breaks_destiny | 009th Shattering * Audio

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009th Shattering * Audio

[Filtered to: Minato, Minako Arisato, Hanyuu, Ami, Hughes, Elicia, Winry, Adell, Patchouli, Bernkastel, SOS Brigade members, Shiki, Neku, Grell. || Unhackable ~~70%~~ 100%]

[Actually the Arisatos and Hanyuu are a bit of an overkill to add to that filter since they should know already but just in case...]

Just a small heads up to the lot of you, not that it has happened that I can remember but... I won't be answering to any call through the journals unless it's filtered as high as you can.

Which means that, Elicia, you tell your dad beforehand if you want to call me for something.

[A pause.]

Actually if any of you have problems with filters or something just call for Souji instead, I'll answer if it's any of you calling.

[That sounded casual enough, right? Let's hope no one goes into too much of a question mode as to why he suddenly wants to be so secretive with the journals.]

[Filtered to Ami || ~~70%~~ 100% Unhackable]

Are you free to meet up and talk? [The library would sound good but he can almost imagine Takano there looking for information so... And the medical center at the battledome is as out of the question as anything that is related to medicine.] Does the lake sound all right with you?

[Filtered to Hughes || ~~70%~~ 100% Unhackable]

Hughes-san, where could we meet to talk? Alone if possible as I told you.

[Hopefully it won't be a place where Keiichi can imagine Takano around easily. Though maybe he's just being a bit paranoid.]

[Filtered to Adell || ~~70%~~ 100% Unhackable]

Oi, Adell, I think I heard around that you knew about one of those groups, Blue Rogues, I think? Can I ask you a few questions?

[Filtered to the Malnosso || ~~70%~~ 100% Unhackable]

I... I'm not entirely sure how to do this... Can I talk with... Catherine, I think it was?

[Sincerely he has not much hope, he has been out of things for a while and who knows if that guy hasn't been changed or whatever. But he won't lose anything for trying, right?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Blue Rogues are meant to be an exploration force at first, but given how this place can be, we're primarily a defense force. We deal with threats to the safety of the village from both within and from outside. We're not really police, but if someone's causing problems, it's our job to take care of it.

Why, were you interested in joining? Or did you need us for something else?

[Mind blowing, him joining? Wherever did Adell get the idea that that could sound good to anyone? Really, not even Keiichi is that dellusional. He laughs a bit.]

Joining? Nah, I'm not a warrior, though I've been training and learning. I'm pretty sure I would only be a bother there. And there's the Brigade already.

[But it was a fun idea, and they do sound cool and all.]

I don't really... Need you, but... I'm curious. How do you exactly deal with threats? And what's exactly a threat in your book?

[Takano may be more than a time bomb than he is, and she might be dangerous enough for Keiichi to warn some people to be wary of her. But she's not a threat. At least not yet and she's a victim herself as well, somehow, even if he has to keep reminding that to himself.

Maybe this was a bad idea after all.]

...Well, it's complicated.

A threat to the village usually means someone who has done something to provoke a reaction. It can also be that we have reason to believe they pose an imminent, immediate danger to a person or the village as a whole. If we have to step in and protect someone, we will.

Most threats we've dealt with are either external, or from guys like Yuber, who are out to hurt people with little justification. The best way to deal with them is usually just beat them down and subdue them and throw them into the tunnels to make sure they won't cause harm. Though it seems the Justice League have been doing a better job of that lately than us.

But not all threats require the use of force that guys like Yuber do. We can use a lighter touch if necessary. Ideally, we know what it is we're getting into and we'll try to figure that out before we start going in swinging.

[Let's be honest, he tries to keep a cool expression but you may see him being clearly not happy with how threats are dealt with. Not that he disapproves of that, it's good and all but definitively not what he's looking for. Then again he isn't really sure what he's looking for.]

What do you define exactly as a 'lighter touch'?

[At any rate it seems that this will be something close to a C plan or for if things really get to the worst possible scenario.]

Well, negotiation is one thing. In cooperation with the Justice League we might try monitoring too. Restraining someone is another way. We did that to someone in the enclosure who had killed someone else, and it worked rather well.

[Never mind that it was the RED Medic, who had the RED Heavy protecting him and it devolved into a fight from there. Not quite as planned.]

