[Day: Wednsday, April 13th. Time: 4:30 p.m.] [Weather: Cool, humid and cloudy.] [Taki and Haruko are in Taki's place, where Haruko has just gotten a phonecall.] [Session Start!] ( And this is the part I was supposed to think about but didn't >.< ) ( I don't know, anything I can help you with? You called me! ) * Taki sits on her couch and holds tea, she'd drink it but that would require work and she is the tired, so she listens to Haruko talk to the phone as that takes no effort at all. (Tea sounds good, actually.) (*goes to put some on*) * Haruko puts her tea down, on a coaster or something if available and waits for an answer from Matthais. * Taki does, in fact, have have several coasters on the table for just such emergencies. * Haruko nods. "I'll drive there. Will there be a field up and should I have backup?" * Haruko 's voice is even but confident. She actually looks a bit more chipper than she was earlier. "Will do. On my way." * Taki blinks at Haruko. * Haruko hangs up her phone and looks to Taki. "Matthais needs a healer. Up for coming? I'll take the bike so you wouldn't have to port." * Taki looks down at her tea for a moment. "Wh..what happened?" * Haruko frowns. "He didn't say." She types the intersection into her phone and brings up a little map. Yay for spiffy phone features. "Didn't sound like a total emergency though, but I'm afraid I should hurry just in case.." ( Hah. "Afraid" :P ) ( I don't have a need for speed. Really... It's not a defect on my sheet. I can quit anytime I want.) (*snerk*) * Taki nods slightly and doesn't look at Haruko. "I ... if it's okay with you... I...'ll finish this... and then go back to bed." * Haruko nods and puts a hand on Taki's shoulder. "You don't have to feel guilty, I'll just retreat down a drain if there's trouble. Get some rest." ( Doh ) (Sorry Brett. I tried.) * Taki lists slightly, but does look over at Haruko. "Thankyou." (We need energy drinks. ;P) (Look, Taki has, what? 6 EP right now? She just wants to sleep.) * Haruko then hurries over and puts her shoes on. (Yeah, I've had what felt like 6 energy before, I can sympathize.) (The McEnergy Drink!) (Yes, Taki needs McEnergy.) ( Sure, if you want to be a corporate running dog.) ( Too sleepy to care.) (Ooh, I need to go get my tea. Back in a sec.) (* Jack sighs. "That's how they get ya.) ( z_z) * Haruko then heads to the location. * Taki waits for Haruko to close the door before she puts her teacup on the table with exagerated care and then slumps sidways to take a nice nap on the couch. ( Well, uh... ) ( I guess I'll continue with Haruko. ) (Sorry Brett. ^^;) [Time: 5:00. Haruko heads to the intersection in question.] ( Gimme a perception check. ) (Miss by 2) [Haruko doesn't see Matthias as she drives through.] * Haruko looks for a parking spot. * Haruko then parks, hooks her helmet to the bike, and walks back towards the intersection looking for Matthias or any of his crew. ( Perception check, -2! ) (Make by 5.) [Haruko spots Matthias. He's sitting on a bench by the road.] * Haruko walks over to the bench. As she walks she looks him over for obvious signs of injury. [He doesn't seem injured at all.] * Haruko keeps walking. Once she's fairly close she comments in a conversational tone. "I'm here." She doesn't do her normal wave or loud hi production. [He nods without looking up. "Look over there," he says, pointing in the direction he's gazing.] * Haruko looks that way. ( PErception roll, +2! ) ( No way in hell. ;P) "Do you see it?" * Haruko keeps looking. "Not yet." "Look closer." ( Perception roll! ) ( Hey, it's a middle aged American guy. And he's hitting on a cheerleader! ) (That'd be a yes. ^_^_v) (... very yes.) [Haruko sees nothing! ... Wait... something? There's something standing in the middle of the street, just before the intersection. It looks humanoid. Sort of. It's hard to tell since it's completely black and nearly transparant.] ( Oh, that was a crit. ) ( In that case... ) (Ahh, it's too bad Taki decided to sleep through this. ^^;) (Haruko wasn't in the group that saw that thing in the alt-world. Or did everybody see it?) [It looks like a guy in a robe with a hood, but Haruko can't make out any arms. And where its face should be is a white mask shaped like a bowling ball, with three black dots where the eyes and mouth should be.] ( Just Kyon and... hahah... Taki. ) ( Who decided to sleep in >.