yasoinaba. However she knew that couldn't be the case, even if Adachi was in this world.

She looks up at him some.]

Have you started making any connections between the murders? And has anything similar to the murders happened?

There are some consistencies, yes. But before we get into that, it's probably important to know that there may have been a shift now. Before people were simply being killed, their bodies...dissected or autopsied, and then dumped in an alley. Recently, instead someone's been kept alive, drugged and tortured, and then dumped in an alley, still alive. Unfortunately the drugs seem to lead to a fair amount of hallucination.

[She hums softly in thought. She speaks only loud enough so that he can hear and so that she can make more notes mentally.]

Drug-induced hallucinations... The victims always seem to be harmed in some way, no matter if it was murder or kidnapping... Always dumped into an alley...

[Even though there were already consistencies in this, she didn't say anything. She honestly wondered if anyone had been questioned yet... or if anyone had figured out what the drug was.]

You mentioned that the culprit changed from murders to kidnappings. Do you have an indication as to why? And what was the time period that this occurred during?

The people murdered were found the 12th, 16th, and 20th. Two of them have already returned and said that they weren't able to remember anything. The person kidnapped went missing the 22nd and was found the 23rd.

There are complications in the biology of the one who was kidnapped, it's possible that that was an influence.

The third murder hasn't remembered anything or doesn't want to talk then? I can already deduce this much. However one case doesn't usually make it so that the culprit starts to kidnap over killing, it usually would occur after a couple times. But perhaps this person is different than most cases that I have heard of.

[Like what happened with the one in Yasoinaba... That was definitely a strange case from start to finish.]

He wanted to try walking through things to see if it jogged his memory at all, before he said for certain he couldn't remember anything. I wish I could hope he would remember things, but at this point I doubt it.

I see.

[She adjusted how she was sitting in her chair.]

You mentioned consistencies. What has been noticed thus far?

There's the smell of bleach where they're found. In addition, there's a card from a tarot deck, of the "Tower". Always that card, but they don't all look the same.

The smell of bleach. That could mean that whoever is doing this was trying to clean the victim up or clean up the area the victim is in.

[It's the second part that ultimately shocks her.]

The... Tower...

[Her eyes darken, bangs and hat shadowing her face.]

In the deck of tarot - specifically the major arcana - unless the card is reverse, the Tower is considered one of the worst cards one could get in a reading.

And each victim has had this card when found. All in a different style... Possibly representing something about that person...

[Ky's suddenly very glad he's met Naoto, regarding 'him' with very serious eyes.]

I don't really know anything about it, but if you think you can make anything of it I've taken pictures of all of the cards.

[He brings up the private entry he'd made of the ones he'd seen so far, and slides his SFC over.]

[She gazed upon the pictures of the cards. Her eyes gaze at each one, taking in the cards' styles.She speaks out loud, trying to process the information as well as let him hear what she has to say on the cards.]

The first is a black and white... Something like you would see from perhaps the Renaissance era or earlier, however the numbers are not Roman. The building itself is uneven and the people are hardly distinguishable as such. The path is broken at the bottom.

The second appears to be a style reminiscent of fairytale stories, yet not. The colors are extremely vibrant. It seems that it is supposed to be mirrored, as though if the picture were to be extended at the bottom, you would see the exact same image. The struck top, though it should be the top of the building, is in fact a crown. There does not seem to be any sort of debris, however there are falling flames from the top of the tower. The building is square with no discernible entrance at the bottom.

Third... This one is different than the other two so far. The tower takes up nearly the entire card. It seems to be an older style, but not as old as the first. There is water at the bottom, split near the middle. The people are much smaller than the other two and are more silhouettes of people. There is no debris from the building and the flames only seem to come out of the top and one window. There is more of a storm with this picture than the other two. It also appears as though the building is made of wood and not stone.

The fourth seems to come from almost a classic tarot deck. The design of the card is similar to that of the second, however the style is not - a bad copy of sorts made its own card. It's simple, yet complex at the same time. The tower is larger but shorter than the second and once again there is the symbol of the crown instead of the top of the tower. The colors are muted, using more of the artistic primaries, black, white, and gray. The lighting seems to be more of an arrow than the others and there is some sort of design in the lower right corner - perhaps a tree?

The first and fourth cards have the name and number separated while the second and third are together. The second is in a straight line while the third is stacked. All but one use Roman numerals. First and fourth have periods after the word "tower" while the others do not. The second is the only one to use upper and lower case while the others only use capitals. The first and third have two lighting bolts while the second and fourth have only one. The third tower is the only tower to have stayed whole while the others seem to have their top completely removed.

[She look up at him trying to see if he was following her train of thought.]

[As far as Ky was concerned she was simply describing the tarot cards as they were. Admittedly with more detail than he himself could provide, but not with any real significance to that detail.

Despite being from Earth and having at least heard of it, that was about all that Ky knew. Was the number of lightning bolts, or the period, supposed to mean anything at all to him? Had they meant anything to the murderer? It didn't sound like they particularly dated the murderer, but Ky didn't know if these were things he would have found in the Nostalgia Nook, or elsewhere, or had already.

He could only give Naoto what additional details he had, and hope the detective could figure out additional things.]