Really, the thing is, it all depends on the situation. Most of the time we've been called out to face combat situations, so that's what we're used to. Doesn't mean we can't adapt to a situation if fighting's not really appropriate. I have faith in my team. They're all smart and capable.

[Okay, backtracking in mind. That monitoring thing sounds better.]

I don't doubt of your team's capacity, neither of yours. If I did I wouldn't be asking.

Just to be sure we're on the same page regarding what something means, how aggressive would be the monitoring? I mean, in my book to monitor someone I would try to do it subtly, so they don't know they are being monitored. Because if they know they are or have the feeling it could make them stressed and nervous and they could end doing something bad, which is what we are supposed to want to avoid, even if maybe if left alone they would have never done anything after all.

Well. Stealth really isn't our thing. We could try, but most members of the Rogues aren't really spies or observers. If forced to, I would guess our monitoring might be reasonably obvious to anyone with a skilled eye.

That said, I have a couple of people who I can contact, but they're not members of the Rogues.

[Skilled eye... He doesn't think Takano really has a skilled eye for those things but she's not stupid, so he will bet on her being able to notice or take a hint at the very least.]

But you still trust those, I take? Even if they aren't members?

One of them, yes. Absolutely. And if the other agrees to the job, they'll get results.

[Keiichi hums and remains silent for a while.]

I see. Thank you Adell, you've been very helpful.

[That's all? Yep, that's all so far. Adell may still ask things if he wants to, Keiichi asked his questions after all.]

No problem. If you ever need the Rogues for something, let me know. I'll make sure things get done.

But... you don't have to answer if you don't want to, why the sudden secrecy? You never were worried about much before...

[He has no idea about your condition, after all. Or Rena's. Or the whole thing going on. And has no idea you have very good reason to be asking all these questions.]

[You get a long silence as reply. Almost long enough to make it seem that Keiichi has left already or something, if it wasn't because the picture still shows him. Looking down and thinking.

He doesn't want to point fingers at Takano. Even if he has many reasons to hate the woman, for the things she wanted to do, the things she did even if she wasn't aware of them, the things she could do. But he can't shake off the image of Tomitake begging for her, even after knowing that she had wanted to kill him, he still wanted to protect her and keep her safe. Did Tomitake know that she had the syndrome or was it something he just realized then as he defended her? Part of Keiichi thinks that the man was a fool, that they shouldn't forgive Takano so easily.

But another part remembered Rena stretching her arms at him, begging him to believe in her even as he smashed her head. And he remembered himself, down in the roof of the school, with Rena ready to go for the killing blow and still believing in her, still wanting to help her, still loving her. Just as he had still trusted in Mion even after she killed so many people and was ready to kill him.

He doesn't know where Takano is from, or when. She didn't seem surprised about him there so it had to be from before anything bad happened probably. She hadn't done anything to him or his friends directly yet... But at the same time, hadn't Irie said that it had been going on for a long time already? She had done other things, hadn't she? She wasn't entirely innocent, but he didn't want to point to her as guilty.

But keeping information for himself, not trusting those that wanted to help, those things had been the ones that had drove everything to hell again and again in the previous worlds, right? That had been the biggest problem, Takano had had years to settle down the ground for her plans, while they had limited time and resources. They had been so close to win one time... But it had failed because they didn't know the enemy's name. Only when they knew it were they able to win. But can he be sure? Can he be sure that the ones he trusts in won't go and spread word? That Takano will still be able to have something that resembles a normal life?

If Hanyuu hadn't been here with him... He probably would have gone with Takano himself, even if at first he would have wanted to avoid her. He was worried about what she could do, but he was also worried about her hurting herself. And what if she ended doing something bad here anyway? The people here didn't know about the syndrome, they wouldn't be able to understand, for them it would just be another case of a crazy doctor who didn't care to hurt people. Maybe that was all there was to it after all, but knowing that she was ill Keiichi really couldn't throw the first stone at her. And he didn't want to. He wanted to use his stones to built a wall between her and the rest, both to protect them and protect her.

Was he taking the right steps? Was there really a way to achieve that?]

Can we meet in person?

[...The long, drawn out silence worries him.]

...Yeah, definitely. Where?

[He's not sure actually.]

Somewhere where there won't be many people would be awesome, actually. If there's a place like that.