< ) (Yep. And Taki is in dreamland.) (Did they tell us about it?) ( I... don't remember. ) (I don't, either. ^^;) * Haruko blinks and keeps looking. "My..." (I think Taki told Satoshi she saw a thing down there.) ["So, you do see it."] * Haruko sits down next to Matthias on the bench and comments quietly. "Black robe, whie spherical face, three black dots, yeah, I see it." [He nods.] "The norms don't. I've been observing for a while, but not one person has given any indication of noticing it." * Haruko keeps looking. "Must be something like a field." "Not Quite." [The intersection was rather busy, but traffic suddenly clears up, both automotive and pedestrian. The thing, whatever it is, remains where it is.] (So, just to make sure I understand, traffic is veering around it without seeming to notice it?) ( It's standing where traffic can't hit it. Or it was, at least. Now there's no traffic :P ) (Oh, a field just went up. Right. Sorry, I thought Matthias said that for some reason.) * Haruko looks a little surprised, but not too surprised. "You trying an experiment?" [He shrugs and traffic resumes. "I needed to know. Apparently only Arcana can see it. And I'm not even certain it's really there."] Does it ever move? "It hasn't yet." * Haruko gets an intense curious look. "Have you heard of anything like this before?" She then pauses for a second. "Well, only Arcana can see the way to the tower reversed. I guess that's similar." [He nods. "Similar, but I've never seen it before. Then again, I don't travel by this area that much."] * Haruko continues to look as if the gears in her head are turning. "Did you just see it by luck? "In part." * Haruko glances around for a moment, looking to see if she can get a clear view of Tokyo tower. "Had a clue?" "Kaori Kajiyama." Ah, yeah, I ran into a homeless man once that seemed quite insane but also seemed to know something about us. ::she snerks:: I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the mentally touched have something in common with Arcana. "Perhaps it's their association with Arcana that drives them insane." (So can Haruko see the tower from here?) [Nope! Buildings in the way.] * Haruko goes back to looking at the thing. "I was thinking about it the other way. That there insanity warps the magic that we use. But your way makes sense too." [He shrugs. "Either way, it's clear that there are some humans who can see things even we can't."] * Haruko nods and takes a casual picture with her camera phone. She then focuses on the image for a moment and sees if she can discern it there as well. "Yes. It does fit with old stories, about how some people, even those without special powers, could perceive more than others. I wonder if they saw things like this." ( Perception roll. ) (Make by two) "I'm not inclined to believe it." [Haruko does not see the whatever it is in her photograph at all.] * Haruko nods, but seems slightly disappointed. "Isn't showing up at all on my camera. Might show up if I just used film with no magnetism or electricity, and an Arcana was looking, but probably not." [He nods. "I wouldn't count on it."] (Heh. Satoshi talks about the shadows, but Haruko wasn't there.) (Oh, can Haruko figure out that it is facing the tower? Could I get a sense of direction role or something?) (And Taki talks about the figure) (But no Haruko/Katie for any of that) ( Navigation roll ) (Make by two) ( It is! ) * Haruko switch to her cellphone map and looks at the directions again. "It's looking at the tower. Well, if you can call that looking." ["Is it? That's interesting."] * Haruko hmms. "We do know about another tower. There's a construction site that seems to attract Arcana activity and is perpetually cursed it seems. I wonder if the locations matter somehow." * Haruko puts the construction site location on the map on her cell and sees if there's anything interesting about this point, Tokyo tower, and that point. [Matthias nods. "I wouldn't be surprised. There's more than one location for the Tower.] ["But none seem so prominent as Tokyo Tower."] I wonder what was prominent before it was built. If it was the same site or something else. "That's a good question." "Tokyo used to be Edo. Capital since the Tokugawa period." "Perhaps there was something there before the Tower was built. But without knowing how far back the Arcana extend, there's no way to tell." * Haruko nods. "Maybe I'll check the city records. It wasn't that long ago. Some Arcana have memories of past lives, if we know what was there then we can see if it shows up in the memories." She then sighs and looks forward. "Although we might not be any closer to knowing what this thing is." [He nods.] I was thinking we could check in reversed world too. But you can't see Tokyo tower from here, and it's not worth endangering you or Akemi long enough to find out. [He shakes his head. "I'm not about to take that risk until it becomes a factor. Right now it's merely a curiosity."] * Haruko