Goosebumps [Esra, Lui]

Pendleton wouldn't call what he had done so far progress. More like...a wild goose chase. He had spent all his time before school trying to figure out SOMETHING about demons...and most of the walk to school doing the same. And his reward was...nothing but confusion. Why did all the information need to be locked up? Didn't people deserve to KNOW about the supernatural? ESPECIALLY if it was that dangerous? People needed to know how to defend themselves...relying on the Cadets sounding all well and good, but it was probably a pretty bad idea. After all, there were a LOT of disappearances, which they apparently hadn't been able to stop.

At Lunch, Pendleton wasn't Eating. No, instead he was focused on his laptop, brow furrowed, typing quickly. His scowl grew every time he had to back out of a page, and search for something else. Most of what he found was just a weird conspiracy theory, the rest was useless. He couldn't even AFFORD that much salt...and it would require Esra staying in her room the rest of her life.

After a moment more, he slammed his computer closed, and started rubbing his face, in frustration. He NEVER got this stressed over normal studying.

"You seem frustrated, Pendleton. Guess that makes two of us."
To Pendleton's left, Lui would flop into the chair beside him and dig into his sandwich. He wasn't getting much headway into his investigation into the terrorists either, and he was having a hard time seeing if his rumor was actually gaining any traction. He regularly checked by the spot he mentioned in the rumor, but no suspicious people seemed to be investigating. Another brick wall in his way.

Now was the time to potentially use Pendleton. If Brittany wasn't a proper catalyst for the rumor, certainly an author such as Pendleton would buy into his story and drum up some whispering through his actions. But first, to see why he seemed frustrated with his laptop.

"I'm having my own headaches to deal with, so maybe we can help each other out. What's got your brain crunching?"

Pendleton frowned, looking at Lui for a moment. Well, he WAS very frustrated, and maybe Lui could help him out. "Er...well..." He mused. It was an odd topic...what if Lui thought he was suspicious for asking...? Or if he reported him? He blinked, before shaking his head. He wouldn't get anywhere if he didn't trust anyone. "...I'm researching Demons. Because something's come up." He made sure not to mention Esra. She had made it clear she didn't want any rumors going around about her.

"Of course, a lot of the information seems locked up. For good reason I'm sure. But I'm in a situation where I need the information or something terrible may happen. I'd...kind of like to avoid that." He chuckled nervously. "I may not be able to make it to Fencing this week...what's your headache about?"

Lui seemed to flinch, if only for a moment. What occurred with Pendleton to suddenly get enveloped in forces likely beyond his understanding? Researching things like demons or terrorists would only draw undue attention from the surveilling eyes of the Cadets. Seeing that this conversation could actually be used to steer Pen into his plan, Lui leaned in to continue the conversation in a hushed voice.

"Demons, eh? Well, looks like we're both reaching for the forbidden fruit of this society. Trust me, I won't be saying anything so long as you keep quiet about MY topic of research... that being the Psyche Terrorists.

See how most of the papers these days report on terrorists kidnapping this person or blowing something up? Well, a friend of mine claims to have come across a different sort. One night, there were supposedly screaming coming from down the street. A girl's scream, from the sound of it. Well, when she rounded the corner, this masked figure in apparently full white knight armor was fighting off some ghost things, which I think might be demons. According to the usual cases, this guy would likely abduct the girl or just feed her to the demons.

But no. He was defending her. After everything finished up, this knight guy actually WALKED the girl home. Halfway through, my witness ended up running away when the knight suddenly turned around and probably saw her peeping. So yeah, maybe we can collaborate on this. You help me dig up some info on this knight "terrorist", we get in contact with him, and maybe he can fill in the blanks on your demon research.

Deal? Either way, this conversation does NOT leave this table. Don't want any Cadets cutting in on my investigation."

Like Brittany, Lui had planted the bud of his rumor in Pendleton, hoping that the few Pendleton leaks it to can spread awareness among the people and eventually reach the ears of hidden terrorists. Now, Lui only needed Pendleton to open up to him to rope him into his investigation team.

Pendleton stopped to mull it over. That...didn't sound like anything he had heard about the terrorists. He had heard tales of murder, destruction, and kidnappings...to report anything suspicious to the police. Or the cadets. And Pendleton didn't exactly trust the cadets. At all. But he wasn't on the side of the terrorists either. But with that information... "And...your friend's SURE that's how it happened? That doesn't sound like anything I've heard...and I've heard a lot. What if it's just one good person among hundreds of criminals?" Pendleton mused, with a small frown.

