New Bleach IC: Road Trip!

[Rater202]

"ain't no local reapers. Otherwise, I figure I would have run into some by now."

[Vahnavoi]

Thorne's eye narrow and he gives Sarah a chilling look. "... do you actually know what a Reaper is? And if you do, why didn't you share that knowledge with the good lady here?" His tone is that of a father who's found their kid acting unruly.

[Rater202]

Thorne's eye narrow and he gives Sarah a chilling look. "... do you actually know what a Reaper is? And if you do, why didn't you share that knowledge with the good lady here?" His tone is that of a father who's found their kid acting unruly.

"My business relationship with the good lady is a recent arrangement. It hadn't come up yet, though I dare say I know more than you do: Whole family's mediums on both sides going back at least five generations. I've been around ghosts my entire life."

[Vahnavoi]

"That's a bold claim" , Thorne says, unimpressed. "Where's your family now?"

[Lord Raziere]

(OOC: even I didn't know what the NSA was until I looked it up, so Shiroihako definitely wouldn't know what it is.)

Shiroihako:
She blinks
"....Whats the NSA? Do you mean NASA?"
She considers this offer
"Why would you have reason to be concerned for me? I'm a good spirit. Surely they wouldn't try to double kill me with their scythes over that? I've been helping out! also why would I go against someone whom I'm in debt to? They don't want to be known, and it would be real disrespectful if I did that. They helped me after all, so if I did something that hindered them, that would be kind of a jerk to them."
She questions back, not liking where this was going.

[Rater202]

"That's a bold claim" , Thorne says, unimpressed. "Where's your family now?"

"They're vacationing in Bez Niss, it's a small island country, you've probably never heard of it. They're in the capitol, Nunya."

"And they're not the ones that were cought using supernatural powers to bully a bunch of kids, so..."

[igordragonian]

The Barham twins looked around for something to investigate, or some underling of Thorne to talk to.
(Or Beatrix dargging Balthazar if to be more accurate)

[Vahnavoi]

The meeting:

(OOC: even I didn't know what the NSA was until I looked it up, so Shiroihako definitely wouldn't know what it is.)

Shiroihako:
She blinks
"....Whats the NSA? Do you mean NASA?"
She considers this offer
"Why would you have reason to be concerned for me? I'm a good spirit. Surely they wouldn't try to double kill me with their scythes over that? I've been helping out! also why would I go against someone whom I'm in debt to? They don't want to be known, and it would be real disrespectful if I did that. They helped me after all, so if I did something that hindered them, that would be kind of a jerk to them."
She questions back, not liking where this was going.

"They're vacationing in Bez Niss, it's a small island country, you've probably never heard of it. They're in the capitol, Nunya."

"And they're not the ones that were cought using supernatural powers to bully a bunch of kids, so..."

When Shiroihako proves ignorant of NSA, Thorne's attention snaps back to her and he sort of forgets about Sarah for a moment. "... NASA?" , he says in utter disbelief. "No, I don't mean National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I mean the National Security Agency! The hush-hush intelligence types who spy on just about everyone. They were called 'No Such Agency' for years, because they were founded in secret from the public. You're even more dangerously uninformed than I thought." Thorne puts a palm on his forehead and shakes his head.

He takes a moment to get his thoughts back on track, rubbing his temples and cleaning his glasses. "... for the record, the Reapers wouldn't have qualms destroying you. Or arresting you, or permanently sealing you inside that human body. They're not nice people. Your Ronin-analogy has one crucial flaw: to be a Ronin, you first need to be a Samurai. But, in this case, you don't even know who the Samurai are, so to speak. You don't have any clout with them. You're not a private investigator, dealing with some inept cops. You are just a vagrant, with no rights, from their point-of-view, to be doing what you're doing. "

He puts his glasses back on. He looks worried behind them as he looks Shiroihako in the eyes. "Come on. You have a sharp mind. Turn that investigator's insight inwards for a moment: you are a dead girl, with no memory who you are, no in-depth information of either spiritual or mundane authorities, no familial nor organizational ties, willing to pledge unquestioning loyalty to the first person who seemingly helped you. That makes you the perfect patsy. Before you go trying to help others, you really should help yourself first. "

---

Just outside the meeting:

As Beatrix drags Balthazar around, either of them might spot a man nearby leaning against a building wall, arms crossed. He's dressed in similar clothes to Mister Thorne and is positioned so that he can see the meeting spot. He occasionally glances that way, as if to check if the meeting's still going. If Beatrix or Balthazar stop to watch for longer, they might notice the man looks quite similar to Thorne in build and facial features as well - a younger sibling, perhaps?

