Trade Secrets [Psyche-Terrorist Investigation]

Larsinny was fidgeting around, both excited and eager. It wasn't a common thing for him to get a bit more involved with anything. For a long time he had to play a more supporting role for the Psyche-Terrorists that worked under him. But desperate circumstances dictated more of his effort to help what was left of the Platinum Playhouse. The demon didn't expect them to suffer from their losses to this extent. It felt like losing Helter Skelter and co. all over again, but even worse so as they had their own disturbing agendas. He shook his head to himself and snapped out of his reverie. There was a job to be done, but first he needed these kids to find him first. Thankfully it wasn't that far from the Playhouse, but it wasn't that close either. It shouldn't be far enough for them to find him as this was one of the few alleyways in this part of the Emporium Stretch.

When they did, Larsinny gave a pleasant wave at the arrivals. "'ey guys! What took y'all so long?"

Clanking footsteps marked Cecil's appearance, fully armoured and...about as ready as he could be for what was coming next. "I had thought I was on time."
How long have they been waiting?
Heading further into the alley, he took a position against one of the walls. Best not to look like he had only just arrived when the reporter got here as well. Speaking of which..."Do you know when our special guest make their appearance?"
Better not too long, obviously, but he'd still prefer a little more time to brace himself.

Unison walked into the Alleyway, or..almost drifted, her footsteps fully silent and the veil basically hiding almost all movement her legs were making as she walked and then gave a wave to the small sheep like demon, a few of her siblings still had the urge to simply pick him up and hug him like he was a plushy, but once more she simply fought that urge so that they could be professional about all this. "Greetings..." she said simply to the little sheep demon and to the armored one.


Zappa walked in as well, her foot falls not as loud as Cecils, but no where near as quiet as Unison's, and as her glowing eye looked to Larsinny she nodded, the eye then looking to Cecil and nodded again before she walked past Unison "I am ready..." she said in her robotic tone, wondering if things would work out. Thankfully if they didn't they could defend themselves at least.

"Nah, don't take that too seriously. Ya're just in tim'. So just the three of ya, huh? We can work dis out. Wait here, I'll hav' ta' lead our Guest here. She gonna be all alone being outta' here. I won' be 'round, Playhouse needs me, but be nice, a'ight?" Larsinny gave a nonchalant wave as he scurried off alone. As they saw his figure retreat into the street and away from their eyes, they could notice his trailing shadow transforming into a silhouette of a man before finally leaving as well. The tap of footsteps faded away too. For now there was only the sound of cars driving past the alleyway. But soon in that moment, someone began to approach the alleyway.

The footsteps returned again, but it was soon clear it was someone else. A woman, out of all possibilities, arrived to the scene. Even from the distance, the Psyche-Terrorist could see the mixture of apprehension and excitement on her face as she inched towards them with each step. When she finally stopped before them, she greeted them.


After so many set-backs, it almost felt remarkably surreal to be in front of them and to finally meet them. This was her night to be sure and she will cease it.

Please don't have to be the one to lead, please don't have to be the one to lead...
...Fuuuuuck.

Well, this was the moment. The reporter was right in front of them, and they had to get information out of her. Joy of joys.
Well. He had to try and make an impression, then.
Stepping away from the wall, he turned to face the reporter. He made sure to keep his voice tightly controlled, it sounding out with a metallic echo from his helmet. "We are as we are. No more, no less." Under his helmet, he quirks a brow, and tries to let that carry in his voice. "But I believe you'll not be left wanting."

Unison spoke up soon after as she looked tot he woman that had arrived "Yes We are the ones you were told to meet, we have questions for you as much as you have of use I have no doubt, I hope you understand why this meeting has to be in such a secretive place" she asked as she looked to the woman


The one glowing eye of Zappa seemed to look around, the machine seemingly on alert for the chance of anyone trying to eavesdrop on them letting the other two handle the negotiations as she simply stayed on guard in case there was any indication of people coming over, or demons coming to harm ether the reporter or they themselves as she remembered mention of the opposing forces using demons as well.

"Oh! Yes, yes! Of course! I truly understand. I'll blur out your faces during the editing if you're concerned about that sort of thing. So! Shall we start by introducing yourselves? Do you have any kind of aliases?" the woman chirped. She barely kept down her excitement as the armored Psyche-Terrorist promised her. This was indeed an opportunity she never had and it was an exhilarating moment to be here in secret. The Reporter was beginning to remember again why she followed her calling. She began to draw out a video camera, a tool of her trade. Once the red recording light began to light up, she continued in an enthused manner as she continued to hold it. "I've always been wondering, what brought you three to become Psyche-Terrorists? What brought people to want to rebel against Endymion's authorities?"

