[Day: Saturday, April 9th. Time: 4:30 p.m.] [Weather: Warm and humid.] [You arrive in the port! It's full of warehousey goodness.] [Session Start] * Haruko finds a fairly discrete but accessable place to park the bike and joins the group. "Well, be careful. And I'll text Satoshi if I see anyone coming." * Haruko has a fairly glum but resolute tone. * Katie smiles a little at Haruko. "Okay. Thanks." She heads on over towards the warehouse of doom. * Taki nods slightly at Haruko and follows Katie. * Kaede nods absently. "Mmm-hmm." He then glances at Katie, pushes his glasses up and walks with her. "Come on. We're wasting time." ( We should be walking faster!) [The warehouse of doom is in the other section of the port.] * Satoshi waves to Haruko. "I'll keep an eye on my phone." He follows the others, making sure to switch his phone to silent mode. ( Killing Tenjirou is a waste of valuable time I could spend staring at the counter of my shop.) ( I hate you all. Have I told you that recently?) (Only Katie and Haruko) * Haruko presumably parked her bike closer to the warehouse of doom before meeting the group. She then proceeds to the warehouse to watch the entrance. * Taki reaches into a pocket and switches her phone off after a few paces. ( He previously hadn't cared enough to hate me) ( Wow, Haruko. You're moving up in the world.) ( Sadly it probably is more that Kaede is falling.) ( Damn it Kaede, you're supposed to be the other sane one, stop trying to make me look good and do your job!) ( You seem confused about the jobs.) [You walk and walk. And you reach the construction site. Looks like people are still there for another half hour yet.] ( Other sane one? Who's the first?) ( Uhm... Kyon or Katie.) ( So I don't have to be sane? Yay! *gibbers*) (Katie? She's the insane one.) ( She didn't used to be. ;_;) * Taki blinks at the people working. "Uhm... maybe we should come back later?" * Katie laces her fingers through the chain link fence and looks at the site and the people there. "Hm." Huh. Maybe. (Actually, Katie's probably the only sane one. The rest of us are insane.) * Haruko shrugs. "There are other avenues." (Naw. She's past sane) (Sane requires moderation in acknowledgement of reality) Either he's not coming when they're all around or he'll just work inside a field. I doubt he works here. (Going too far isn't healthy) (And out the other end?) (Yup) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-2) and gets 4. (Wee, straight Pratchettian philosophy) * Taki nods. (Yup!) Well, if he does put up a field somewhere around here, I'll let you know. Although fields do make people tired, so he might not keep it up all the time. (Brett, I noticed something. Isn't the beginning of the school year in April?) (Probably not in Arcana verse.) (Unless you want Haruko to graduate. ;P) * Taki blinks. "It happens to... Oh. I should talk to Remi that. Later I mean." * Katie tilts her head. She reaches into her satchel and extracts her ear helpers, checks them over, and puts them in. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 12, a CRITICAL FAILURE!!! "I can recommend some good Dice Cleanser, if you like." * Kaede glances at Taki. "Remi what? (Ha, DR.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 8. Norishige also got tried I think. Anyways, we could talk to Yorihisa, the Jackals, or try to find Zein if we want other leads. * Taki speaks quiter. "About fields." * Haruko then thinks for a moment and nods. "You should talk to her about it though Taki. She might appreciate it." * Katie grimaces, covering her ears. She adjusts them in short order. (She shouldn't be grimacing.) * Satoshi looks over at Katie. "What's wrong?" (They've got the upper limit set) (Still hurts.) * Taki nods and looks at Katie. "Were we talking too loud?" Just tried to hear something. No. * Haruko looks at Katie and frowns. * Katie looks at the building. "They're working on that. Notice anything weird about it?" * Taki looks a bit relieved and then up at the building. * Haruko glances at the building. * Kaede peers up at the building. * Satoshi looks at the building. ( I don't know, do I notice anything weird about the building?) ( Gimme archetecture roles, +2 if you don't have the skill. ) 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6+2) and gets 6. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6+2) and gets 10. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6+2) and gets 6. * Taki blinks. "It... looks about the same... Wait, they have been working on it right? They are working on it. What happened?" * Haruko shakes her head. "Seems like a standard government boondoogle. Three months and nothings changed." Huh? Yeah. I don't know. But I don't think that's on purpose. * Taki points at the building. "It's... exactly the same as it was the first time we were here." * Katie nods. