wildkotetsu | 1 • Paperboy Hat • [Action/Voice]

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1 • Paperboy Hat • [Action/Voice]

[Start of the day: waking up flopped across a bar counter missing a shirt with a monster headache.

The day before: nothing at all like this or leading up to this.

It makes him wonder. Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, rolling off the table in alarm, slams face-first into the floor with a muffled grunt, before patting around for a bar stool to use for leverage. And he drags himself up, his entire face pounding now—

Oh, this place is apparently closed. Or maybe just really empty today (feel free to prove that last point). Because the doors are shut, the lights are dimmed, and he's flopping himself back up like a half-baked penguin to a seat that is next to a lot of empty seats. Hoooo, my head is killing me. First thing to notice, his side was nearly entirely healed up. The remnants of a burn were barely visible in the room. The second, the wings. The wings that were attributing to his headache. The things that only birds should have.

Those wings.

Alright, alright. He's obviously just tripping some heavy balls right now. As he leaves the building looking unbelievably confused, he messes with the journal. It... sort of reminds him of stuff back home, only... he's pretty sure paper doesn't work like this. There are people talking on it. He can read their stuff. Er, watch it, even.]

[Voice A]

Oi, oi, what's the big idea here? Where's my city at, huh?

... Did I get dumped in the countryside?

[Mrrr. Ojisan isn't much liking the cold air—he lets out a biting sneeze, before mumbling,]

I must be going crazy... Talking to books...

[Doesn't matter! What does is finding some clothes that isn't showing off his poor cold bod. He's partially successful, but not entirely. He finds his very own clothes—but. But there are important things missing.]

[Voice B]

Aaa, if anyone sees a few things, could you tell me? A really cool paperboy hat, for one. Can't find it anywhere. [he rubs his noses, trying to sound casual about this] I found my watch, but I'm still looking out for a ring... It's just a normal silver band, but it's pretty important. If you find it, could y'let me know?

[If you'll excuse him, he's got a item shop to dig through with determination.]

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Sounds good! I'll meet you at seven, then!

See you there.

[And there Law is in the bar on time, at a table with a clear view of the room and the entrance. Sipping a beer and slouching back in his chair.

Sumire is in his lap. Which is the only time he'll willingly bring her down to the bar (the rest of the time she escapes the house and follows). Figured after the initial confusion, it would only be fair if you met her.]

[Kotetsu walks in a few minutes after seven, bundled up in a coat with this weird ass journal underarm. A guy with a love of beards and cool hats? Works for him! He grins and waves, looking pretty relaxed despite his... odd day.]

Yo!

Oi! How's it going?

[Beards, hats, and big ass swords (not the only thing he's armed with, but the most visible). He scratches behind the ear of his lazing kitten.]

You should get yourself something to drink. You look half frozen!

[Heh. Swords are kind of new, but then, he's had a fisticuffs turn into a sword fight, once. Granted he didn't get to have a sword, but still. The life of a hero, man. He plops down, waving the bartender down for an order. Liquor is his best friend, today.]

Maa, maa, just a little. The weather's not so bad if you run it off.

Spoken like so many I know. [He shakes his head and grins a little knowingly. Cold and flu season is upon us in Luceti, Kotetsu. Are you ready?] Half of them end up in bed with a box of tissues and a case of the sniffles.

[Draining that beer.]

Anyway...

... so... you wanted to know about the Malnosso. Where do you want me to start?

[He takes a drink before leaning back, a smidge more serious.]

The beginning. Maaa, well, as close to the beginning as you can get, anyway.

[Beer's gone. He thinks he's going to want something a bit stronger. He waves down the bartender for sake.]

They've been around this world a long time. Lifetimes. Apparently the Third Party was here first, or so everyone supposes. I'll get to the Third Party in a little bit - they're important. Anyway, we, the people trapped in the other enclosures, the people on the outside and the Malnosso? Have something in common - we're all drawn from home into this universe by things called Shifts, and sent back at random times by the same means.

The big difference is that for us, the people trapped? We get sent back so much faster. Sometimes days, usually months, in a few cases, years. There are only a handful of people remaining in the village from when Luceti was 'founded'. Not so for those that are free. They can go lifetimes before going home - living, dying, and reviving. And some, I suppose haven't gone home at all.

And they are desperate to get home, or so the story goes. So some of them banded together into this organization known as the Malnosso. Any means possible.

Which is where we come in. We are their lab rats, soldiers, toys, and servants - whatever they need us to be, be us willing or no. All for the purpose of going home.

[That is a hell of a lot to digest, but he does his best. Because really... the fact that lifetimes go by for these people is huge enough to freak him out.