Aliases? Aliases. That...that was an obvious one, really. And yet, he hadn't actually thought of one before now. Once more, he found himself glad his expression was hidden.
"Call me Revenant." He felt a little smirk come on, the cover of the armour giving him some strength. "And by all means, blur my face." He said in an amused tone, before dropping back into a more serious one. "I'm surprised you make the offer. Would you not potentially receive trouble from your superiors, for making such concealing efforts?"
Well. Let's hope that gets us anywhere.

For all they were trying to get information out of her, they had to give her enough to hold her interest. This was an...uncomfortable situation for him. "Not everyone given the name is a rebel." He gestures outward. "It is a title earned as easily as not working for the government whilst you have skills they desire."
He folds his arms. "Which brings up a point of concern for the rest of us. After all...we should have such freedom to choose, should we not, so long as we do no harm?" He looks over to Unison and Zappa. "But that just as I say. I dare not speak for all." It was as obvious a cue as any.

Unison looked at the woman studied her, she offered to blur their faces, but they were all so radically dressed that it may not matter, however she knew from experience that their outfits hid their Identities enough as it was, then again who knows what resources the people they were working against had, every precaution should be taken.

And as the other man apparently called Revenant, spoke up she listened to what he had to say, and as he finished she looked to the girl "Before I answer I would like you to realize that we have questions as well, I would prefer an fair trade....an answer for an answer...a question for a question...as you have started I hope you have no issue with this...." she said in her rather commanding tone, not rude, but it was confident had power behind it as she spoke.

"Others call me Unison, What I call myself is for me to know, but you may use that name as well....as for blurring my face, you may do so...." she continued to study the woman as she thought of the question she asked. "Personally...it was when I learned something....something that made me question....and as I questioned one thing it led to more questions, and the answers were things I didn't like the sound of, the answers proved to twisted in their application and the intent behind them..." she said simply as she finished.

---

---

Zappa listened in as she kept an eye out, her one glowing eye scanning about as she stayed on guard, there was now only three of them, their forced having been divided by a simply outlook, a choice that would make them ether the same or different then the current forces that they faced, they had already declared their intent to harm them if they ever met, and those that joined foolishly joined a leader that proclaimed that he would kill them if they tried to leave, they rebelled one type of tyrant to join another it would seem..

Finally her attention was brought to what was going on, and as she turned her glowing eye to the woman she gazed at her with her mechanical eye "This Unit would prefer to be blurred as well....as for our name you may refer to this Unit as Zappa...." there was a quite his as some steam came out of what could be considered the mouth of the metallic head of the seeming robot in front of her, her mechanical voice ringing low and quite as to not call attention to this meeting.

"Our reasons are our own....think...what authority does the current bring? why does anyone rebel against an authority? sometimes answers are right in front of you, you have simply to look" with that she turned away again and continued to keep watch her eye scanning the area once more.

"None at all! I wouldn't be here if I wasn't willing!" The answers were flowing in and the woman nodded eagerly at them. The armored one seemed courteous enough. Though she couldn't quite say the same for the bossy one who looked like to be in bondage gear for some reason. But they were clearly interesting-looking figures that would surely get more attention. She did hesitate when Revenant mentioned about her superiors, but she smiled anyway. "No worries, Mister Revenant! This is my own personal project worked on solely by me! Now, please go on ahead! The floor is all yours!"

She listened intently to what they had to say about her earlier question. But in the end, it just boiled down to the freedom of choice for one, a dislike in the status quo though worded strangely, and the last one just being vague. The Reporter addressed Revenant. "Huh? So, if I have this right, not all of you are trying to fight the Government? That's interesting... But what do you have to say to the current status quo about the Government protecting the citizenry from you all? Do you believe it may be just a misunderstanding?"

Dammit. It seemed like he'd cut up the efforts of his partners in this effort...he might have just made things harder on themselves inadvertently.
Unlike normal, he noticed the pause in replying to his question from the reporter...but she'd moved on. He'd have to leave it...
...til now. He...might have an opening to drill in here.

A dark laugh echoes from his helmet, cold and without mirth. "They know exactly what they are doing." He moves out both hands to either side. "As I said before...you are branded for not working for them. They do not care whether you would use your skills against them...they care that they are not theirs. And so, they act against us all, whether we do harm or not."
"And do you know what makes that easier?" He points to the reporter. "It is the people of your industry. Of the media. They make demons of us, so that when the Government reaches with their grasping hand, they receive cheers instead of horror no matter the circumstance." His arm falls. "I don't blame them, of course, and certainly not you. Many have little idea. But right at the top..." He points upward. "Right at the top, the ones who runs it all collaborate to control just what people hear."