...There's a basement in the barracks. Hardly anyone goes down there. It's as private a place I can think of, off the top of my head.

[Well, he didn't know about the basement himself and has been hanging around there for a while to train and such so it sounds good enough to him.]

That sounds good enough. When could you come?

If you need me, I can be there in a few minutes.

I'll be there in a few, myself. But I can wait, so just take your time.

[It's not that important. Except that it is but... He just feels bad about all this. Did Rika feel this way when she told them everything? When she went to Tomitake and Irie to tell them that Takano was after them all?]

[Adell will be waiting in the basement of the barracks, leaning against one of the walls. He's made sure no one will bother them down here, so... just playing the waiting game now.

He's admittedly a little uneasy, mulling over what on earth it could be that Keiichi might have to say.]

[Keiichi arrives soon and he would say, honestly, that never before had he felt his steps so heavy. Still he is walking normally, he knows that, but in his mind it seems as if each step takes a hundred of years to be taken. Would Adell understand? They don't know each other that much though he feels he can trust the guy. What will Adell do if he learns about all this? Will he just see Takano as a threat? Not just Takano but Keiichi and anyone from Hinamizawa if they arrive here? Can anyone really believe what he has to say? Even without talking about the multiple worlds...

But this is Luceti. Multiple worlds are part of their existence there after all. And there's so many people around... It shouldn't be hard to believe, and yet he keeps wondering. He keeps trying to think of a better solution, a path that would yell 'This is the one' at him instead of making him feel so uneasy and worried about everything. But there's no path like that, right? Even back at home, as everything turned out all right, he had still felt the same way, only in a lesser magnitude... Was this how Rika felt back then?

When he sees Adell he knows there's no turning back. Even if he could, he won't do it. He'll try his best and pray for it to be the right way, just like every other time before, even if now it may really be the only chance he has. It won't be that difficult, after all up until he arrived to Luceti he only knew of life giving just one chance.]

Thanks for comming...

[Still he honestly isn't sure where to begin with.]

... Whatever I tell you here... Can I trust that you will listen to it all until the end?

[Ah, hell. This is going to be one of those things, isn't it? One of those huge, shattering thing that's a very big deal. He can just tell, both in Keiichi's tone, and stance. Well, no matter what, he said he would help. And if he wants to tell the whole story...]

Yes, I will.

[Keiichi takes a deep breath at that.]

Sincerely I don't know where to start from...

I come from a small village, not known by many even back in my world. It's called Hinamizawa and it's certainly quite a forgotten treasure or something. It's small but warm, the villagers are very united and great people with great hearts. They have endured many things and there was a time in which the goverment wanted to build a dam and bury the village with water, yet they didn't give up their homes and eventually won against the goverment. A small village against the leaders of the country and they still won, that's the kind of people they are. Stubborn and hard to convince of things but ready to do any sacrifice for what they believe in.

There's a saying there 'If one person throws a stone at you, two people shall throw stones back. If two people throw stones at you, get back at them with four. If eight come after you with sticks, you thwart them off with sixteen. If slandered by thirty, you yell back with sixty. And if a thousand tries to get us, we all come out as residents of Hinamizawa.'... Basically you don't mess up with an Hinamizawa resident unless you want to face the whole village. I saw it myself, despite not having been born there, if I ever got in trouble, like some delinquents trying to pick a fight with me, suddenly all the Hinamizawa people on the street would be there with me, ready to fight back if the others dared to.

It's a wonderful place, no matter what limitations it may have compared to the city, no matter how behind time it can get due being so secluded. No matter what shit they had to go through, Hinamizawa survived, its people were strong and welcomed others with a huge heart. It's just awesome...

[He smiles faintly upon talking about the village. Until he reaches the 'but', because it was obvious that there was going to be a 'but' in all this, right?]

But there's just one little big problem. There's a parasite that seems to only live in the area where the village is, from what I know it eventually infects the people in the area and takes residence in their brains. As it is it's not a dangerous thing. It doesn't cause any open syntoms upon infection and one can spend their whole life without even knowing it's there. The parasite works very much like a group of bees, all is fine and safe until the queen bee is missing or something hurts their home.