The Barham twins looked around for something to investigate, or some underling of Thorne to talk to.
(Or Beatrix dargging Balthazar if to be more accurate)

The shady man notices Beatrix dragging her brother around and furrows his brow. After it's clear the Barhams aren't going anywhere, he coughs, straightens up and walks to them. "Excuse me... are you acquitances to the white lady over there?" He points towards the meeting spot where Mister Thorne and Shiroihako are talking.

---

Elsewhere:

Susan Thorne steps into their home's garage and looks around. "... well the car is gone", she mutters to herself as she closes the door behind herself. After a moment of looking around, she puts her hands on hee hips. "Roll call!"

On cue, two ghostly twin sisters of her rush through the wall.

"Susan Two reporting!"
"Susan Three reporting!"

The two ghost form up before the girl and throw mock military salutes.

Susan crosses her arms and taps the ground with her foot as she looks them over. "Just you two? Where's four and five? I thought we all agreed to be home for dinner."

The ghosts let their hands drop and look at each other awkwardly. "Oh... they're at... places... I think..." , "Susan Two" says while shuffling her feet.

Susan clicks her tongue and shakes her head disapprovingly. Then she sighs and shrugs. "Oh well. Hey, have either of you seen dad?"

The ghosts shake their heads. "No, we got home around the same time as you did..." Their eyes wander all around the garage. "Hey... why does it look like all the heavy stuff's been moved around?"

Susan turns around and focuses on what the ghosts are pointing at. "Oh. True. Hmmm..."

She moves to a heavy freezer at the back of the garage, then moves it aside as easily as if it was made of styrofoam. Turns out, underneath there's a loose concrete slab.

The ghosts hover close to Susan and peek over her shoulder. "Huh. Didn't know that was there..."

Susan thinks. "This looks like a dad thing" , she mutters. On one hand, she's really curious to sed what's underneath. On the other, mom's waiting, and dad's still who-knows-where. "... I'm going to call dad. You two, if he doesn't pick up, go check the company and such to see if he's there."

"Okie-dokie!" , the ghosts chime in unison.

"Dismissed" , Susan says. She waits for a moment for the ghosts to leave, then puts the fridge back in its place. Then she opens the doors and walks back into the house proper. "Mo~om! Dad's not here! Can I borrow the phone...?"

[Lord Raziere]

Shiroihako: Mask of Innocence, Break
She is stunned for a moment by it being so bluntly pointed out at her she tries to deny it....
"I....you...but...I..."
.....But she cannot. No matter how much she tries it slams hard against the reality. Something within her breaks, her eyes seem to become....blue, her expression changes to one more somber and her voice is a little different now. She seems sadder now, less like a mood shift and more like....something has broken, and will never be fixed. Once innocence is lost, it cannot be regained.
"Oh. I guess....your right. I've been a fool ignoring my situation so I can be happy....so I can something to aspire to. When clearly....such ideals are worthless if this the reality. If what you say is true, then I am nothing but a hopeless fugitive, as is Sarah. You however are still not entirely trustworthy. You know about the reapers. You know how they operate. You know what might happen to me if they find out....which tells me that your connected to the Reapers. Or at least were. How do I know your trying to convince me to follow your orders under the guise of "what is best" for me, just like The Merchant your worried about? Or just someone undercover trying to get us captured? Your opening up a lot of uncertainty here... without much to trust to replace it."

[Vahnavoi]

Mister Thorne looks alarmed at the change in Shiroihako's disposition. He's not often witnessed someone mentally cave in like this. "First, you are correct, I used to have contact with the Reapers" , he says, "But my contacts have been cold for over a decade now. When I came here, I was prepared for you to be a Reaper agent sent to look into my case."

He sighs. "... two, like I already told you: I do have things to hide from the Reapers. I have vested interest in you doing as I say. You know I have a family, I don't want spiritual nonsense to interfere with their life or mine anymore than it has to. So I'm not asking you to trust me, not from the get go... we'll get there if we'll get there." He scratches his head, trying to find the right words. Rather, I'm asking you to trust the idea that for now, helping you is the best way for me to protect my family. Understood?"

[igordragonian]

Balthazar say akwardly.
"Sort of...."

Beatrix grin. "Yes. That quite right my good sir. You may even say we are besties!'
"What-" Balthazar is puzzled at the lie which is obivouse to him.

