AMEN L: [Insert Ideas]

[5a Violista]

The redhead woman gets into his arms and gets carried up. After all, it is the easiest way: she doesn't even have to do anything to get up there. Much easier than climbing a grappling hook rope.

"Hey," says the blonde woman. She reaches out to take the tower from the other woman. "I was just in the area when I heard something and wanted to see if you needed help carrying anything."

But, no, it really is just the computer tower.

[Purple Eagle]

Once they're safely up, Shuyoru looks at Blondie, then at Red. "So, uhh... do you have conversations with yourself and all?" He asks, continuing to look between the two women. "Is there a computer room we can store this tower while we look for a bite to eat?"

[5a Violista]

"Not any more than everyone else," the blonde woman replies. So, a lot.

She starts to carry the tower off to a room nearby.

As she does that, the redhead points in that direction. "Yeah, there's an old room over there that used to be used for security cameras or something. Not sure. Found it while wandering around."

[Purple Eagle]

"So, quite a bit, then." Everyone talks to themselves, even though some do it much more openly than others. Something you learn after listening to people mutter things to themselves when they think no one is listening, especially when you're disguised such that they either won't notice your presence, or won't mind.

It's why he's trained himself to not think out loud so much. Right now, he's thinking of his friend Harley and how she's doing, how the baby is coming along, what present to send when the due date arrives... but he has no desire to bring her up further in front of another AMENite.

"That'll do. Thanks, Req." Shuyoru flashes a genuine smile. "We make a good team. Alright, let's go get some R&R before we continue. Something to eat." He pauses, thinking to himself. "Hey, I really want to test that theory of mine. How expendable are the henchmen? Unless, of course, there are prisoners we have that are even more expendable, perhaps some nobody from VIGIL?"

[5a Violista]

Requiem thinks.

"Well..." she says, starting off her answer slowly but gaining speed as she talks, "it depends on which henchmen you pick. The more elite ones, no. The other ones have cloning tanks set up for them and online, last I checked, so they should be okay so long as you don't mess with the tanks."

Yeah.
It's pretty simple.

"Any of the ones named after a color should probably be fine." They're all men, though.

[Purple Eagle]

"Cloning tanks, eh?" While Shuyoru wants to test out his theory, he's rather unwilling to just kill someone and eat them. Not like he's never killed before, but never willy-nilly... but if it's a clone, then it should be okay. "Wanna come with me? We'll clone one of the henchmen and then test out my theory on the clone."

She pretty much needs to come with him, anyway, she knows where everything is.

[5a Violista]

Requiem shakes her head: "Oh, no, I'm not authorized to use the cloning machines and I think I'm only allowed near them in emergencies or when they're in danger," she says"Instead, you probably could just find a henchmen and then they'll take care of the cloning this evening."

[Purple Eagle]

"Hmm..." So, he can test out his theory, rest assured of the fact that a clone of his future victim will be back in the evening. "That works. Zefir did say cloning is taboo... so, how about getting something to eat? Didja buy any meat while shopping?"

[5a Violista]

Requiem nods: "Yeah, there should be a bunch in the kitchen, plus a few more in the storage freezer. How much? Any preference on what kind?"

She starts heading towards the kitchen, but a little slowly to give time for one of her bodies to start getting things out in preparation.

[Purple Eagle]

"Usually I'd say steak or fish, but today I'll go with whatever... no actually let's go with fish." Shuyoru changes his mind at the last moment because if what he wants to try doesn't work on dead meat, then he'd still get to eat something he likes.

"So uh... how many bodies do you have? All female, I assume." He asks as he follows her.

[5a Violista]

"I have about...." Requiem thinks, trying to count since she never really bothered to count before. "Seven, I guess. Only really use, like, two at a time usually. Sometimes three."