At Hinamizawa there was a child, Rika Furude, she was here for a while though I'm not sure if you ever met her. She was the daughter of the village's priest, member of one of the three most important families there due how much they had helped the village to survive and all. She was special, because she was infected with the parasite that was considered que queen, technically Rika was the Queen Carrier. And because of that so long as she's there, the parasites infecting the people of the village will be dormant or at least not causing problems, most of the time. Still there are some dangers if the infected people are under a lot of stress and away from the village themselves, or rather away from Rika.

In short the parasites and the general disease is called the 'Hinamizawa Syndrome'... If active... Well... Do you know how things were during Halloween just now? People hallucinating and in general high levels of paranoia manifesting in many people?

...Yeah. I was lucky not to get hit with too many of the worst images, but I saw what it did to people. Some of the images were pretty horrific...

...Is that what the Hinamizawa Syndrome does to people?

Edited 2010-11-14 07:41 (UTC)

Yes... The syndrome has different levels of infection, the lowest one is what could be called the dormant state. No symptoms or anything. As people experience stress or homesicked, the syndrome activates and scales through the levels, per say. It starts slowly, a feeling at times of being watched or followed, the impression of hearing people talk in a suspicious tone...

Slowly the hallucinations start, at first just overlapping reality, like having someone who's not smiling showing a psychotic smile. But by the final levels the hallucinations are almost a full time thing, you see things where there's nothing, and interact with them without even noticing they aren't real... You can touch them and they will feel real. And all builds up to paranoia, to feeling unsafe, unable to trust even your closest friends as they are the ones who are out for him, everything is against you, out to kill you... By the final level people are just at a situation in which they will kill what they think is a threat to survive. And eventually they end scratching their own throats, tearing them out with their own hands.

However I'm not saying that it can't be treated or stopped. There's a medicine that may help to supress the symptoms and lower the level of infection. And it's not contagious, only upon going to Hinamizawa one can get infected... And even without the medicine it's possible to bring people out of the paranoia, with the right words and a lot of effort but... It's possible.

So... While it's dangerous it's not to say that it's an immediate threat to anyone... But not everyone thinks that way. There's one woman, convinced that the disease is so extreme that if the Queen Carrier dies everyone in the village would go crazy in less than twenty four hours... And she's out to prove it, even if to do so it means she has to kill the Queen Carrier with her own hands. She... Aims to prove that her research is right and true and won't stop at anything.

[He stops for a second.]

Right now there are two people in Luceti infected with the Hinamizawa Syndrome. Myself and... The woman who's after Rika Furude's life. Though technically one shouldn't find her too dangerous but one can't know how the syndrome will affect her. Rika's not around and Luceti is stressful as it is. The idea that she can't reach her goals may be a serious trigger and even when she's not at the high levels of the disease she just can be dangerous as it is. But it's just a possibility. I won't say that she's definitively dangerous or anything, I don't know how much of it is caused by her own mind and how much is due the syndrome. And if we were to consider her a high threat as things are... Then me too should be labelled as one, as I'm infected too, even if in all this time I haven't harmed anyone.

[Except himself.]

[He looks a little blown away by this reveal, but he keeps quiet until Keiichi finishes. The bit about tearing your own throat out is... wow. That's gruesome.]

...So what you're saying is there's a woman here who's out to kill a girl named Rika by whatever means necessary. But you're not sure whether she's doing it out of malice or paranoia or a mix of the two.

And more importantly, you're worried about her stress levels and the fact that Rika isn't here to begin with, so she's at higher risk of her Syndrome getting worse. So she's potentially a danger, but her knowing that we think that will only make things worse... and will therefore make her a threat to others.

[Adell folds his arms over his chest.]

I do have a few things to say. First, do we have any doses of that medicine available? If we're dealing with something as serious as the syndrome, we need to be prepared to deal with it.

Second, what if this Rika Furude person shows up in Luceti? Would that act as an anchor for the Syndrome and keep it suppressed? And how likely do you think this person would try to kill Rika if she was here?

Third, if this affects everyone from Hinamizawa, that means anyone from your hometown would be infected too... which meant Rena was as well.

...I'm going to be honest with you. At one point I had talked with her about my own world. How I fought to overcome a curse. She seemed terrified at the mention of the word "curse" and it sounded like she was dealing with one of her own. She was too distressed to go into detail, and I didn't press it because she looked so... scared. But I take it that the whole Hinamizawa Syndrome is what she was alluding to?

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