Shards of Memory (IC)

[DarkOrion]

Haruto Katsuo, Unseated Officer

After hearing all of what was said by Andrea, Haruto speaks up. "I'm Haruto Katsuo, of the Thirteenth. I was hesitant to allow this woman to join us in the field. Our comrade had recently been killed by a powerful Hollow, nothing was making any sort of sense, and suddenly an exile appeared before us. I was certain that she was intent on finishing us off and taking what gear we might have on us." Haruto catches his breath, continuing with his telling of the tale. "She fought alongside us, taking risks that were not her's to take. She defended us as if we were her allies even though there was no promise that her deeds would be rewarded. Third Seat made no claim that she wouldn't be arrested on sight, he simply told her that there was an uprising and that Aizen and his conspirators were killed. Forgive me for mentioning it, I realize it is a difficult subject for you Lieutenant Hinamori. But she fought for us and came here at great personal risk, simply because she hates our foe as much as we do. I'm sure that she still holds some pride in the Gotei 13 as well, as was evident when her attitude changed upon her arrival to the Seireitei. You should, at the very least, consider reinstating her as an officer of the Fifth."

[Volos]

Seireitei - Tenth Division Barracks

While those who were currently playing let out an unsatisfied groan, Lieutenant Rangiku almost squealed at the arrival of a new player. Though after seeing who it was, she seemed to pause for a few moments. Then she pulled out a bottle with more X's than a mortal world skateboarding advertisement. She grinned with a evil fire burning in her eyes as she poured this monstrous drink drop by drop into four cups. One for her, one for Kurohi, and one each for the remaining two contestants. "Okay boys, this is it! Final round... we can forgive the latecomer, as this is the only drink that really matters." She grabs her cup, smirking like a madwoman. "Bottoms up!" She moves to drink, but lets the other two go first. They each drink their cups with haste, smiling and standing in victory... only to fall flat on their faces soon after. "...amateurs" Matsumoto lifts her cup, drinking slowly of the liquid there. It takes some time, but she finishes the drink without any pause for breath. She exhales, and you could swear that a skull and crossbones escaped her lips in a smoky form. She gives a thumbs up, and cheering erupts from the rest of the hall.

Juro does not go unnoticed for standing apart from the crowd. Another member of the Tenth, a woman with short brown hair and smoky black hued eyes, approaches him. She leans to the wall near him and watches the drinking with him. By the time two of the contestants passed out, she speaks. "I heard you guys just got back from the World of The Living... is it true that all sorts of unimaginable Hollows have been appearing?" She sounded both worried and curious. "It sounds like that incident my father spoke of... the Shattered Dreams event. Terrifying stuff, huh?"

Kurohi
Roll me a Fort Save if you drink. From what you could tell, the other guys were strong well built fellas. They should have been able to handle a drink like that, but they went down like flies.

Seireitei - Tenth Division Grounds

As much as Nakata moves about, the display on his phone remains the same. The ground moves as it should with this sort of function, but the dots on the screen stay where they were. It was like someone had drawn on his screen but it was actually being displayed by the phone itself. If he turned it off it would go away, but if he turned it back on it would return. As he arrived at the point of one of the dots (or more appropriately realized that a dot was centered in the middle of the map which was the default for his position), at the grounds surrounding the Tenth Division's Barracks, he realized there was nothing to be found. No matter how he searched, sensed, or looked; there was no Hollow and no other device to be transmitting a false signal. As far as he could tell the phone was broken.

Seireitei - Fifth Division Headquarters

Lieutenant Hinamori seems stunned by the paired speeches directed at her. She leans to the desk while thinking about what was said. Before she can respond though, Third Seat speaks his mind. "I know how you feel about what happened with Aizen but you can't punish this girl for what he did... right, wrong, or otherwise. Let her return to her squad. She's been fighting for so long, that all things equal she should be Captain by now."