She explains why: "It's...actually not very easy having my mind split across a bunch of bodies at a time. It's really easy to mix them up. Especially when feeling really strong feelings like hot sauce, being tickled, really bad jokes, monthly cramps, or working too hard. Really frustrating when one of you is in a very important meeting but another one is doing her best to not burst out laughing, or whatever. The stronger the feeling is, the more bleedthrough there is."



Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Requiem already starts up the fish, as well as other things she thinks would go well with it.

[Purple Eagle]

Shuyoru listens, nodding when she's done. "That makes sense." One mind in seven bodies, that's gotta be difficult to manage. "Everything has a trade-off. For all my shapeshifting skills, it's easier making up a new form than trying to replicate someone exactly. I can do it, but I like to do it to the last detail, even the way one smells. Everyone has a different scent, you know, and not many shapeshifters remember to change/copy that."

He looks at his hand as they walk, and flexes his fingers. "Also explains why you don't send out your bodies to the other organizations and spy on them. It'd be cool if I could somehow relay what I learn while in disguise to you without leaving the area, and you probably don't have a phone..."

[5a Violista]

"Instead of just mimicking natural scenes," Requiem asks, "have you ever tried doing, like, perfumes or deodorants? If so, that would probably save a lot on shopping bills when trying to copying someone, since some people always use the same shampoos and soaps and stuff." And some people notice when someone uses a different shampoo or deodorant.

Not denying that she doesn't have a phone, she says, "Actually, there is one body that I sent out, but I sort-of lost contact with her and she hasn't come back yet."

They're nearing the kitchen.
There's the smell of fish defrosting on the stove, with butter and other things.

[Purple Eagle]

"Yeah, I have tried. My forms use different deodorants and shampoos, too. An unaging German vampire schoolgirl should smell different from a cowboy. It's cheaper mimicking natural scents, but using products is easier." Shuyoru replies, though he's rich enough that he can choose to shop rather than put in the effort, for instance if time is of the essence.

"Oh?" A body that's been sent out she's lost contact with? "Tell me about this body, perhaps I could help bring her back. You can pay me in food." He grins, then sniffs the air once the sweet smell reaches them. "That smells good."

[5a Violista]

Makes sense.

"Um...she's a teenager, and looks like" Requiem then gives a physical description of her. "Might go by Tiffany. Not sure. Probably somewhere in Inside."

But.
She shrugs.
It's no big deal.

They walk into the kitchen. The redhead Requiem takes over cooking for the woman who was just in there, and that woman leaves the room.

[Purple Eagle]

"Hmm..." When he speaks next, his voice is one of an American teenage boy, and now he looks it too. Someone that could be mistaken for Blondie's cousin. "Tiffany, huh?" He sees the shrug. "Might be a good idea to at least go and see how she's doing, methinks. Is she still you, or would she have become her own person?"

Shuyoru sits on the counter and swings his legs. "Can I help? I'm a pretty good cook. Ever had sushi?"

[5a Violista]

"I've had ceviche," Requiem responds as she keeps on cooking. "It's close enough to sushi, I think. Feel free to help if you want."

She adds a couple more things, and now that the fish is defrosted enough to actually start cooking, she starts up some sides and other things. Once things are started, she answers the previous question. "I dunno. Probably still me," she says, shrugging. Not really a huge deal, she figures. "Never really had a body go that far from the rest of me before, so it's actually a first for me."

[Purple Eagle]

"Never had ceviche, myself. I say we cook for each other sometime, I'll make sushi and you'll make ceviche." Shuyoru jumps off the counter and moves closer to start helping. "You're pretty nonchalant, eh? If you don't see it as a huge deal, then perhaps it's not a red-alert level priority, but I still say someone should go check on her, see if she's a problem for AMEN." He waves around, gesturing at the walls. "Besides, it'd be informative, you'd get to know firsthand what happens to a body that goes far enough from you."

Speaking of the walls! "What do you know about the 'Thing in the walls'?"

[5a Violista]

Requiem shrugs. "It isn't a big deal," she says. "Don't really care one way or the other what happens." Sure, it'd be nice to not lose the power that went with her, but it's fine.