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6+2) and gets 8. * Haruko sounds annoyed. "Maybe, but some of the big roads I use have been under construction the entire time I've been driving. And that's a while." She then decides to quiet up. * Satoshi looks at it more carefully. "Hey, you're right... that's really weird." * Kaede shakes his head. "Not if it's a gathering site for Arcana. I mean remember where we ended up in the World Reversed, Satoshi..." The real question is more why there are workers here now. Because they're trying to build whatever that is and failing. Maybe they don't realize it somehow? Although that would imply something really powerful... Boondoogle. (It's the tower of babble) (Haruko's babbling.) Out here, Haruko? Come on... * Taki shrugs. "I... don't know. It might be, or they ran out of money or something... somebody probably knows." * Kaede glances about to see what kind of port it is exactly. Don't think they've ever officially checked. [The kind with boats.] * Haruko shakes her head. "Well maybe they don't notice, maybe they don't care. Either is plausible." (Wonderful, Brett. :P Commercial or what?) (It's a star port, in the distance a rocket lifts off.) The only way to find out is ask. ( It's commercial with some private lots. ) * Kaede walks forward without waiting for a response! * Haruko holds back for now. * Taki blinks and stares at Kaede. "Uhm... who's he going to ask? ...And... why would they tell him?" [Kaede is stopped by a fence.] * Kaede looks for a gate. * Haruko waits. If Kaede fails she can probably get their attention. [Kaede finds a gate. It's not locked, but there's a sign warning people that it's a hardhat area.] * Kaede goes around cautiously in the gate and looks for the closest person. * Haruko looks dubious and stays where it is safe. * Taki looks confused and watches Kaede disappear into the gates of DOOM. [There's an overweight man in his mid-forties, going over some blue prints. He's got black hair, a beard and a 'stache. He looks pretty stressed. * Katie walks over and peeks in, too. Not that she actually needs to get that close, but it's good for the locals. Or something. * Kaede calls out to the man. "Excuse me!" * Katie winces. But just a little. * Satoshi hangs back with Taki. * Haruko frowns again and whispers. "Need me to adjust them again Katie?" [Katie's ears hurt, 'cause there's loud construction noises.] [And the man either ignores Kaede or doesn't hear him.] * Kaede calls out louder, stepping towards him. "EXCUSE ME!" * Haruko then casually looks over the construction site for any cute guys. * Katie just covers her ears. [Cute guys at a construction site? You gotta be joking.] (* Haruko sees one of the village people) * Taki watches Katie wince and then grimaces when she covers her ears. [Kaede is continued to be ignored or unheard.] (It's possible. They might not have great attitude, but there's probably some young rather fit guys.) * Kaede keeps walking forward then. Mindful of falling cranes and stuff. (Well, more ruggedly handsome, but that'd work.) * Kaede tries to get close enough to glance at the blueprints. Since the man isn't answering... [Kaede sees plans for a building.] 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6+2) and gets 12. * Haruko sighs as she finds no one. She glances at Katie's ears and then spaces out for a bit. (* Kaede thinks they're building a giant chicken coup.) [The man finally notices Kaede and turns around with a start.] "What are you doing here, kid? Without a hardhat. Didn't you see the sign?" * Kaede blinks and points at the blueprints. "You wouldn't answer so I thought I'd have a look myself." He's shouting over the noise still, even this close. Well, if you'd get me a hard hat, I'd be more than happy to oblige. [He walks over to a makeshift shack and returns shortly with a hat. "Here."] * Kaede takes the hat and puts it on. "So now that I'm prepared, what is it exactly that you're building?" * Haruko then seems to work out whatever she was thinking about and looks over the construction equipment. She also glances around for any nice cars, considering she got a sports car last time she was here. * Taki leans against a more finished building and watches Katie, and just occasionaly looking around. * Katie is looking through the fence at the building and the people building the building. "It's an office building, son." He looks up at it. "Offices for rent, it's going to be. If we ever finish it at least." What seems to be the problem? * Satoshi keeps an eye on their surroundings. He shrugs helplessly. "It won't build." Won't build? * Kaede looks at the foreman or something presumeably. "Is that usual?" "Something keeps happening. It's like God doesn't want this building completed." Something like what? * Haruko watches any cars in the area go by. She gets a distant but more relaxed look. [He shrugs. "Supplies were late, funding got cut, the project was shelves at least three times, the last architect's measurements were off and we were going over the property line..."] ( *in dreamy, half-dazed voice* Cars make it all better....) So everything seems like normal problems though so far, mmm? Nothing unusual? Aside from the fact that there's an awful lot of them... ( You understand!) He stares at Kaede, bewildered. "If you call that