The Lieutenant doesn't hesitate after hearing that, immedately responding. "Fine. It is my decision as the highest ranking officer and head of the Fifth that from this day forward 'Andrea Celes'" It sounds as she was about to say Andrea's true name, but she is (barely) able to lie and say the assumed name. "will serve as an officer of the Fifth Division and will continue to do so as long as he abides by the tenates of the Soul Society and fulfills her duties as an officer of this squad." She sighs, sitting down and waving the three of them off. "Now, I am very busy. I'm sure the Third Seat can have you outfitted with a uniform and *cough* ...have funds transfered from the fallen comrade to you for services rendered. I'll have you sworn in as an officer as of a week or so ago... that is about how far behind I am. That should make things easier." Third Seat leads Andrea out of the Captain's quarters to the Barracks. He makes sure that she is given a uniform and proper payment for her services. He pays her out of pocket, simply stating that he would move funds around to his own account. If she doesn't stop him, he'll leave to take care of something or other. Haruto isn't given any special instruction at this point and is apparently free to do as he likes and/or needs.

[Critical]

Kurohi

Kurohi was amazed, to say the least, by the strength of the drink, however he tried not to show it and slowly brought the cup up to his beak.

Ah... This is not going to end good... He thought and began drinking.

God... damn it... He thought as he slowly closed his eyes and fell to the floor.


[roll0]

[Binks]

"Yeah, there's definitely something going on there. The hollow we encountered were far stronger than they had any right to be...we lost Koshiro to one of those monstrosities... he says, pausing for a second to get his emotions in check before continuing.

"It's bad..." is all he says as he watches Kurohi down his drink. Even the humor of the over the top drinking contest couldn't penetrate Juro's mood as he frowned, lost in memory of his now-fallen friend.

[DarkOrion]

Haruto Katsuo, Unseated Officer

Haruto follows Third Seat and Andrea until they are out of earshot of the Lieutenant. He is beaming a wide smile as he says, "Third Seat, you knew she was going to let Andrea back in... didn't you? Andrea, I'm sorry if I treated you unfairly and were too suspicious. I haven't seen that much action in the field, and it was the first time I've lost a comrade. Let me be the first to welcome you back to the Gotei 13! See you tonight at the meet up, okay?" If she didn't have the address, he'd write it down for her before taking off himself. Katsuo heads for his own division's Barracks, knowing he had little time to waste. The Fifth and Thirteenth weren't exactly close neighbors. He would seek out his payment for the mission, relaxing for a while with his comrades of his division. It wouldn't hurt to take a few hours to catch up with his fellow squad members.

Gather Information [roll0] :: I'm catching up with the current rumors and whatnot.

[Jade_Tarem]

Andrea

Still off balance from Haruto's unexpected support, Andrea fumbles for a moment while searching for a snark. "I... uh... thank you. I'll see you later."

Oh! Are we making friends again? Amatsukaze's diabetes-inducing voice shoots through Andrea's mind.

Not yet. He could be following that old adage about keeping friends close and enemies closer. Still... I don't have time to worry about it right now.

With little enough time of her own to waste, Andrea immediately begins trying to settle in and catch up at the same time. She switches to the other uniform while her original gear gets dyed black - she was pretty sure the exiles that she'd 'collected' the gear from had improved it over the original, so she would switch back to it before the meeting. She gets a bunk, some equipment, something to eat, and then heads to the nearest library or the first person who would tell her what had been going on for the past hundred years.

The answer is... not what she was expecting. Of the Captains from 100 years ago, all of four remained that she recognized - Unohana, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Yamamoto himself. The rest had been lost in some freaky incident, for which Urahara was apparently to blame. The head of the Omnitsukido and the Second Division is the same person, but is apparently not a Shihoin any more. The Captain and Lieutenant of the Kido Corps were AWOL. The noble houses of Shiba and Shihoin were both disgraced. A short time ago, 3 more captains had defected, leaving an opening at head of the 3rd, 5th, and 9th divisions.

That's a lot of upheaval in a short time... by Soul Society standards. For the first time in a while, Andrea started a conversation with Amatsukaze while she changed into her newly-blackened gear - well, the white and brown parts were now black, anyway. She normally wouldn't have, but after seeing just how much had changed, she wanted to talk to something constant.

