[Date: Friday April 2nd. Time: 7:45 p.m. ?] [Kaede found the address. What's he going to do now?] [Start!] * Haruko sighs. "I'm not going to try to analyze Saki. Anyways, we need to decide if we're going or not. I vote we don't and we trust Heirophant, but if I'm overruled I'll help of course." * Haruko looks back to Taki. "Kaede's looking for it, let's decide now." * Kaede sighs and looks up calmly at Taki, pushing his glasses up but saying nothing. * Satoshi looks uncertainly at Taki. * Taki looks... well, she isn't shaking visably, but she's definatly paler than usual, and doesn't seem to be all there right now, and is over controlling her voice, "I'm going." * Kaede closes the top of the laptop slightly and keeps gazing at Taki. "Going where?" * Haruko glances to Kaede for a moment then looks over to Taki. * Taki blinks in confusion, "Where Katie is." Do you think you're really going to help Katie in the state you're in? Taki, we don't even know that she's there. * Taki looks at her feet for a second and then up at Kaede, "I...can't not go. You don't have to come with me, but I am going." I'm not letting you go alone. * Haruko looks to Taki. "So that's your rationale? Not that you'll actually help Katie more this way, but because your don't feel you have a choice?" I... * Satoshi repeats himself. "I'm not, but I want you to *think* about things before you do decide." * Kaede pushes his glasses up his nose and keeps looking at Taki and Satoshi, letting them work it out a little. * Kaede is also still closely guarding his laptop screen. (Smart guy.) * Taki starts to shiver again and shakes her head, "I...I've lost too much... just waiting. I can't anymore!" But is rushing into things in the state you're in going to be much better? It's something! We've lost a lot getting involved too. More than one of us has gone insane, Remi lost her hand, someone's dead because of us... And what if rushing in puts Katie in more danger? Or both of you? * Haruko nods. "Doing everything the opposite of the last mistake you made doesn't fix things. You need to think Taki, not just react and listen to your emotions." * Kaede sighs and rests back against the bike. "We don't want to make things worse...I don't like sitting around any more than you do but we can't just rush in either..." * Taki glances at Satoshi, "Then I'll just run away! With her!" * Kaede rubs his forehead. "To where?" * Haruko looks at Taki. "Not everything can be fixed by teleportation. If the Heirophant is right, it won't be that easy. They'll have a field you can't jump out of or half a dozen other precautions that I can't anticipate." * Satoshi looks like he's thinking of another meaning for that phrase. "And if you can't escape for some reason?" * Taki starts to shake harder, "I'm still going." * Kaede looks at Taki with infinite patience. "You can't." * Haruko looks at Taki. "Even though Katie might get hurt because your in the midst of a breakdown?" * Satoshi reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Taki, please. Think about this for just a second." No! I'll... * Taki's face goes blank for a moment as she realizes that she's run out of resources, and she turns to Kaede, "Where is she?!" * Satoshi gives Kaede a quick, pleading glance. * Haruko stares at Taki. "You haven't answered my question yet. You'll go even if that means things will be worse for Katie?" * Kaede starts to speak up then waits as Haruko says her peace. She...You... I don't know that! No! You don't! Neither do I. We're both guessing. You know how we figure out whose guess is better? We talk it out then make a decision. * Haruko isn't actually yelling so much as speaking forcefully, but Katie would still likely wince. * Kaede winces a little, but closes the laptop a little more. * Taki continues to shake and talk in forced calm, "Katie is in trouble. Somebody will get hurt if we act or not. They are different people. One person said no and went. I say go. Will you tell me where I'm going now?" But we don't *know* that going will stop Katie from being hurt entirely. We don't *know* that we can trade one of us for her. We don't *know* if we can't! * Kaede shakes his head slowly. "It may very well be she's the one who gets hurt if we do go..." * Haruko leans back against the wall of the construction site. "You're still taking the easy way out you know. Trying to get redemption for your screw up in one big stroke. Sure it might mean sacrifice, but no tough choices, no thinking." That...doesn't...matter! * Kaede sighs and stands up. Why doesn't it? What *does*? * Kaede looks over at Taki. "It matters in the fact that I'm not going to give you anything if I don't think you're competent enough at this point to handle the job." * Haruko stands up again and walks closer to Taki. "So, if we go in, what precautions do we