"Or if it was just to get a date with the girl? I've heard of worse ways to pick someone up. But...I think I'll believe you. It's the only way I'm actually going to get any of the information ...I...need." He left Esra out of it. She HAD requested it be done that way. "Alright, deal...so what should we do to start looking for the Terrorists?" He whispered, leaning in.

"There may be some public record of his costume, if he literally dressed as a knight...SOMEONE may have mentioned it online..."

Pendleton's questioning and frown wasn't agreeing with Lui. Was he really questioning him at a time like this? It was hard enough to keep the story coherent and even more vexing to get it spread among the populous; if this kid wouldn't be a useful catalyst for his ruse, the conversation would only serve to benefit Pendleton. Lui needed to lead Pen in further and give him the proper push to his side.

"Crossed her heart, she did. But yeah, that's why this case concerns me so much. Who's to say he's one in a hundred criminals? What if the most verbose terrorists are making the highlights? The fact that neither his costume nor his actions have been reported serve as a basis that, like your info search on demons, society is too in the dark on this issue."

Nevertheless, Pendleton seemed on board with his goose chase. So far, so good. Now, to let the rumor leak and draw out the players...

"We draw them out. This knight fellow doesn't appear to have been noticed by the authorities, so that means he's a sort of wild card in the scene. If we can just leak his presence among the populous, say the incident occurred somewhere else. If word reaches the other terrorists, maybe they will come after him. Heck, maybe we end up drawing the knight back to the scene. Either way, we stake out the location after school once the rumor picks up. Anyone suspicious investigating the scene could be a Terrorist.

How about it? Willing to let slip the little rumor? Know anyone popular or gullible enough to get it spreading like the Plague?"

Pendleton gave a small hum. "...Well. I think I know a way to get the information out there, at least. If it's only a matter of attracting the attention of the Terrorists, though...if we're discrete we may be able to hide out in some of Endymion's less...well, nice places, at night. Who knows? We may be able to find one of them hanging around...or maybe one of them will find us." He mused. "They're probably going to kill us if we attract their attention and they ARE mostly criminals, anyway." Pendleton decided. "If we go the route of getting them to come to us, it's just a matter of starting a rumor at school. Which is easy. We just need to let someone over hearing us talk about how we heard that a student here was a terrorist. After that...the rumor will just spread naturally." Pendleton decided.

Both plans had the potential to end horribly, but it was up to Lui to decide how to handle it. It didn't seem like there was a way to do it without danger. Making it seem like they weren't the ones to start the rumor would at least keep them safe from any cadets that overheard.

Lui cracked a little smile as Pendleton quickly picked up on the plan. Sure, it could flop or seriously go south for them, but Lui would make sure the plan proceeded. This was the only way he could find a lead given the resources he had at his disposal. If he had to resort to using all of his friends as fuel to keep the rumor going, so be it.

Lui was noticeably shaken at the suggestion of going out at night.
"Endymion at night? Uh, that might not be so great an idea. What if those demon things find us? We're just going to have to keep an eye open. I'll show you the spot where the witness found him after school. You got the time to spend away from your research?"

"Now that I consider it... there was one thing the witness told me. This knight was using a gold rapier as a weapon. Not a common thing, right? Using gold as a base for a sword raises questions, not including the ones about how he learned to use it. I'll look in with a blacksmith friend to see if he made a custom order. You can look around the dojo, see what weapons they teach. We can catch this guy. I just know it. "

"Just hoping he doesn't catch us first."

"I...can take time off my research for this, yeah." Pendleton decided. "I don't want to go out at night anymore than you do. But it IS an option." He frowned, seeming uncomfortable. "It's a bad idea, but really going into this at all is a bad idea. I need answers though. For more than just my sake." He gave a heavy sigh. It was still not something that made him happy, but he needed to take any lead he could that didn't involve the cadets in the slightest.

"If he is dangerous though...does it matter who finds who first? I don't think we could overpower a Terrorist..." Pendleton mused. "...Going to where he was last sighted is a good idea. There may be a clue. Or he may come back there, if it's somewhere he...patrols often, I guess?"

There was no choice but to let some of the out of the ordinary parts of her life be apparent at school. Everyone knew she was pretty active so Esra had at least some excuse but it was always more than a little impressive when someone saw her lunch for the first time. Today was nothing more than normal but some might consider it enough for two others for three, some for four.

A large sealed bowl of a chicken and sweetcorn salad with dressing, avocado with a boiled egg pressed into it, a small tub of chicken soaked rice, a carton of milk, three apples, a banana and a bottle of water. It was a pretty normal lunch for her, given that breakfast as always small and dinner always late. It was easy for her to burn through it all in a day and even as a child she would always eat by the bucket if she got the chance. Stressed as she was on top of that, she was inclined to eat more still.