True! And you're out of time. You'll have to find out about the recent craziness from pretzel-boy.

Andrea had never quite managed to make a mental voice sound dry, but she gave it her best shot. You should manifest in this world. It would make me look more polite by comparison.

Nuh-uh. You're not ready yet. You need to get to the meeting, anyway.

It's not like I'm walking. You ready to do this?

Yup! Let's go.

Andrea pulls Amatsukaze free and holds the blade vertically in front of her. For nearly half a minute, she concentrates as wind whips around her. Her form turns cloudy and insubstantial, and a moment later a strong wind carries her away - quickly.

If nothing interrupts her, she'll use Wind Walk to arrive at the meeting location.

[Major]

Nakata

Nakata sighed and tapped his phone. "Whatever...I'll get a replacement, but I see no reason to not hold onto this." He mumbled as he pocketed the phone.

As he walked around Soul Society he considered seeing about changing squads, but since he had never done it before he wasn't sure the steps. As he considered this he headed towards the meeting place, occasionally stopping to shop along the way.

[Binks]

Shaking his head Juro stepped up to the contest. "Excuse me." he says as he picked up the much lighter shinigami. Laying Kurohi over his shoulder, the most practical way to carry a fallen ally, Juro threaded his way out of the room, dismissing any attempts to chat by simply stating that he needed to get Kurohi somewhere to recover so he'd be ready for a mission later.

Stepping out of the drinking contest's room and heading to the barracks Juro shook his head. He could understand Kurohi's desire to engage in normal joking activities even at a time like this, scratch that, especially at a time like this, but Juro's mind was in too much turmoil to enjoy much of anything right now.

[Jade_Tarem]

Andrea

Whoops! Forgot about buying. The following is basically just her spending the money to buy a phone. She doesn't have two, even if she's getting the old one fixed - it's mostly there as a gag.

As she glides over the Soul Society, she spots the 12th Division compound and mentally face-palms. Oh crap. I almost forgot! She makes a sudden detour and rushes in.

After a few moments, she's greeted by a friendly technician, who provides her with a new Denreishinki. Andrea pulls out the older device. "Hey, could you recharge this one, by any chance?"

The technician looks at it. "This relic? Why would you even want to?"

"Well, I'd like to check up on all of the messages I've missed while it was out. I mean, I'm not expecting too many, but..."

"Fine, fine... I'll see if we have any batteries that old." He disappears into the back labs for a bit, and comes back out. "Here you go."

Andrea flips it open. A tinny voice begins to speak. {{{Synchronizing with Database. Updating clock. Checking Registry. Downloading Updates. Recovering Voice-mail Inbox. You have 658 new messages.}}}

Andrea blinks. "What." After 105 years, it just pops back on? Forget Apple - I want my next laptop to be made by the Twelfth Division!

The tech chuckles. "Yeah, the Men's and Women's Associations got into the fundraiser thing in a big way a few years back. Add in the updates, service announcements, official announcements, random adds leaking in from the mortal internet, and so on, and you've probably got a lot of junk in there."

The voice continues. {{{Message One}}} "Have you had trouble keeping your Soul Slayer Steady? Does your Zanpakuto not come when called? Are you having trouble achieving full or even partial release? Well, have WE got an OFFER for-"

The tech snatches the phone back. "Aheheh. That... was a lab prank a few days ago."

Andrea stares at him. "Out of all of the things from the modern world that you could have recreated for the soul society - cars, television, WiFi, air conditioning... - you decided to create spam? What is wrong with you people?"

{{{Deleting}}}

The tech hands the phone back. "There you go. But seriously, if you know any interested guys, we do sell-"

"Leaving!" Andrea once again departs on the wind.