And,
she
shrugs again.
"Know nothing about him," she says. "Wasn't around contemporaneous with me."

[Purple Eagle]

"Well, I'm still going to check on her. If it works out, more power for you." Shuyoru shrugs, knowing he's doing it more on his own and less because she wants to. "Worth a try, right?" He says as he helps her prepare the sides.

"And if it turns out she's gone rogue, more food for me. Win-win." He smacks his lips. "You have any other skills besides stealing bodies and cooking? I think if we needed to go on missions, we could make a good team. A shapeshifter and a body thief." Well, controlling minds to make more of her makes her a body thief, after all!

[5a Violista]

"Sure. Worth a try." She shrugs but doesn't stop cooking.

"I have good spatial awareness and am good at finding hidden people," Requiem says. What else? "And...some simple attacks and things like that."

[Purple Eagle]

As usual, Requiem's understating her abilities, or so Shuyoru thinks. "So, you're no fun at hide and seek, unless it's team-based. As for me, I have a very good memory, and I know martial arts. We could spar, sometime, no powers."

He continues to cook, growing silent. Just to shake things up, he tries to sneak behind Requiem and poke her sides to startle her.

[5a Violista]

Obviously, Requiem jumps.
Who wouldn't when getting poked in the sides from behind?

Luckily, she manages to catch the food back in the pan before it escapes.

Acting like nothing happened, she says, "Oh, cool. I'm not really a martial artist, though. My brother was better at that."

[Purple Eagle]

"Wow." Shuyoru looks impressed at Requiem's reaction. "I think I like you, you don't care much about stuff... kinda like a flat character in stories, but in person form." Though a flat character won't have traits like 'thinks computers are overrated', for instance. "Or in your case, a flat affect."

Not caring about much could be useful... but could also be very dangerous to her health. "So, if I tested out my theory on your body by consuming it, would you care?" From his tone of voice, he's half-joking.

Wait, 'was'? "What happened to your brother?"

[5a Violista]

"I'd rather you didn't eat me," she responds. "I don't taste good and am far too bony." She doesn't stop cooking, though.

In answer to the final question, she sighs: "Lots of things happened to him," she says. "Most recently, however, he got too greedy, went after too much power, and lost control." Now he's little more than a monster.

[Purple Eagle]

"Too cute to be eaten, too." Shuyoru says, a bit teasingly. "Don't worry, I won't. There's always henchmen, too."

He grows serious as he hears her story, nodding and cooking in silence. "Was that the family emergency?" This is why he, personally, is against being so power-hungry. Well, he did inject himself with something that almost killed him for the promise of more power, but that's different. Lots of people of his station have overreached and lost it all. "You sound like he's gone. Sorry for your loss."

[5a Violista]

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a nice girl who's okay with it eventually," she responds.
Then, she sticks her tongue out at him.

Speaking of serious.
Requiem's tone doesn't really treat it like it's that serious. "No, it happened before I joined AMEN," she says. "It was his fault, anyway. Got chosen as the chief but couldn't accept it for himself so long as I was around."

She flips something over, then turns down the heat on some other things.
Seems like it's just the fish left.

[Purple Eagle]

Shuyoru sticks out his tongue at her right back!

As to the serious stuff that Requiem doesn't treat as serious! "Could that be why you're so... nonchalant?" Kinda feels like someone important to her could be trying to commit suicide, and her reaction won't change in the least bit. "Or is it cause of the nature of your powers?"

[5a Violista]

Requiem blinks.
"Um."

She blinks again.
"I don't really get what you're trying to ask."

[Purple Eagle]

"When you're not being playful or teasing, you come off as... emotionally flat." Shuyoru explains, sitting back on the counter and swinging his legs since it's just the fish left. "Like you don't care about much... unless you're a sociopath." He shrugs. "If that's the case, it's no problem."