The first victim was an adult, male, I think human and from Earth, but I'm not entirely certain. The second was a teenager, female. Again she looks human, but I have no idea whether or not she's from Earth. The third was a young man, not from Earth, who uses magic. He's a decent fighter, when not caught unaware. The fourth was another young man, also not from Earth. Again, human, more or less.

[Hearing the descriptions of the people, she nodded, her thoughts having been confirmed about at least two of them. A third was in question and she needed more information about the fourth.

She cleared her throat to keep the male facade going, before beginning her explanation.]

The second, having been teenage female, seems to be the idea of the design for the second card, more feminine and elaborate. Appealing to the eye and vibrant.

How much do you know about the first victim? His lifestyle? Is it a simple one? Because that would indicate the simplistic design of the card.

The third... It seems to represent his strength with power and possibly the elements. Perhaps standing tall in most situations?

And the fourth... What else is known about him? How bold is he? Does he hold to certain beliefs? Does he think in black and white or does he know about the hazy shades of gray?

I don't really know any of them very well, but you're welcome to try to talk to them further.

I don't know that I'm qualified to answer any of those questions, although they seem generally accurate from the impressions that I've picked up.

Hm... So the cards tend to mimic that of the person they are found with. However that only seems to be the tendency so far. Much like the culprit changed from murders to kidnappings, they may change what the cards represent.

[She looks to him, her gray-blue eyes almost stone in appearance.]

Though I gave you a small descriptor of what it means to receive the tower card in a reading, do you know it's full meaning?

And we could be seeing meaning there that there isn't.

I don't really do things with...superstition like that at all, no.

Exactly the point. The person is trying to reveal the truth behind appearances.

[But isn't she familiar with that. She had gone through the Midnight Channel and had her truth revealed to the investigation crew, and even those in Yasoinaba. However she hoped that secret didn't get out just yet.

She sat thoughtfully as she told him.]

The Tower. Sixteenth card of the tarot Major Arcana. It's meaning with right side-up is as such: Arrogance, close-mindedness, presumption. Destruction, waste, ruin. Confinement, imprisonment, refuge and escape. Break down of balance, of mistaken convictions; exile, loss of that gained through evil.*

[[ooc: information used is via the Universal Tarot deck]]

Or they're picking things at random... I don't really know either way.

And while that seems like a long list of negative things, I'm not really seeing how the meaning can help us catch the person responsible.

It will all be revealed in time probably. As thing progress. However as of the moment the culprit chose the card to match the person.

Perhaps the person believes that their victims portray something of the meaning of the cards. Not necessarily all, but just one meaning of the card. It's not to say that they had the right to harm or kill people because of it.

[After all, she's used to things such as that.]

It's only a thought, but it may be one to keep in mind.

Do you think that they're being picked out in advance then?

We really don't have any idea either way now.

[She lowers her head in thought. Picked out in advance? Most serial cases involved such a thing. Staking out the target, learning about it, figuring it out before finally striking. She had dealt with one or two with her grandfather before.]

That seems like it would be most likely. At this point in time, it does not seem likely that this is just random with how methodically the cards are chosen.

Then we should be able to look into what they've done that may have caused them to come to his attention.

Although this place is small enough that the initial selection could still have been random. I haven't noticed any obvious commonalities, but that doesn't mean ones don't exist.

Exactly. Just because you cannot see the surface commonalities, does not mean that one is not there. You have to see the truth behind appearances... Read between the lines, as one would say. It's the job of the detective and the officer to try to find the connections and link them together.

Quite. You know more about this than I do, is there a question you can think of that you could pose to the network about tarot that might elicit the murderer's response without eliciting his suspicion?

A question that won't cause people to suspect anything... Asking the meaning behind the card will mean simple nothing, but it will make it clear that I am on the case and may be a threat.

Perhaps asking for a reading... or a lesson in how to have a tarot reading. I myself have not actually partaken in such an activity, however it may warrant a look into in order to figure something out.

[She had had a feeling she would need to put herself up as bait again. She didn't realize that it would be so soon after she arrived here though.]

If it's possible for you to explain it well, I can ask that sort of thing myself.

[He doesn't want to use her for bait at all.]

Of course, my religion is reasonably well enough known here, and it's not really compatible with that sort of superstition.

[While he doesn't want her to be bait, she's nearly always been prepared for such a thing.]

While your religious preferences are known to this place, mine are not. It would be better for someone unknown to question it. Someone such as myself or another who is a recent arrival - perhaps someone who arrived in the past two months or so.

[However her tone and expression reveal what she doesn't say: She would inevitably be the choice.]

If you're comfortable doing so. I wouldn't ask you to put yourself at risk like that.

I have done such things before. To be a detective, you must learn that putting yourself in danger is what will get the job done.

It's your choice to make, it's just...not mine. You only just got here. Don't do anything you're not comfortable with.

[She looks up at him, her eyes nearly betraying her gender.]

Kiske-san, I understand it is not the choice you desire, but can you think of anyone or anything else that would work?

There needs to be some sort of bait, there's no other way around it.

[At this point he's expecting her to be male, so she'd have to slip a fair bit to cause him to reassess that. Which is good, because he'd hesitate even more to send a woman in.]

No, I...see. Still, make sure you talk to other members of the Defense Force as well, to make sure that you have backup.

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