And he wrinkles his nose at the rest, frankly.]

So they put us below them out of some sort of... seniority or somethin'?

Pretty much. It's a us and them situation. They don't really regard us as human, to say nothing about being people. We're faceless to them. And when you're faceless... who cares about a tool?

... to be fair, it's the same thing for a lot of us here. Most see the Malnosso as nothing but monsters. You get less sympathetic as time goes by.

[He makes a low, thoughtful noise, and is quiet for a moment. He knows monsters exist in the world, but he can't help but wonder how it came to be this way. They were in their shoes before, weren't they? Did they just... go nuts? Flip out and not care?

Maybe somewhere in that mess of monsters, someone cares about their tools.

It's a passing thought, but it's his silent optimism nonetheless.]

So they've been around for a long time and they're jerks. Anything else we know about 'em?

[Maybe. Who's to say. Maybe it's just that their morality and the commonly held morality of the people of Luceti is just that different. Maybe lifetimes drove in the insanity, and the apathy, and the desperation in that deep.

Maybe they were just a bunch of bastards from the beginning.

Who's to say.

... - and he begins to see a genuine honesty behind the Third Party claims that a final death is a release from suffering. Degeneration. The cancer of time and the continual cycles of life and death making malignant a person's soul. But it is not a cure. It is simply giving up on the patient from the start. - ...

... how long before that silent optimism withers at the stalk?]

Few more things. For starters lets talk external politics before moving onto all the internal strife within the Malnosso Organization. As you may have heard, they're at war and they draft us to fight their enemies - the Third Party. That also has been going on a long time. It seems they're at a bloody deadlock right now, and as time goes by, the worse things get on the outside. Basically a war of attrition.

The Third Party's goal is simple - or so it's been presented. Free everyone... [And he begins to call up a very particular entry on his journal. A very particular one.] by sending all of us to the afterlife.

Permanently.

Edited 2011-11-29 01:42 (UTC)

Tch... So they're taking the easy way out. Taking lives in bulk in the hopes it'll end everything? Instead of getting everyone home and letting them live out natural lives?

[He leans back, frowning. He's been around long enough to see people killing as a way out. One of the problems of being a hero is seeing all the awful, awful sides of people.

But. Regardless, he looks at the Third Party as yet more people who needed helping. Whether or not they'd ever accept it, though, he knows is close to impossible. They'll probably go on thinking the way they do until they die; those who kill in the name of salvation... It's an impossible situation. Mind like that...

Sigh. He's too busy being sore at the Malnosso for throwing them into the fray to begin with to think too much on it.]

But they haven't had any luck, right? Because of the... the reviving thing the Malnosso can do, right?

That could be. Or perhaps they've just been around long enough and failed enough that this seems like the only option. Lifetimes after all.

[He ignores his hatred for Third Party (it is for the most part artificial and not his - just forced on him. One more scar of That Experiment.) and shoves the journal forward.]

No. They have. You're not going to enjoy watching this. It's not pretty - it's downright disturbing. But you have to understand exactly what you're being set against. And what it means if you or someone you're with gets grabbed.

Draft happens in likely a month - a month and a half from now. We're overdue for a nasty one. There's a good chance you'll be sent to fight.

[And once you hit play, this unfolds.]

Edited 2011-11-29 08:10 (UTC)

[Kotetsu winces and grows silent, alert, even with the disdain growing in his gaze. And let it be known an upset Kotetsu is a rare one. This is not only a tragic recording, but it's toeing toward personal, for his own reasons.

His grip on the journal tightens.]

Just what the hell is this supposed to be...?

What they do to kill someone permanently. [The voice is flat, with no emotion. Once upon a time... in That Experiment, Trafalgar Law had a wife and he loved her more than the world itself. And then they killed her.

The memories have faded, but the emotions remain. And seeing this reminds him of just how that felt. Stirs not... sympathy for the man, as he was Malnosso, but something else... something he does not want to examine too deeply.

Because it might be pity. And he won't do that for Them.]

Why everyone has to be careful.

[He lowered the book, the dark expression on his face softening. He's seen death before; as someone who's dealt with the worst of humanity from time to time, he knows just how these things can play out. But still... doesn't make things like this any easier to digest.

He breathes out his nose, quiet for a minute. And then he closes the journal. Sometimes it really would have been easier if he was the sort to let things jade him. As it was though... he didn't have it in him. Never did. It felt like a betrayal to the people he would have jaded himself against.

Real people, who suffer.

It was part of his job, to sympathize, and like Law, at the very least pity.]

You don't have to tell me twice.

