The Responsible [Awakening]

This family dinner was nothing more than... professional? The Tsurinai Family sat at a long table, housing their family symbol in the center, and was enjoying a salmon dinner. Tsurinai Soki sat at the far end; her eyes as lifeless and dull as any other day. Far across the table sat her father with all his stoic splendor. To her right, and his left, sat the youngest sibling, Miki. There were only two seats at the table missing. One belonged to the second oldest child, and the only son, Tsurinai Naito. The other belonged to the mother of Soki and the ex-wife of Setai. Soki was not surprised the two others were not present during this meal. Usually father was not present either, as he was away on business for the majority of the time, leaving her to oversee the experimentation within the Ueitawa Region. However, he had paid her a visit for a few reasons. These reasons had not been disclosed as of yet, but she was sure it had nothing to do with her current health. After all, everything was business for the Tsurinai Family, and it was simply a taboo to speak of anything not business related. As the heir of the prestigious family, Tsurinai Soki had to tell this to her younger sibling many, many times. Did she ever truly listen? Not at all. Whatever the case, this silent dinner surely had a purpose aswell. Perhaps father wished for the update on how their research was coming? Sad to say, Tsurinai Soki hadn't made any progress as of yet. The people of Ueitawa were quite ignorant and vague when she attempted to learn of the situation plaguing their region. It went without saying that she'd need to push for some forced experimentation at this rate. 

Grabbing her tea cup, the young woman would raise the fine china to her lips before taking a sip. It was time to break this silence. "Father, I'd like your permission to begin human experimentation when regarding the Shadows. We will never truly understand their powers or motives if we do not see them in action on a live human being." She spoke with her usual dead tone while she lowered her tea cup and placed it in the palm of her opposite hand. Setai looked up from his plate and gave the young woman a narrow eyed look. As a child she could not return the gaze, but now as a young woman she gazed back to those cold eyes he was known for. "So you're already to this stage of development, hm? Well then, do not cogitate over it by asking for my permission. Do whatever it takes." He didn't even seem to mind that she was going to be using live humans to conduct experimentation on. Did the ends justify the means? Without her mother there to balance out his cynical outlook, nothing was off-limits or illicit. "I see. Well then, you'll have no objection to my next statement. I plan on using myself as the first subject." The young woman lifted her tea cup back to her lips and took a sip while her father raised a brow. Reaching into his coat pocket, he'd remove a cigar and nonchalantly place it within his pale lips. "Need I remind you of previous occurrences when it came to using yourself as the subject? Apparently the Tsurinai heir is a glutton for punishment." Leaning back in his chair, the butler to his side would come and light his cigar for him. Soki's eyes slowly closed as she placed the tea cup back in the palm of her gloved hand.

"I implore you, Father. This experiment has a 99.9% percent chance of failure." The young woman continue to speak with her unfazed tone of voice. Setai couldn't help but raise a brow. "And this other 0.1%?" Soki took another sip of her tea and lowered it to the table. "There is no such thing as 100% in science. I am neither God, nor the Devil. Eliminating all chance is not in my power, nor anyone's. It is fate for humanity to live by trial and error. It is, of course, the only way we will progress as a whole." She slowly opened her eyes to her father who held a smirk to her words. Standing from his seat, he'd place his cigar in his mouth and head towards the exit door. "Well said, Soki. I'll leave you to your work." The older man left, and the door closed slowly behind him. Soki couldn't help but let out a slight breath she had been holding ever since the conversation started. Looking over to her younger sister, who was looking back towards her with a quizzical look, the young woman would stick her tongue out towards her. The youngest Tsurinai would laugh and stick her tongue back out towards Soki. With that out the way, only business remained.

After putting Miki to bed, Tsurinai Soki immediately made her way down to the basement of her estate. Awaiting her would be a scientist holding a briefcase in his hand. The silver eyed woman would cross her arms over her chest and close the distance between them "So this is it, hmm? Something to evoke one's natural inner strength? Apparently some of the hopefuls in Tokonosu knew of this power aswell, though theirs more coincided with using their soul to summon actual demons to their side. This way seems slightly different, yet one in the same." The young woman took the briefcase from the man and placed it on a table to her right. Unlocking it, she'd slowly open it to reveal what appeared to be a gun. Grabbing the handle, the young woman would look at it with unfazed eyes. "Interesting choice of design..." She spoke with narrowed eyes as she took a step back from the table and turned to look towards the scientist. Raising the gun, she'd place the barrel towards her temple and give the trigger a slow pull. With a click, the evoker would fire a blank shot into her skull and she simply awaited the results..

Soki's eyes remained unfazed as she watched the little girl form before her from what appeared to be a card. So this was her inner strength's physical form? How strange for it to be nothing but a child out of all the forms it could have taken. Perhaps this was a sign that she was still childish at heart, even those she put up so many "mature" signs around her. The pale faced woman couldn't help but narrow her eyes as she turned towards the scientist in the room. "Well done. I expected a success, and so I received it. We may not be God or the Devil, but this doesn't mean we can not claim the powers of either." With that said, the woman reached into the suitcase and grabbed a holster for her evoker. Placing the holster down towards her left thigh, she'd place the evoker within it. With this done, she closed the suitcase and returned it to the scientist she had originally received it from. As if nothing had just occurred, the young woman made her way back towards the stairway to leave the basement of the estate. Her phone began to buzz violently in her pocket, and once removing it, her eyes would take a quick glance towards the message being displayed. It appeared as though a doorway into this alternate world was found, but not only this, there was another doorway that seemed to lead somewhere. However, it was barred and none of the scientists could use it. This meant she'd need to experiment with it herself. Whichever the case, she had a meeting to attend to now.

-exit-