The 1st Stratum [Haru]

So an audience was allowed. Interesting.

Hiro wouldn’t say much as the other opened the door that was supposedly locked and protected as if it was just an ordinary door. A surprise? Not really considering whatever protected the door was probably designed not to harm certain folk. Regardless of this, Hiro would step forward only pausing to look back at the other briefly when she’d nudged him.

He wasn’t exactly fond of the action, but it wasn’t rough so he supposed he’d let her slide with that one as his crimson eyes shifted back to the front and he entered the area beyond. Together, he and Aria would look around the area taking in the ruined area before they were directed to a stair case leading downward by their guide. Not being very difficult, Hiro would head towards the stairs that lead down into darkness.

Darkness.

It was a familiar thing to this particular man and so without fear, he would descend into it once more wondering where in the end this would lead him. The darkness would not last long as they continued on and that dark veil was pierced by strange lights from below. As Hiro walked, the lights revealed themselves to be some part of a strange machine like thing that resided within the room below. Along side of the machinery rested a group of people of mostly unfamiliar faces; however, two people stuck out of that gathering. One was a male who worked on the machinery who from expression and looks alone could be no one else except Zachary.

The other was the woman from before, Hiro only recognizing her due to the mental image he had caught of her face before they were interrupted by his current guide. Stopping a safe distance away from the group, he would wait quietly enough as he kept himself preoccupied with what was before him.

He would only bring himself back to the people before him when he heard chatter and was nudged again. Taking only a slight step forward to compensate for the nudge, Hiro would first give his guide a peeved look before his expression softened as his eyes turned to look at Lune.

“Is that so?” he would begin his words directed at the male even if he did study the young woman for a bit wondering what it was that she had said to Zachary about himself. He wanted to ask but decided not to pry for now as his eyes shifted to the man himself.


“I came here looking for the truth behind the chaos that has plagued these islands, but up until now have only gotten scatted details about the mess. However, it seems the one about you wanting to take advantage of the situation has the most truth to it,” he would say as his eyes turned to the machine.

“We heard you were planning to go to the Core, but if that is so what is the need for this thing? In fact what is this thing?” Aria would ask pretty much expressing out loud Hiro’s unspoken thoughts as she leaned forward from her seated position on Hiro’s shoulders to get a better look at what was before them.

What was this thing indeed?...And what did Zach mean by joining them on a project?

"Is that so?" Hiro voice was quiet as he narrowed his eyes at the other's threat. It was true he was no power house and perhaps the guy before him would kill him if he fought back. Even so, he wasn't about to the let the guy kill him without a struggle if it came down to it. Even so Hiro would remain more or less non-hostile and listened to the response. He would respond back in turn (Private Message), his expression becoming a bit darker as time ticked on.

Meanwhile Aria would watch the whole thing quietly, tilting her head as she looked at the two ladies and their odd head grabs.

Hm? What is going on there?

“Well are you part of his project?” the dark haired man would ask his voice serious and calm as he directed the question at the two ladies who had their odd reactions to whatever was going on. He would give them time to answer before looking back at Zachary as he shifted his weight to the left casually.

“It harms you and yet you continue to push forward with with your plan, so I suppose you believe something great will come out of this if you succeed. However, what happens if you were to fail? What then?” he would say and then hearing the rest, he would smirk as a hand went to his hip and he looked off to the side.

“Why are you concerned about what I do with what I have learned?” he would ask as his crimson eyes looked over at the other. He was in no way allied with this guy, so why did he have to explain anything? It was true the guy probably wouldn’t let him go after this, but on the other hand what did he have to worry about? Hiro was just one person wasn’t he? Surely someone like Zach was not worried about little old him messing things up now was he? It was an amusing thought, but one that was quickly pushed to the side as he heard the next set of words. To this he would fold his arms as he looked upward for a bit, a gloved fingered tapping his lip in thought as he spoke.

“Stop you? Mmm. If that was my purpose I would’ve tried to do so a long time ago. I am not looking to play hero and I never signed up to stop the chaos in the first place. All I wanted was clarification,” the man said as he looked back at the other with a smirk on his face. He was no longer hiding behind his nice kid act. No. He was simply being what he had always been - a creature with a love for chaos. The only thing different here was he wasn’t as reckless in his actions as before. He actually thought them through this round. Even so that still did not change truth under it all. He liked to see the world struggle and in the end see where it would end up after all of it was said and done.

Aria, on the other hand, would just watch on from her position on his shoulder. She had nothing to say or do at the moment, so she just observed.