normal." ( Boooondoogle) (You like that word far too much. ;p) * Haruko's eyes track the cars as they go by and she listens to the engines. When there are none in sight she watches the construction equipment. If you wish to speak to her please leave a message and she'll get back to you as soon as she can. (This is like sticking me at an ice rink, isn't it? ;p) (Yup!) Well, a lot of it sounds like bureaucratic nonsense. That could always mean someone's doing it. If God were really against the project, it'd keep coming crashing down, injuries, lost men, stuff like that...wouldn't it? (Or possibly worse. ;p) (Quite possibly) (Very tactful Kaede.) (Yesh.) (Hey, it's very Kaede :P) (It is.) (Although a bit wordy. He could have just said: So basically you're incompetent.) (Kaede doesn't say that....to people he just met) (Very important to have that qualifier there. ^_~) [He eyes Kaede. "Look, kid, I wasn't serious. I don't think God cares one way or the other about an office building. All I'm saying is we've had some hard luck."] * Kaede nods. "Who wants it done if I may ask?" "Can't tell you, sorry." I don't mind. Figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Big name? ( Maybe you've annoyed a Kami. You should pay a priest to come out and do a ritual.) (Wow, God does object to it being built! :P) "Not really. It's just policy, you know." * Kaede nods. "Thanks for your time. And the loan of the hat. I appreciate it." * Kaede takes the hat off his head and hands it back to the foreman. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 3. * Katie 's eyes widen, and she looks up. [He nods. "Sure."] * Satoshi notices Katie and looks up as well. * Taki sees Katie look up, so she looks up. * Kaede heads back for the gate forthwith. * Haruko notices nothing. NOTHING! (You are all LEMMINGS.) (Not me!) (And me!) (We're not Haruko, so you're more interesting than the cars. :P) (Well, if there's something about to come crashing down on our heads, I'd like to know about it while I can still get out of the way. ;p) ( Well, it isn't Katie's fault she's not a car. But it is a fact.) [There's a shout from above. "Christ, LOOK OUT!!" Kaede, body roll, -2 bonus] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Kaede (2d6-2) and gets 7. (Kaede and falling objects) (...ow) (I called it over Skype! Kate can verify. ^_^_v) (Before even Katie looked up.) [Katie can see it fall!] * Haruko doesn't glance over, lots of ambient noise and neat stuff around. (He was joking about it, but yes. It was called. ;p) 2d6+3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6+3) and gets 6. (...Niiice) (You owe me your ass.) (I thought you wanted Ken's.) (/me runs!) (Unfortunately it happens to be in the direction that Katie just pushed the whatever.) [Kaede is suddenly blown away by a strong gust of wind. Lucky him, since 3 steel beams crash into the ground where he was an instant ago. The foreman falls over backwards, narrowly avoiding being hit himself. "Jesus!"] [He crawls over to Kaede. "Hey kid, are you okay?!"] Holy... * Katie pulls the gate open and runs in. * Satoshi runs in after her. * Kaede hisses through his teeth and looks over at the beam, then rubs his head. "Gah...that was close..." * Kaede glances over at Katie. * Haruko is actually stirred by the crash and glances over and gasps. You okay? * Taki's eyes widen at the noise and she starts to run over to where Katie used to be. * Kaede keeps rubbing his head. "Yeah...yeah, I think so..." He finishes by looking Katie straight in the eyes, but not saying anything. Foreman and all. * Haruko runs over to the gate and looks in. She doesn't run into the area just yet though, no headset. [The foreman sighs in relief. "You're one lucky sonnovabitch."] * Katie holds a hand down to help Kaede up. * Kaede responds rather dryly. "What can I say? God's on my side." * Taki gets to the gate and keeps running in, looking around for Kaede and Katie She slows down when she sees them. "Wh...What happened?" * Kaede accepts the hand and whispers, almost just mouthing, "Thank you" before he lets himself get pulled up. * Katie does pull him up with a small smile. She looks to Taki. "Some beams almost fell on him. I think we should go." I think so too. I agree. * Taki pales and nods. * Kaede looks at the foreman. "Um...thanks for the chat." "I'm awful sorry about that. You sure you're okay?" * Taki looks up, just in case. [Nothing falls on Taki.] * Haruko stays outside for the moment. No real reason to rush in. (Yay me!) Positive. I've had some pretty bad scares in my life, believe it or not. This is just another one of those days... * Katie smiles at the foreman. "He needs ice cream." "Uh... Right. You take care of yourself." * Kaede heads out. * Haruko looks over Kaede with a relieved expression as she sees the lack of apparent injuries. * Katie bows to the foreman. "I look forward to the building when you're done." And then she glances up at where the beams came from before going. (s/apparent/the usual) (/me snerks) * Taki turns around and scurries out of the hard hat area before anything else falls