[Vahnavoi]

The shady man looks back and forth between Beatrix and Balthazar. He finally settles on the former and holds up a finger. "Okay, young lady, first: didn't your parents tell you that if you lie too much, you'll go to Hell?" He holds up a second finger. "Two, if you're going to lie, at least co-ordinate with your... brother, I guess." He lets down his hand and crosses his arms, then looks at Balthazar. "So, young man, I think you should be the one to speak." He clears his throat. "So... what do you know of that lady in white?"

[igordragonian]

Beatrix shrug. "My parents were murdered few month ago. So maybe they planned to teach me that, but they just didn't had the time.'

Balthazar flinch at how easily she talked about this.
"...Mmm. ok. Not very much. She is sort of hobby detective, but has a thing for seeing dragons made of dead humans.' He explain.

[Vahnavoi]

"Dragons?" The man blinks in surprise. "Wait a minute... if your parents are dead, what are you doing, wandering around after a hobby detective? Where are you from?"

[Rater202]

Shiroihako: Mask of Innocence, Break
She is stunned for a moment by it being so bluntly pointed out at her she tries to deny it....
"I....you...but...I..."
.....But she cannot. No matter how much she tries it slams hard against the reality. Something within her breaks, her eyes seem to become....blue, her expression changes to one more somber and her voice is a little different now. She seems sadder now, less like a mood shift and more like....something has broken, and will never be fixed. Once innocence is lost, it cannot be regained.
"Oh. I guess....your right. I've been a fool ignoring my situation so I can be happy....so I can something to aspire to. When clearly....such ideals are worthless if this the reality. If what you say is true, then I am nothing but a hopeless fugitive, as is Sarah. You however are still not entirely trustworthy. You know about the reapers. You know how they operate. You know what might happen to me if they find out....which tells me that your connected to the Reapers. Or at least were. How do I know your trying to convince me to follow your orders under the guise of "what is best" for me, just like The Merchant your worried about? Or just someone undercover trying to get us captured? Your opening up a lot of uncertainty here... without much to trust to replace it."

"Miss? Every cop's a criminal and all the sinners are saints. Ain't no such thing as good or evil, only subjective interpretations of the actions and values of yourself and others.

This man's decided to interpret the merchant's actions as malice... but he's given you no reason to assume he's not malicious himself. honestly, until you learn more about the merchant and this guy, you shouldn't be making any decisions about who to trust."

"Honestly, if I were more paranoid I'd say he's trying to undermine what little support network you've got to make you dependant on him and then next thing you know, he's selling your kidneys on eBay."

[Lord Raziere]

Shiroihako:
She thinks on all this.
"Look, don't get me wrong: I still want to be a ronin in some level, but now I realize it just that: a desire. Not truth. I have to deal with reality. I can call The Merchant any time I wish to arrange a meeting with him. Now I think about it, its a bit exploitative he took advantage of me with selling this Gigai like that, but I made my choice and I have to live with it. Its not as if I had many other options, and if this body is preventing you from telling what I am then it wasn't that bad of a purchase now was it? Keeps people from spotting me.

Now. We can't just keep discussing this and going around in circles about whether to trust or not. Surely, untrustworthy, sure the Merchant also untrustworthy, but we need to move forward somehow. Whats our plan in case this guy is screwing with us? We clearly need to investigate, the question, what precautions do we take to make sure he won't be leading us into a trap?"
Mask of Cynicism: Formed.
"Hm. Thorne. What specifically would you have us do? We'll decide HOW we do them, to make sure we got control enough to not fall for any traps."
She is not going promise to anything until she knows what she is in for.

[igordragonian]

"Dragons?" The man blinks in surprise. "Wait a minute... if your parents are dead, what are you doing, wandering around after a hobby detective? Where are you from?"

Beatrix wave it off. 'It doesn't really matter. Why would you need our lame sob story?'

Balthazar sigh. 'Well, what matters is that we are sort of on our own, and this girl happened to have a thing for the supernatural, and we got curiouse.'

[Vahnavoi]

Outside the meeting:

The man looks at Beatrix and smiles. "I got curious. That's all." He looks around, then nods towards a nearby cafeteria. "Hey. What if, after my boss's done, I offer you a cup of coffee, and you tell me all about it?"

---

The Meeting:

"... pretty sure you'd need more help with the how rather than what" , Mister Thorne says skeptically. "But first..."

[b] "Aaaall aboard! BWAHAHA!"

The shout is followed by a heavy metal riff, coming from Thorne's pocket. He sighs, pulls out his phone and puts the call on hold. "... that's probably my wife, calling me to tell I'm about to miss dinner" , he remarks. "Find some lodging, maybe put on some clothes that are less eyecatching and let's meet again tomorrow, same time, same place. You can keep the candy for now. Eat it if you need to leave your body without raising suspicion. Don't lose it. Savvy?"