Dressed in uniform Esra looked around the canteen she could name most of them, place the rest. A few more faces she knew today than this time yesterday and yet. Mika and Sarah were at the far end of the hall and she started towards them. Already she had noticed that Pendleton was talking to someone else, it would be a bad idea to be seen with him then. No one had really seen them together so it would be a little odd.

While Lui kept conversing with Pendleton, he felt his eyes flick away from Pen and scan his surroundings. He wasn't normally the focus of someone's attention, so when he felt someone's gaze laying on him for a while, his instincts would kick in and try to locate the source. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be looking at him as he felt the hairs on his body settle once again.

"Was that... No, I'm probably just imagining it. Anyways, about the plan...

The idea isn't to overpower him, Pendleton. The idea is to convince him that we can be trusted. If we can convey that we do not intent to persecute him for his actions, he might be more inclined to explain why he does what he does as opposed to his 'friends'. But yes, looking through his last location might lead us to finding him."

Lui had quite a dilemma on his hands; if he was leading Pendleton on like this, he'd have to be careful to avoid having him targeted by demons. Still, for the investigation, he might have to fabricate a few clues to keep him interested. He could think of a few items to point away from himself that could serve as evidence. He might have to talk Batilde into coming with him to play the role of witness...

"Lui. Let me ask you a question." Pen started calmly. "If you were a psyche terrorist, and three regular kids happened to find you one night, and by some chance you weren't entirely a nice guy like they thought, would you leave them alive, thus letting there be people who KNOW where you hang around, or would you make them disappear?" Pen stared at Pendleton seriously. "I'm trusting that you're right, and he isn't dangerous, but if SOMEHOW it turns out he isn't, we need to consider what may happen, is all I'm saying."

He glanced around, finally stopping to look at Esra. She didn't want to be involved, but...there wasn't really a way around it, thinking hard about it. People talking at lunch wouldn't start any rumors, and he could just play it off as being his problem. That way there wasn't a chance of her being considered weird by Lui. After a moment of steeling his nerves, he waived at her, trying to get her to come over. Hopefully it wouldn't end with another Death Threat.

Arching her eyebrows and rolling her eyes, Esra gave an exasperated look towards the far end of the canteen. They hadn't noticed yet, fine. Turning on her heel she glowered down at the seat opposite to Pendleton and letting out a breath settled into it, placing her tray in front of her. She didn't know the other boy sat next to him very well, Lui, something. Whatever it wouldn't do to draw too much attention to any of it. He did say he knew a person that might know something, why Lui though? There was nothing remarkable about him, nor did she remember him being in any sort of trouble before.

Taking the lid off her salad and another off her rice, fork in hand she started to eat before talking. She was the one waved over after all, she assumed because there was something that Pendleton wanted to tell her. It was likely more than a few rumours would start because of this, they always did. Esra talking to boys, Esra eating lunch with one, a new one to school at that. Annoying as it was, it might not be the worst cover in the world.

(After eating this topic 3 times, it's finally up. Apologies for the wait)
Pendleton was being logical and down-to-earth with his expectations, but it was getting rather grating. If Lui could just shut him up by revealing his identity, he would. However, keeping up the guise was paramount at this step, so Lui resorted to convincing Pendleton of his safety.

"Why bring more attention to myself by erasing a couple of kids? If anything, I'd make a disappearing act as soon as possible, lay low, and maybe hang elsewhere. This guy's not in the papers, so he's not trying to make a name for himself. You need to get the idea that this guy's a killer; there's no established proof that he does."

As Pendleton motioned for this girl to come sit with them, Lui could feel a glare of some kind meeting his dull gaze. Was she a friend of Pendleton? Could she be trusted with the rumor as well, or would she try prying into details he hadn't prepared? Regardless of her opinion of him, he would give a brief wave before speaking.

"Know this girl, Pen? Oh, are you letting her in on the investigation? Nice to be acquainted. Name's Lui. What's yours?"

"Apparently its too late for that," Esra spoke between mouth full of salad, "I assume this investigation isn't strictly a good idea." Given the words that she had with the principle that morning, it was clear what the lawful thing she should do about this was. Sure she might have a vested interest in what was going on, assuming it was even to do with her. Still loose lips sank ships and he'd just blundered right into giving something away to a stranger.

She was more focused on eating than talking right now, they were in the middle of something and she was not really to play any of her cards.