down. * Satoshi takes one quick glance around before waving goodbye and hurrying out. [You leave!] Cursed site? * Katie steps out of the gate. "Yup. Very Tower-like. I think we should go back to our places, get dressed, and come back in about an hour." Dad's actually done a ritual for one of those once. ::she frowns:: Although this is probably Arcana stuff, not an annoyed Kami. And make sure we don't walk under any falling things. * Taki nods at Katie. "Yeah... and be careful when we do." Although I'm tempted to say that wasn't a coincidence. I'm sure it wasn't...and I've been thinking... There's a shock. * Haruko frowns at the suggestion. "Yeah, seems cursed. Wasn't a boondoogle after all I guess." Did you see anything? * Katie looks to Kaede. "Hm?" ... You think he's up there somewhere? Doesn't have to be. Arcana can do things from long distance. But it doesn't hurt to check all possibilities. * Satoshi nods. Oh. But even so... * Haruko nods. She takes a moment to look over the site, paying attention to the operator of the crane handling the girders and trying to take note of if there was anywhere else to easily interfere in the process. I mean...it's a subtle influence. It could be just coincidence, but I don't buy it. The thing is that the construction workers haven't really found anything particularly "outright weird." Which points to a couple possibilities. [Haruko doesn't see him. Or anyone else up on the site at the moment. Looks like work came to a half after the accident.] I was thinking the Wheel of Fortune. That's one possibility. But...well, isn't Sho's power supposed to be altering reality too? The effects don't have to be blatant in that respect. * Taki blinks. "I thought this was a Tower thing. Disasters in general." I think this is probably a bit beyond our understanding at this point. Probably best to keep an open mind until we get more information. It could be just the location too...it's too prime a target to be a coincidence... * Katie nods. "Actually, have you noticed? Nothing really awful happens at Tokyo Tower. Bad emotional stuff, and maybe a fight, but not life or death. It's too public." So... So, I think we should check back in an hour. True... * Haruko tilts her head. "I don't really agree. The building hasn't collapsed, but there's been a lot of danger there." Well... that's the Tower reversed so... it's going to be different right? * Katie shrugs. "*She* told me there's more than one Tower. She's probably making it up, but just the same, it's possible." We shouldn't be speculating so much out in the open like this...we should find somewhere to... * Kaede then glances at Katie. "You're not thinking...Saori's reading?" Of course I am. * Haruko shrugs. "It barely means anything to us. Anyways, multiple towers does make sense." She frowns. "Well, let's go." * Katie heads on over to Haru- Kyon's bike! * Taki stays quiet until she can figure out which of Saori's readings this is about. * Taki sighs and looks at Satoshi. "We... don't realy have time to take the subway back do we... It's half an hour each way." * Haruko gets to the bike and puts on her helmet, taking out the extra one for Katie. * Kaede glances at Katie as she goes and then at Satoshi. "I think we need to talk about what exactly we saw in the World Reversed too." You mean the shadows? I thought we'd talked about that before. Unless there's something else that I'm forgetting... * Taki blinks. * Haruko then prepares to drive off with Katie. Yeah but...well, if there's this happening in the real world here... It's got to be more than just a coincidence...at least I think so. Then there could be some connection, yeah. * Katie takes the helmet from Haruko and puts it on, then gets onto the bike. * Haruko drives off to Katie's house. * Taki waves goodbye to Katie and Haruko as they pass. * Taki then looks at Satoshi and Kaede. "Uhm... are we going to take the subway back now?" Sure. Or... *she trails off and nods at Satoshi. "We don't have much time." Do you feel up to it? We don't have that much time no. And I'm starving. Let's find someplace nearby to eat. * Taki shrugs. "I... wanted to test things out today remember?" Up to you * Kaede sighs and rubs his head. "I guess I'll go by myself..." Uhm... How's this? We go to Satoshi's, eat chicken, talk, change clothes, and then back here? Except that we'd have to stop by your places to grab outfits for you guys. But if you're feeling up to doing that much teleporting, then sure. * Taki grimaces and then nods. "I... guess so. We won't get everything done if I don't." * Taki holds her hands out twords Satoshi and Kaede. * Satoshi takes Taki's hand and miraculously does not blush! Outfits? Katie wanted us out of our school uniforms... remember? Clothes. Whatever you prefer to call them. * Kaede shrugs and sighs. "I didn't really feel like chicken...but whatever..." * Kaede takes Taki's hand. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-3) and gets 1. [Boom. You're in Satoshi's.] Field. (Taki just likes thinking that Katie wants her out of her uniform.) * Taki grits her teeth. "Bah." (Shh, we're gossiping about them in the channel that doesn't exist.) (*^_^*) * Taki pulls her hands back from Satoshi and Kaede and then teleports a few feet. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6) and gets 9. * Taki checks her watch, and then tries again. "C'mon!" 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6) and gets 4. It's down, Taki. * Taki relaxes. "Good." * Taki then walks over to where she left her backpack and digs out a sheet of notebook paper and a pen. Still don't have control over it? Yes. That's why I wanted to talk to Remi. ...you're welcome to. Just leave me out of it. I'll go start dinner. * Satoshi walks to the kitchen. * Taki nods and scribbles on it. "Uhm... what was it you were saying about shadows?" * Kaede sighs and makes himself comfortable after he takes off his shoes. "Well..." * Satoshi pauses in getting things out of cabinets. "In the World Reversed, Kaede and I ended up at the construction site. And I saw... shadows there." Victims of Judgement. * Kaede nods to Satoshi. Apparently I'm the only one who can see them. * Taki blinks. "Oh..." I don't know why they're congregated *there*, but it does add another bit of significance to that place... * Taki nods and then tilts her head. "But... then shouldn't things be happening to you there... and not Kaede?" Besides the question of why WE ended up there? They know I'm with Satoshi...that may be reason enough. They might not be able to strike directly at me... * Satoshi frowns. "Suddenly I'm a lot less thrilled at the idea of all of us going back there." * Taki looks over the page and then puts it back in her backpack. "It's... a good place for him to hide if it is that bad for us..." * Taki stands up. "Just... have to be very careful and look up and down a lot." Yeah. * Satoshi resumes dinner preparations. * Taki watches Satoshi for a bit, and then goes to help him. ( Omlette ) (The irony of the two people with the best cooking skills standing around and watching somebody without...) And...well, why would someone gather around it if it's really the Tower though? Wouldn't disaster be known to strike indiscriminately? (Sadly you can't make an Omlette without killing a few people.) (At least according to the old political science adage) (Actually, I have a little cooking skill!) It has... just not trying to kill people... I think. (I don't have cooking skill. I got Architecture instead.) What if they're what's causing the disaster? (really know...where would Katie learn Architecture? :P) They who? The shadows? (A textbook because she figured she needed to break and enter into a few places after the first one.) (By learning to draw buildings. :P) (That too.) Could be...do creatures from the World Reversed have that sort of influence though? I have no idea. But I think we should keep the possibility in mind. * Taki blinks. "I wonder... if that means that thing Kyon and I found is doing anything here." Where did you find it? We don't even know if these things can see into the real world. Much less affect it. We couldn't, after all. * Taki looks up as she thinks. "It's... standing in the middle of an intersection near the Tokyo Tower." ( It's cute! ) Was it just standing there? * Taki nods. "And facing The Tower. That's all did... I think the old... Hermit... Winston! That was it, said it wasn't human." An intersection...huh. * Satoshi continues making dinner. "Not human, but not... something can be Arcana and not be human. Like the Tower. Or the Wheel of Fortune. Maybe that thing is one?" But why would it be in the World Reversed and not here? I mean...even Winston was here originally. * Taki thinks. * Satoshi shrugs. "Maybe something that happened there caused it to appear. Maybe it *was* here somehow and got sent there." I ... don't know. Wouldn't something like that get in the news? Even with Testament, I doubt she could clean up the mess THAT fast... * Taki looks up. "There was something else he said about it, but I can't remember." Who said it had to be recent? It could have happened hundreds of years ago. * Taki blinks. "That was it! He said it was there before he was." Right. It could go back to the beginning of the Arcana, even. ( It's Bruce Lee ) (Turned into Zombie Vader?) * Taki nods. "But.. it's not something we have to deal with now." A fault in the creation perhaps? When did the argument get to this anyhow? ( Arcana were terribly designed from what I can tell.) * Taki looks at Kaede. "Uhm... from things that only exist in the reversed world?" Yes, but we can focus on what we know of. (But wild speculation is fun!) ... We know that lots and lots of bad things happen at the construction site. Although none of them seem supernatural in nature, right? * Taki shakes her head. "We... met the other Saki there." There is that. But the "normal" people don't know about that But aside from that, everything else has been ordinary, right? I think so? There's a lot I know I've forgotten... asking Haruko or Katie about it when we meet up again... might be a good idea. [It's about time to go do that!] [Session End]