FINAL INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

FINAL INVESTIGATION

[Well, your time, your anger, your losses have led up to this.

It's time to go, and that blue card will give access to the floors above. In particular, there is the floor Barbara mentioned before the throne room, which seems to be a good idea to check out beforehand.

Indeed, it's much like the previous floors the Strangers had lived in, only smaller.]



[There is another elevator in the area, but that is inaccessible. Even using Marie's card doesn't seem to work on it. Hm. No matter. Marie's card works on all of these rooms, so it's fine, right?

In any case, if there's answers to be found about just whose in charge - and what in the world is going on - this is the last chance of finding them. You've all gotten this far, and as your teams descend on the rooms, you can feel the end is near. Hopefully, that end is not that of the universe - or of Ivy.

Good hunting, Titled.]

Comments

[backuphero]

Something tells me you don't mean a pair of shorts and a lightweight shirt, way you said that....

[There's still so much he doesn't know about either of his brothers. Hopefully there'll be time to learn, later... after....

Jonathan himself is staring at a rack of knives. The bandolier slung low around his torso is custom-made to fit a very specific set of five daggers, but if he can find short, heavy-bladed throwing knives, it should work well enough to hold those.]

[theserpentsmiles]

No- well, those were our old gym clothes. But the ones I mean were more like high-tech armor. Flame-retardant, stretch-resistant, slash-resistant, shock-absorbent, lighter than our normal gym clothes too... The hood had its own internal skeleton and could be inflated for maximum defense. Clear visors and built-in radio communicators were a feature, too...

[Plus some other features. Really fancy stuff, this. He selects a couple of knives - tactical, practical, similar enough to the ones he's familiar with.]

Perfect for us - and definitely saved us a few times.

[backuphero]

[Jonathan's gone from confused to floored in the few seconds it's taken Nagisa to list all of that.]

Yeah, no kidding... sounds like you'd be damn near invulnerable.

[There's a few short knives that look like they'll work well enough, and he plucks one off the shelf, carefully fitting it into one of the empty spaces on his belt. It's a little loose, but...]

...well, better than nothing, I guess.

[theserpentsmiles]

Not...completely. [Kayano. She'd been wearing it... The Reaper had torn through it like paper.] But it did a lot - especially since we'd started free-running by then. Reduced injuries a lot.

[...Those knives, that bandolier... He produces the throwing knife.] Is this what you're looking for?

[backuphero]

That - guess you got that from the machines, huh?

[He doesn't take the knife from Nagisa just yet, looking unusually thoughtful. That hitch in Nagisa's voice - what he didn't say, and what he did - he needs to feel safer.]

It's part of a set. They're... they were blessed, before we left America. I don't know if that'll mean anything here, or if you even believe in that kind of stuff, but... hang on to it for me, okay? Maybe it'll bring you good luck.

[theserpentsmiles]

Yeah. Same time I got the spear. [We are armed to the teeth. Just in case. And, of course, Nagisa doesn't even need weapons.

Blessings, huh... Most Japanese believe in that kind of thing, at least a bit. Usually Shinto or Buddhist, though, not Christian - at least, Nagisa is pretty sure Jonathan means a Christian blessing.]

I'll keep it safe. It's a throwing dagger, right? Like you suggested before.

[backuphero]

Yeah, just like. Maybe once this is all over I can show you how that kind's supposed to be used - you don't throw the short ones so they spin, it's an underhand toss.

[He smiles proudly, blinking away an inconvenient dampness in his eyes.]

My father taught me. It's one of those things I think you're supposed to pass on.

[theserpentsmiles]

Throwing knives would be quieter than a gun...and probably faster than a baseball. [Why is that the alternative.] I'd like to learn.

[backuphero]

All right. Once this is over, then... I'll teach you. So be careful, all right?

[He's not going to ask about the baseball thing. There are some things no amount of explanation can wrap his brain around, and baseball as a combat sport, past the first thought that Nagisa might mean just that, is one of them.]

[theserpentsmiles]

You, too. Come what may, all nine of us are getting out of here.

[Especially his two older brothers. Maybe they'll find a way to make it fifteen, but Nagisa won't rest until at least those two get out.]