[Volos]

Seireitei - Tenth Division Barracks

Without anyone else to challenge her, Rangiku stands tall with one foot propped up on the low table. A loud cheer comes from the crowd, which is enough to knock her back down into her seat. The victory is followed with mirthful celebration. The woman with the smoky black eyes continues to talk with Juro. "It really is just like my dad said then. When you killed it, did the hollow happen to..." The woman is cut off by Juro excusing himself to take care of the irresponsible Kurohi. "Oh, of course." She appears a little embarrassed, but still has words left unspoken. It appears that she was going to follow Juro, but she thinks better of it and remains leaning against the wall. When Juro gets Kurohi to his room he is met by a huge man with spiky black hair. The man reaches for Kurohi, revealing the emblem of the Third Division tied to his arm in the same motion. "Third Seat sent me, said to make sure no one is late." This man appeared to me more of a gofer than an actual potential member of the task force. If Juro didn't protest, the man would carry Kurohi for him and escort him to the meeting. The escort seems to have come a little early but soon it becomes evident why when he makes a detour towards the Twelfth's grounds. He lets Juro do whatever shopping is required before taking him and Kurohi to the meeting location.

Seireitei - Thirteenth Division Barracks

Haruto is met by a few of his friends, but it appears that many of the Shinigami of the Thirteenth are currently on assignment in the World of The Living. The Barracks is far from empty, even with so many squad members out on duty. As he tries to ask about the current rumors or happenings, Haruto doesn't get any straight answers. Most everyone wants to talk about the Gillian that appeared within the Seireitei or the number of missions to the World of The Living. The situation in the Seireitei hadn't become so desperate as to require action of the part of the Captain or Lieutenant of any Division. Luckily Haruto overhears a conversation between some squad members he isn't as familiar with.

"I'm telling you, it isn't a myth! It really happened. Everything that's going on is just like it."

"Come on, you can't expect us to believe that a fairy tale like that is true. Aside from it being impossible, if it really happened don't you think there would be a record of it?"

"They wouldn't want to leave a record of that. I can't believe it either, but if it had happened... and I'm only saying IF... there is no way that anyone below Captain rank would know about it. And even then, it would only be those who have held their rank long enough to know."

"You too? I thought you were more reasonable than that."

"Hey, I was just saying IF, nothing more."

"You two are impossible. I'm telling you, it is happening again. The Hollows are organized. How else can you explain what has happened in the World of The Living, let alone here in the Seireitei? The Shattered Dreams event isn't a myth. It really happened, and now it has returned. The Soul Society only survived by sheer luck last time..."

The rest of the conversation breaks down into intense bickering between the three. By the time he had heard this much, it was time for Haruto to leave so that he could be on time for the meeting with Third Seat and the others. It wasn't as far from his Squad's grounds as it was for others, but he still needed to exit through the southern gate which could take a while.

South Rukongai - Seventh District

Despite complications from unconsciousness, delays due to shopping detours, or starting distance from the meeting location; all of the members of the task force arrive within moments of each other. The directions have led to a simple looking gaming hall. There are people of all ages playing different sort of games, from Go to Shogi. Sitting in the back corner, away from most everyone, sits Third Seat Kenshin. He smiles wide and waves towards the group as they arrive. There are enough seats for everyone but the escort. The huge man puts Kurohi in a seat before leaving. Kenshin slaps the Raven Shinigami, hitting him just hard enough to wake him from his liquor induced slumber. Oddly Kurohi feels refreshed upon awakening. Third Seat starts placing the pieces for a game of Shogi as everyone finds their seats. "I'm sure you all have questions, and those that haven't been answered by poking around you can ask me. If things continue like they have, we will have another mission very soon." He sighs, putting another pretzel stick between his teeth. "I had another 'shard' possessing individual look at the two I hold now. They have been purified of their hollow corruption, but they have yet to 'choose' their new owners."

[Critical]

Kurohi

Being awakened so suddenly, Kurohi gasps and yells out loud: "HUH?!? DID I WI-" Next thing he saw was Third Seat and everyone else and from there it took little amount of thought to realise what happened. A slight disappointment showed up on his face, which was quite unusual to see on him. "Oh..."