take against Heirophant being right? Do we try to get more allies to help us out? How do we best stay out of Saki's way if she's pulling it off? Most important are you in a state to consider any of that?" * Taki clenches one of her hands into a fist, "Katie mat....You? How do ... and... I!" She continues to sputter in sentance fragments. (Very eloquent, Taki. ;p) * Kaede nods at Taki's response, as if that makes things perfectly clear. "I've heard about enough." (Sorry, she's not all here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message...she still won't get back to you. ^^;) * Taki stops, and with visable effort speaks cohearently to Kaede, "What... do you...want me to do?" * Haruko keeps a close eye on Taki. * Kaede sighs and takes a deep breath. "I want you to prove to me that you're going to be able to think about what Katie NEEDS and not what you WANT." * Haruko nods. * Satoshi exhales and looks at Taki. "I agree with them." * Taki falls silent and closes her eyes- just shaking and breathing. * Satoshi still has his hand on her shoulder. * Haruko waits. * Kaede sighs and turns to Haruko, speaking low. "I need to find out what's close by to this place. It might help us know who we're dealing with." * Haruko nods her head slightly. * Taki doesn't open her eyes when she speaks, "I want... to save Katie. I want... her to be happy. She needs ... somebody, maybe not us, to go save her. She needs..." We all want to save Katie, Taki-san. * Taki opens her eyes and slumps again while muttering, "needspeoplewhocanhelpher." * Haruko nods. * Kaede nods slowly and starts a new search. Hurrah for mapquest. Okay, that's a start. Now, we can each say what we think, and then vote on whether we're the group she needs or if just Saki and Hirokazu are that group. Do you want to start Taki or should I go first? * Taki doesn't look up, "I want to go. I can't do it myself..." Without knowing where we're going? Without knowing who we're dealing with? Without knowing if we can even help or not? (Meanwhile in the real world Taki attempts the throttle RDM from the inside for pointing out that she missed Kaede giving a reason for going or three) (Heh.) * Haruko nods. "So do you think the Heirophant is wrong? Or do you think that we'll be good enough to make the difference even if she might be right?" We ... don't know either way. * Haruko nods. "So, since you can't know for sure, you want to go. Okay, Satoshi, what do you think?" * Satoshi exhales. "I don't think we should go. We don't know what we're getting into and we don't know if we're actually going to help. Maybe this is some crazy test of loyalty. I don't know. But my gut's telling me that this is a bad idea, and I'm going to listen to it this time." * Satoshi murmurs. "I just hope Katie understands, and that she can forgive us for this." * Taki closes her eyes again and takes a deep breath. (and passes out due to the sudden rush of O2, yay we can move on to the next day! >.<#) (*powersnerk*) * Haruko nods. "Okay. I think Heirophant has some good information and probably good intentions. She showed this by saving us when nobody knew we were in trouble. She even saved Katie. If she told us saving Katie was impossible I'd try anyways, but..." * Haruko pauses for a second. "That's not what she told us, she said a rescue mission could go, but that if we went along things would be worse. We don't have the best track record, so I can believe it. I vote no." * Haruko then looks to Kaede. * Kaede speaks simply as he types away at his computer. "The Heirophant is testing us." * Haruko shrugs slightly at that and waits. * Kaede still isn't looking up. "I don't know whether she's testing our resources, our trust in her, or our convictions, but either way, she didn't give us enough information to go on." It's possible she's wanted the Page all along. Rescuing us when Kyoko sent us over could simply have been a way to gain our trust as well as get the Page back into this side of reality. Two birds with one stone. * Satoshi looks rather startled at Kaede's choice of words. * Haruko looks at Kaede oddly for his use of 'the page.' She waits to see what side he comes down on. * Taki opens her eyes and looks at Kaede, there's a small ammount of hope in them. * Kaede pushes his glasses up his nose and continues typing. He's been talking fairly evenly and emotionlessly during this whole time. "However, the inclusion of Morikawa in this instance is a confounding factor. And she's one I think has proven won't be swayed on either side of the war." * Haruko looks as if Kaede's lost her, but she keeps watching to see which way he decides. Even if the Hierophant is up to nefariousness, unless there's some instance of mind control, which if she could I doubt she'd need to fall into this ruse, I don't think that she would do anything