[igordragonian]

Balthazar cringed a bit. Was this guy hitting on his sister?
Beatrix shrugged. "Sure. Why not? But what about story for a story? Does it sound fair?' The english weeb girl smiled.

Balthazar nod akwardly.

[Vahnavoi]

The man shrugs and leans back against a wall, arms crossed. "Not sure if I have a story to tell. Both of my parents are alive and well" , he remarks. He turns to look towards the meeting again.

"Hey, do you happen to know who that girl pretending to read a book is?"

[Rater202]

Assumed after the meeting

"So, where you been staying, Ronin?"

[igordragonian]

The man shrugs and leans back against a wall, arms crossed. "Not sure if I have a story to tell. Both of my parents are alive and well" , he remarks. He turns to look towards the meeting again.

"Hey, do you happen to know who that girl pretending to read a book is?"

Balthazar answer. "I think her name is Sarah. She also has... knowledge about occult"

[Vahnavoi]

"Oh, really?" , the man says, raising an eyebrow. "And what does she claim to know of the occult?"

[Lord Raziere]

Shiroihako:
"....Very well."
She will leave and say to Sarah
"oh yeah, staying. There is this cheap hotel I found called The No Coming Inn. However, the room was only for one person? I don't know about how your going to.....factor."
It was one of the worst names for a hotel ever conceived, which was probably why it was so cheap. Complete with an even more horrible slogan: "Get Out." She will go there and it will predictably be small, plain and nothing worth writing home about, probably not the best maintained place either.
"It was either that or that weird hotel chain called Sugar Skulls and it has a very macabre decor. You want to go in or....find Sugar Skulls? Though it'll cost me more money for the latter..."

[Rater202]

"Oh no, I'm fine. I was just making conversation."

Sarah has found that a sleeping bag in a relatively secluded alley or the roof of a building makes for more than comfortable lodging, as long as it's away from the public eye.

That hippie van in the abandoned junkyard had been particularly nice. She'd been able to stay in the same place for a whole month before the land got bought. she thinks there's a Motel 6 there now.

The truth is, not unlike a soldier back from a long deployment, Sarah can't feel comfortable in a normal bed--elevated with no protection on the sides, far to exposed and vulnerable. And she's far too used to the ground to sleep on something too soft.

[Vahnavoi]

Balthazar answer. "I think her name is Sarah. She also has... knowledge about occult"

"Oh, really?" , the man says, raising an eyebrow. "And what does she claim to know of the occult?"

Not long after the man presents his question, the meeting is over. The man straightens himself. "Oh, it looks the meeting's done. Time to get going." He points at Mister Thorne. "Oh, by the way, that's my boss."

Mister Thorne walks directly towards the man, but slows down and then stops when he notices Beatrix and Balthazar. His brow furrows and he casts questioning glances at them and the man. "... I'm sorry, who are you two? ", he asks, gesturing at the Barhams.

[igordragonian]

the twins sort of avoid answering- because, they themselves aren't sure, what exactly they have seen.

Balthazar bow his head.
'Greetings, good sir. I am Balthazar Braham, and this is my sister, Beatrix.'

Beatrix smile is wide. 'We are sort of hunting for the unnatural, I am kind of hungry...'
Balthazr sigh. Beatrix became so wierd..
'We have some exprience with unnatural events. Maybe we can help.'

[Vahnavoi]

Mister Thorne stares at the Barhams. "... Balthazar, was it? I've heard of you" , he says, recalling Shiroihako's remark after he offered her the Soul Candy. "I'm Richard Thorne. I'm sorry, but I have to hurry back home. But you can talk to my assistant."

Mister Thorne looks at the strange man, who bows theatrically. "Jack. Jack Thompson.", he says with a smirk, then claps his hands. "And now that introductions are done, we have coffee to catch! Please follow me, kids!" The man called Jack gestures at the Barhams. Mister Thorne, on the other hand, looks anxious to get away.

[igordragonian]

Balthazar is anxiouse.
'I don't know, why would he have heard of us?' he wishper.
Beatrix shrug. 'Maybe he is fan of your web comic.' and followed, Balthazar walk after her.

[Vahnavoi]

A little walk later, Balthazar and Beatrix find themselves in a small cafeteria. As promised, "Jack" buys them both a cup of coffee and a ball of cherry icecream each.

"So" , he says between taking bites off a doughnut he bought for himself, "Storytime. Start from the beginning, please."