Being amazed with his refreshment after such a killer drink, shinigami gets more comfortable in his seat and puts his drinking game failure aside, trying to get cracking on the matter at hand.

"Choose their owner?.. You mean, like, those things make intentional choices?"

[Binks]

Juro, having entered the meeting with the 3rd squad escort and taken his seat, leans back a bit and observes Third Seat setting up the game of Shogi. As Juro observes the pieces being placed and listens to the Third Seat's explanation his eyes drift to the komadai, the section of the board where captured pieces are placed.

"Are you saying you believe that the shards from the hollow could be used by the Shinigami? Like dropping a captured Shogi piece on your side of the board?" he asks, looking up from the board at Third Seat questioningly.

[Jade_Tarem]

Andrea

"And do the Hollows have their own shards, or was that one from earlier a corrupted version of an existing one?" Andrea leans against the wall, crossing her arms. "When did these things start showing up? Are we seriously the first Reapers to encounter them?"

[DarkOrion]

Haruto Katsuo, Unseated Officer

The Kido Master listens to the questions and concerns of his allies before speaking himself. Leading off from where Andrea's question left of, Haruto says, "In the Thirteenth's barracks there has been talk regarding everything going on in the Soul Society as well as the World of The Living. It was mentioned that the organization of Hollow activity and all the other strange phenomenon is reminiscent of an incident from long ago. So long that it has faded into myth, the 'Shattered Dreams' event. Has this happened before, and if so... what was done by the Soul Society when it first occurred?" Haruto was interested in hearing the answers to the questions others had voiced, but he saw little use in seconding a query that had already been asked of Third Seat.

[Major]

Nakata

Nakata nods at the board. "That going to be used to show maps and piece movements or do you actually want to play a game?" Nakata asked sitting in front of him hoping it was a game. "So these, crystals choose their owners. Do we know why they pick the people they do or what exactly they do?"

[Volos]

South Rukongai - Seventh District

Third Seat actually doesn't say anything or show any expression for quite a few moments after hearing what his subordinates had to say. "...I see that you've done your homework, or at the very least put a great deal of thought into this. Yes, the 'shard's can choose their owners, wielders, partners, or whatever. We do not know how or why they think, but as other 'shard' users have explained it is similar to the spirit within their Zanpakutou but completely different. The two that I currently hold were once either part of a human or Shinigami, only to be later taken by a Hollow and corrupted. Most likely this occurred as the Hollow consumed their prey. A 'shard' that originates within a Hollow, as far as we know, would be unusable to a Shinigami." Kenshin takes a moment to drink his tea, allowing his words to sink in before speaking again. He finishes setting the board before speaking again. "The Shattered Dreams event? Officially there was no such incident. That is a name that came about through rumors. There is no report, secret or otherwise, that called it by that name. There was no name for what happened. The events unfolded so long ago that it has been forgotten when they occurred. It was similar to what you have witnessed. Hollows gaining terrible powers, individuals possessing a strange light that seemed to aid them, and the interactions between the two. With all of the conflicting rumors and no official report, it is obvious that the Soul Society was unable to discern the cause of the original event. We're not even sure if this is the same, but it is happening and you have seen the results firsthand. This is why our task force has been formed." Third Seat gives a sly smirk as he makes the first play in a game of Shogi against Nakata. "Your move."

[Binks]

"So, what's the plan?" Juro asks after Third Seat's explanation, leaning forward to examine the board closely to see what Third Seat is setting up.

[Major]

Nakata smirks as he sits down and glances at the board. One on hand the opening move was just a set up and he wouldn't get much done, but he didn't know how good Kenshin was and he didn't want to mess up early on with a rookie mistake. He glanced at the board one last time before he reached down to make his move.

Profession (Gambler) Check
[roll0]

[Jade_Tarem]

Andrea

Andrea maintains her current casual posture. "Are we coordinating with any other, similar task forces?" She squints at the board - she'd never been a big fan of Shogi, and was glad she wasn't the one going up against the Third Seat. ...too many kings in this game, and I can't even remember if the knight can turn around or not.