against Katie against her will. * Kaede keeps typing. "It wouldn't hurt to get more information. But until we do, I don't believe we should go after her until we KNOW what we're getting into." * Haruko nods at Kaede's earlier comment, looking as if she's following him again. She then nods at his final comment, but actually looks somewhat surprised. How? ...How can we know without going? We can't... So we might have to observe what we're dealing with, won't we? * Kaede finally looks up from his typing. * Taki stares at Kaede blankly, and then starts to giggle before claping both hands over her mouth. * Haruko had looked like Kaede had lost her again, but then follows. She looks torn but no longer looks surprised. * Satoshi is startled by Taki and involuntarily squeezes her shoulder. (So, what's the tiebreaker? :P) (Get in here and vote that we've taken too long!) (You showing up and saving us all the trouble. ^_~) That has it's risks, but I'm sure it has at least two votes. My gut still says no and that even this may change things, but... In a tie I'll go with spying. * Kaede stands up slowly and looks at Taki. "Keep in mind, this means even if you see something you don't like, you'll have to stay put. We're not going to save Katie. We're simply going to find out what the hell is going on with our friend." * Satoshi nods. "I'll agree to that as well." * Taki nods rapidly, with her hands still over her mouth. I think in case this goes badly, we may want to call and see if we can get back up from Matthais. If this is a test or a trick, I'd prefer not to play fair. * Kaede nods to Haruko. "Good idea." ( But then wouldn't you fail? :P ) ( Fail the test, yeah, might save Katie though. ) (Katie > destiny of cards... Taki would make a lousy Yu Gi Oh player.) * Haruko gets out her phone and makes the call to Matthais. ( And the more people we have, the greater the spread of probability of people who may get hurt. Damn you, quit being so analytical.) * Haruko scowls. "Dang it, no answer. I can try Akemi, she might be able to call him. There anyone else we can potentially call in?" * Haruko calls Akemi, trying her cell first and the shop if that doesn't work. I can't think of anyone. * Kaede deadpans. "Remi." Like I said, I can't think of anyone. * Kaede snorts at Satoshi. * Haruko nods to that. "Too many variables already." * Taki cautiosly lowers her hands to reveal a large smile. (And she has officially completely lost it.) * Satoshi blinks at Taki. (Hey, she thought she was going to get voted down and Katie hurt and couldn't do a thing about it. and now things are looking much better and nobody is obviously moving against her) (Kaede's argumentation rocks.) * Haruko smiles. "Hey Akemi, know how to get a hold of Matthais? He's not answering his phone and I wanted to ask him if he'd be willing to back us up on something." Sure? Dang. We're going for checking out the place Katie might be held, and we could really use some independent advice at least. * Taki looks up at Satoshi, "I know I shouldn't be feeling this good right now, but I thought that I couldn't do anything at all and now I can, and I know I just said I wouldn't do anything without the rest of you and I won't but now we're going to at least see if we can help and maybe all of you will come with me then too and I'm sorry about all this and it's all." * Haruko sighs. "Thanks. I assume you wouldn't be up for it? Even if you aren't a fighter we could use a check on our judgment." (I don't need a check!) * Kaede blows out a breath and looks off to the side, mumbling. "If nothing else, she'd be a great distraction." ( Admit it, Satoshi, you wouldn't mind being checked by Akemi. (Um. Uh. Um. *blush*) * Haruko nods. "You can hang back, just give us advice whether to go or not. Supposedly we're going to make a mistake, so better if we have somewhat with a clue that isn't one of us to help." * Kaede snorts. * Haruko covers the earpiece for a moment and looks to Kaede. "Either way, pick the spying location and figure out whether Taki can port there, if I should drive her, or if we should take the subway." * Kaede nods and looks at his maps, surveying the location. * Haruko looks to Kaede. "She's willing to come. Is there a place she can watch from that you're sure is safe?" I'm checking... * Kaede sighs and looks up. "It's a residential district..there's not really anything I can see..." * Haruko speaks back into the phone. "Dang, we're just going to have to try to be subtle. I may call, but I can't guarantee your safety. Thanks for being willing." * Kaede closes his computer. "I think it'd probably be best to drive there. Maybe Akemi can wait in the car." * Taki looks at Kaede and then Haruko. * Haruko shakes her head. "We'll put the phone on speaker and leave it in the car. I don't want to push it." Haruko