Anything else about the two groups I should keep in mind?

For the Third Party, they tend to segregate themselves into 'ranks' almost. There are the common soldiers - they aren't much more powerful than a regular soldier. [Given value of regular here. For Law, he classes them as slightly better than the grunt troops of the Marines.] Then there are the Elites - you'll recognize them by the fact they have better weaponry and armor on their wings - and they're powerful enough to take on some of less strong powered folk here. Some are stronger than others.

Then there are the Shifters. They're the ones with glowing eyes. They can disable advanced technology or any special abilities you may have - leaving you about the level of a normal person. They can only disable one of those things at a time, so if you rely on tech or are like an ability user like me, you might want to stick close to someone who relies on the other end of the spectrum.

[Frowning.] And then there are Shift Hunters. They're beasts that track such things as Filial magic or any other Shift you may be afflicted with - like an effect from a kidnapping. It's something to keep in mind, as they're nearly impossible to kill or disable. The only way to take them out is to behead them - otherwise they heal extremely rapidly from whatever else you do to them and are a threat again in minutes. And they swarm.

So if you learn any Filial magic here, be very careful how you use it out there.

Don't expect any help from the Malnosso out there. We've gotten the impression that some of them would like nothing better than to see us all fail and be killed. There's been infighting within the organization. Rogue factions. Coups. Right now, in charge of the organization is the military branch of the Organization, lead by The Commandant. The former CEO of the organization fled here with one of his assistants, girl named Molly. They're hiding somewhere here. There's also one of their scientists living underneath the village. John - The Great One. [Oh the subtle sarcasm underlying 'Great'.]

Which brings us to internal matters.

[This is a lot for someone like Kotetsu to digest, but he's doing his damnedest to keep every little thing burned into his memory, however shoddy it can be at times. This isn't just any old thing: this is the most important information he can have right now.

But he's at least glad to here there really is dessension going on, to some degree, within the malnosso itself.]

Internal?

Oh yeah. An organization they may be, but they don't play nicely with each other at all. As I said, parts of the Malnosso have splintered off into rogue, though not quite independent factions at this time. Can't tell you if there are any that are going completely alone, or for that matter if there are separate and competing organizations out there, but it's something to be mindful of.

The Malnosso claim that these rogue scientists and other employees are the ones entirely responsible for the kidnappings that occur here. [His tone? It says BULLSHIT.

He's going to take back his journal and open another entry and slide it back. This particular entry he really has to use his journal to access. Kotetsu's won't work for this.]

This should give you some information on some of the major players and history involving the Malnosso and Luceti. As Mister Silverberg says, don't talk about what's here on the journals. The Malnosso are always listening. Nothing is really secure.

And there's one guy not on here. CJ. He's a new face for the Malnosso. Used ship salesman sort, makes it seem like you're getting a great deal when you're getting screwed over. He's in charge of the missions. Seems to be allied with Bil, or Sir Catherine as he's sometimes know, the former CEO of the Malnosso.

I'll let you read over that before going on. There's a lot in there and it's all important.

[He laughs humorlessly once he finishes reading, running a hand through his hair and speaking up in a voice that might as well have been started off with 'Admittedly'—]

It's a lot to take in.

But I think I got most of it. What are missions, exactly?

I know. Especially on your first day. You're taking it better than most.

[He finally takes a sip of sake, and scratches Sumire behind the ears. The little cat purrs contentedly.]

Missions are... voluntarily doing tasks for the Malnosso in return for... rewards. [Strange note to that. It's more like he's likening these rewards to a treat you'd give a dog for compliance than any proper compensation for work well done.] Can be anything from retrieving the revived dead, combat, to willingly submitting yourself for experimentation. You just submit your name and they call you when they want you.

There's an entry on it in the back of your journal. It's explained in more detail there.

Aha, well—I'm pretty used to conspiracy stuff lately, unfortunately.

[These last few days, man, they've been crazy.]

So if you sign up for these, there's a chance to get on their good side, you're telling me.

Depends what you mean by good side. [...] These missions are just another way to get a use out of us... one where we're co-operating fully. The Malnosso don't do favors - not without a price attached somewhere down the line. Is it possible they'll grow more complacent about us? Maybe. See us more as people? A remote chance.

Just don't count on it.

[What a cynic, huh?]

Most of the people here are only signing up because of the chance to gather some intelligence on the outside world.

Anything's better than nothing, right?

[He sighs.]

Even if the chances of things getting better is low, at least it gives us all something to try for, naa?

[Action]

deathsdoctor - 2011-12-09 04:17 (UTC) - Expand

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