nods. "It'd be one thing if you could just use a telescope to check. Oh well, I'll ask around." She frowns for a moment. "I'm betting physical objects go right through it. Mind if I make it drizzle a little?" [He shrugs. "I've tested that already, but if you like."] * Haruko shakes her head. "Not worth it then. What did you find out?" "As you'd expect, objects go right through it." "So do people." Do the people feel anything? Sudden chill or the like? And do Arcana go through too or just norms? ["Not that I've observed. And I haven't tried touching it myself. If you'd like to, feel free."] * Haruko frowns for a moment and then chuckles. "I'm a bit afraid to. But on the other hand being an Arcana is so hazardous to my health that the risk is worth it if learn something. Mind putting up the field?" [He shrugs, and traffic dies out.] * Haruko stands up and hurriedly walks to face the statue. She bows in front of it. "Honorable being, I seek to touch you so that I can learn more about you. If this displeases you, please indicate so." She waits for a second, not expecting anything. [Big surprise, it doesn't respond.] * Haruko reaches out and tries to gently touch the robes. [Haruko's hand goes through.] * Haruko runs her hand up to the "head" just to be sure. If nothing happens then she then steps to stand where it is standing and looks in the direction it looks. [Nothing happens!] * Haruko shrugs and hurries back to her seat. "Nothing." She then sighs. "Well, perhaps one of the others will notice something." She then frowns. "Has Akemi told you about the Tenjirou mess yesterday or shall I fill you in?" [He shakes his head as the cars return. "I've heard nothing."] Some of our group felt strongly about dealing with him while he was injured. The short version is we got beat and he has new guardians. Shika and Yusuke. Akemi seems to know them, so they may not have ties to the drugs. Shika claimed she did it for Natsuko, maybe that's all there is." Haurko sounds a bit dubious. [He nods. "I've heard of them."] * Haruko loses the frown. "It seems like Tenjirou went to Natsuko and she went to them. That probably means Chariot has decided he's not worth the trouble. So Chariot and all will have a tougher time kidnapping Arcana, but I'm betting they have a few other methods. "Undoubtedly." Well, Akemi organized a meeting, so I hope that goes well. But on the drugs, I think our next move will be to see if we can find anything out about that power surpressing chemical. And maybe check police records to see if they've analyzed the drugs themselves. You're welcome to come with us if that interests you, if not I'll let you know what we find. "It will be faster if we do research individually. I wouldn't expect to find much, however." * Haruko nods at his first statement. "Yeah, that makes sense. And I don't expect to. But it may at least rule out some possibilities, and it's something to do until we find a better lead." She frowns. "I'm sure the Jackals know something, but the rest of my people aren't up to talking to them yet." [He nods.] And one word of advice I'm not sure if I mentioned in my note. They've got some real crazies, but their leader, Akito, is a good guy. He seems pretty apathetic though. I think we should take care not to undermine his authority as I'm not sure how hard he'd fight to keep on top. "I'm well aware of how to handle the jackals. Their bark is bigger than their bite. Except for one. Kei Mijunkuro." * Haruko nods. "Right, you were there that time. Kei Mijunkuro? His threat in his powers or in his attitude?" [He laughs. "Powers can be managed. But I don't trust him. He's got an agenda, seperate from the other jackals." * Haruko nods. "These days I worry less about what people can do and more about what they want to do. But thanks, I'll keep an eye out." She then looks over to the figure one more time. "Well, I'm out of ideas. Although we should probably pool our knowledge about the towers at some point. It probably won't form a giant pentacle or anything, but it's one more bit of information." * Haruko 's tone makes it seem like some part of her is hoping that it really will form a giant pentacle. [Matthias nods. "Perhaps."] Have an email that can take files? I'll confer with my people to make sure that I'm not forgetting anything and then send a picture of the map to you. [He nods and offers one!] * Haruko takes it down and gives her own. She then stands up. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but anytime I can be of use to you, feel free to call." (and I can probably end here. She'll text Taki to see if Taki's up, Taki presumably won't reply, so she'll go home.) [End in here.]