then finds a safe place to leave Kyon's bike and starts scouting for a car. Whatever you feel is best. * Kaede looks at Taki. 2d6-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-6) and gets 1. * Taki followed Haruko as far as the gate to the construction yard, and is watching he from there. Her grin has faded a bit. [Haruko finds a sweet looking Alfa Romeo.] What's wrong? * Haruko speaks into the phone as she works. "Okay, we'll leave you on speaker, if you've got anything to contribute, go ahead." I'm faster, and you still haven't told me where I'm going. * Haruko glances around to see if anyone is watching right now as she gets out the ruler like device and her lock picks for getting the car open. (Taki passes back through normal, how long will she manage to stay there? Tune in next week! ..Or right now since we're going on.) * Haruko puts her phone on speaker and glancees back. "Okay, so Taki, have you been there before?" [There's nobody around this area. It's amazing there's a car here at all.] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-2) and gets 8. (dr) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-2) and gets 5. [Unlockeded!] ...Which part of he hasn't told me where we're going did you miss? * Haruko snerks. "Sorry Taki. Well, Takeuchi-san?" * Kaede looks at Taki. "We also don't know if this person can detect Arcana powers or not." They obviously knew Katie was one...otherwise why would they choose that ridiculous moniker? Well, we could always teleport a few blocks away. Let's just do it, whatever we're going to do. Then won't they be able to te... * Taki cuts herself off midsentance. * Kaede nods and points to the map he's been hording on his laptop, turning it around. "Right here." * Haruko doesn't open the car door just yet. She also takes the time to verify that there's no car alrams to worry about. * Taki looks over Kaede's map, trying to figure out where in Tokyo it is. ( Taki's not sure. ) * Taki blinks at it for a bit, "Err...How do you make it bigger?" 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-3) and gets 5. [Haruko finds and disables a car alarm.] [Now it won't beep and annoy everyone in the area.] * Kaede turns the map back over. "You just click this spot here...but we don't really need that now. I don't think it's a place we've ever been before." Sometimes...that doesn't matter, but it's better to go with everybody. Okay, so we taking the car? * Taki nods slightly after saying that. Yes, now. We're going. * Haruko slips in and goes to work on hotwiring the car. She tosses her pair of insulated gloves over to the others so everyone can take care about finger prints while they go. Satoshi had his hockey gloves last time, so that's probably what he'll use this time. (Hotwiring roll I'm assuming.) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-3) and gets 5. (2 door or 4?) [Haruko starts up the car. And it's a four door.] * Kaede gets in the car as navigator * Haruko makes sure that Taki and Kaede take a glove each and use it when handling the car. * Taki puts on a glove, and opens the back doors for Satoshi since it's practicaly impossilbe to do anything but hold a stick while wearing hockey gloves, after he's in she gets in the other side. * Haruko puts the Akemi phone in the middle so she can hear everyone. Once everyone is in she drives to the location under Kaede's guidance. She makes sure not to spread or break any laws. [Haruko drives!] (Satoshi probably looks uncomfortable.) * Haruko looks contains her grin with a bit more ease than usual, although with this car it's hard. * Taki nods off a few minutes into the drive, and if Haruko pulls a hard turn will probily slump over and make Satoshi even more uncomfortable. (Oh, and let us know when we're getting near but not quite there yet. We aren't going to pull right up in front or anything. :P) ([You pull into the driveway.]) [Haruko drives and drives, and eventually you get to a small residential section with some red brick homes.] Should I try for a few houses down on the other side of the street? * Kaede nods. "We still need to be able to see what's going on.." He looks for the place. * Haruko does just that then, going for parking on the street if possible. She turns down the headlights once they get there, if there's streetlamps she turns them off completely. [Kaede finds the one that is apparently the place, though it looks the same as the rest.] * Kaede hmms and thinks. "I wish we did have Katie for this...she's best at scouting things out..." * Taki stirs slightly at Katies name, but doesn't wake up. ( Gimme a sight roll +4, - mechanics (automotive) ) We can try teleporting to a nearby rooftop or I can go watery and try to sneak around, but both might be noticed if they've got ways of detecting powers. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-2) and gets 3. * Kaede gazes at Taki for a bit and lowers his voice. "We'll try that if we can't find anything else." 2d6+3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6+3) and gets 10. (Wait, does HA count?) ( Yes ) (Then that's a barely make) [Despite the darkness, you all notice a motorcycle parked in front of the building.] * Kaede whispers. "Saki must be here already..." * Haruko quietly replies. "Yeah." * Haruko stares at the house to see if they can get anything from the outside. [Sure is brick.] ( That ther' 's a faine brick hay-ouse. ) * Haruko sighs and speaks quietly. "Okay, we need to get closer. Teleport, water scout, or something else?" (Fo' shizzle) Any thoughts Akemi? We aren't seeing anything from out here. * Kaede snorts. "I'm useless unless they have security cameras installed." Akemi: "I dunno..." * Kaede thinks. "We're going to have to risk it..." He turns to Haruko. "But how will you report back?" * Haruko bites her lip for a moment. "I'll make it rain for some water to use, I can make letters out of water at a distance, won't be fast, but should work." ( Gimme hearing checks, -2 bonus! ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-2) and gets 6. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets 8. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6-4) and gets 5. [Blam! Y'all hear a gunshot.] * Kaede jerks up at that and whips his head around towards the house. * Haruko gasps. "Okay, give me thirty seconds." She opens the door and goes watery, leaving a pile of her stuff in the car. It starts to rain and she scoots towards the house as quickly as she can. (...except Taki who failed her roll and sleeps through it? @_@) [Kaede's head flies off as he whips it too hard.] [Just kidding.] (Well, somebody was gonna get hurt. :P) (>.>) * Kaede curses. "Shi--uh, I hope that was Morikawa..." He thinks about what he said and clarifies, "The one firing the gun I mean." (See? This is why we needed Satoshi!) [And yes, Taki apparently sleeps through it.] * Kaede gets out of the car. He doesn't advance. It doesn't look easy for him though. * Haruko moves as quickly as she can towards the door, but she's a puddle, so ignoring stealth might not be a huge problem. The rain isn't torrential but it should be providing a fair amount of material to work with. * Taki started at the gunshot, but fell right back to sleep. ( She's also a moving puddle. :P ) [Haruko gets to the door. It's closed!] (True. But she's hoping the gun shots will sorrt of distract people.) * Haruko tries to get under the door. ( Body - acro (flexibility) ) (okay, boost.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6) and gets 3. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6+2) and gets 11. * Kaede sighs and watches the sky for a warning, looking back in a moment at Taki. * Taki is asleep, and doesn't look like she'll be waking heself up anytime soon. * Kaede secretly whispers, "Good" under his breath and looks at the phone, speaking softly, "Akemi...you still there?" "Uh huh." * Kaede closes his eyes slightly. "You have any idea how to stop this sort of stuff from happening again? I mean, why us...?" (This is seriosly anticlimactic, three weeks of Taki going insane with worry and then the falls asleep.) (it's so Taki.) (I'd be insulted, but you're Katie, and there for an impartial and trusted source...Why are you all looking at me like that? :P) "I don't know... I don't think there is a way to stop it." * Kaede sighs. "I didn't think so..." He rubs his hand over his brow and looks at the house. No messages. He's getting antsy. * Kaede answers casually to the phone. "I wonder if we'll ever get to do things normal again." "What are you talking about? I do normal stuff all the time. Like make movies! Or I should be, mister manager." * Kaede winces and looks at the phone. "Hey, I got you that one job didn't I? How'd that go?" * Kaede's trying very hard not to think about the gun shot. It's almost succeeding. ( Hearing checks! ) ( At +2 ) 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6+2) and gets 8. (zzz) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6) and gets 6. * Kaede frowns and looks around for the moving puddle. ( Sight check, +2 ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6) and gets 4. [Kaede doesn't see it outside.] * Kaede frowns more. "That's weird, I could have sworn I heard..." His eyes narrow sharply. "Shit. If Haruko's talking, someone must have spotted her..." * Taki continues to sleep peacefuly in the back of the car. * Kaede frowns and looks at Taki for a moment, then to the phone. "I'm going in. If Taki wakes up, tell her, okay?" * Kaede sighs and glances at the house. "Or at least I can get a closer look.." [Session End! Be here next week for the exciting conclusion! I hope.]