Cecil's arm falls. "And this I why I asked my question. What you are doing here is flying in the face of long established efforts to manipulate people's perceptions." Under the helmet, he fixes her with a stare, and hopes that his posture will carry the message for him. "You stand to lose far more than you know from this. Because those above you, up on high, will do away with you without a second thought if they believe you might threaten their efforts...one way, or another."
He shakes his head. "I truly admire your desire to bring truth to these matters...but I'm sure you've already heard what can happen to people, have you not? I would be surprised if you hadn't in your profession."

The footsteps trickled up and down the alleyway as Gabe managed to be the late one in this case. There was a lot of regrouping, a lot of anger, and a lot of confusion as to what he was doing with this terrorist business. He wanted to see it through, but he felt as if that the group's dwindling numbers might play against it in the end. But what of the ones who did stay with the playhouse. Wouldn't they need him?

The thought of not abandoning those people was the only thing that was keeping Gabe going for the moment, he wanted to stick with his comrades that still believed in holding their morality intact.
He was closing in on them as the talking started, he hoped that he could make it and say his peace.

"Sorry I'm late, there was a lot of things I had to do beforehand. But as you can see, by saying three, I'm guessing you were already expecting me?"

Gabe showed up in his terrorist outfit and his mask (new mask reference soon), tipping his hat towards everyone.

" Gambler Shotaro, at your service. Madame reporter, I see you managed to meet my exceptional comrades. In addition to the information that you are inquiring of us, only a full collective can help you paint the bigger picture. Our bigger picture....."

Gabe took point as he always did. It was probably his turn to talk, so he wanted to at least make a show of it in order to further milk more information from the reporter. Hopefully, the others can pick up on the social cues and think about what they want to ask that can better help the investigation.

"What exactly are you being protected from? Terrorism by definition is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. However, the citizens are not the ones in danger here from us, our actions are a reaction to injustice and prejudice by the "So-called leaders" of this city. The things that they do in secret that cause more harm than good, the lies that act as a veil to keep us ignorant, that is the real threat. The government is corrupt by refusing to take responsibility for the transgressions of those that they align themselves with or under their employment. To go against that, it's quite the gamble isn't it?"

Unison looked over to the woman asking the questions and she seemed more interested in talking to Revenant as she simply looked back to the man in armor and payed little mind to what she said, though considering the man was offering answers so freely and not getting any for themselves she wasn't to surprised that the woman would talk to the easiest access to information, He was freely handing out all the answers she wanted, and she had yet to even tell them a thing she didn't even attempt to address any one else by given name even their other companion was mostly ignored. Unison didn't see this as going well if the man continued to simply spoon feed the woman all the answers she asked for, and get none for them...

Then Revenant started to talk and he started to get cryptic, that may cause the woman to talk to her or their other ally Zappa, so it may help but the damage may have been done...she was about to say something to Revenant but then another voice cut in and Unison didn't turn to look at the source, she knew the source, but she was honestly surprised he had arrived, after the talk with the others and then the separation of the group they had just tried to make at the meeting at the play house not to long ago, she wondered what he would do from then on, though truth be told she was glad to hear from him, she didn't outwardly show it, simply letting him speak for the time being.


Zappa didn't to much mind the woman apparently not even reacting to the presence of her or the other woman, it seemed she was to busy getting all her answers from the man who was so free with giving them and gaining nothing for them to use, though that changed as she listened, though eventually she stopped listening as she returned fully to keeping an eye out, and she seen Shotaro approach, though she knew he was with them as he was not trying to hide himself and even greeted them all.

The other bit of information was that apparently The older member here, Unison, seemed to know them as she didn't seem to act surprised by his arrival, so she simply continued to keep a watch out on everything, to make sure no one else with less....cooperative intent...tried to intervene.

"You're not wrong about big cheeses having a lot of influence. We have editors who screen a lot of the things we write. I've heard writers in other departments retiring and then disappearing suddenly. I knew the turn-over rate was high. But I never thought to think it might be because they want to force such censorship and propaganda." The woman grimaced at the information and insight from Revenant provided to her. He wasn't wrong that mainstream media had such a strong appeal and even influence to the common citizen in the City. They were a valuable resource not just to its audience, but those with special interests. But she did seem surprised when he didn't blame her. There was something more to the Psyche-Terrorists than she previously thought. And significantly much more to the Government. It was upsetting, yet fascinating. "But that won't stop me. Stuff like this keeps it fresh and interesting. Intrigue is what I came to Endymion for in the first place, y'know?"

Better yet, there was a newcomer. Late, but she could care less. The more the merrier, people say. And she allowed this Shotaro to speak like the others. The Reporter found herself appreciating his viewpoint as well. Similar to Revenant, they had a view that advocated the Psyche-Terrorists, but were strongly anti-government. However, there was a kind of suave mystique around him as well. "It sounds like your lifestyle is an entire gamble, Mister Shotaro. To risk your life fighting the good fight against the oppressive Government... Then do you know what happened two nights ago at the House of Cards? I heard there was a commotion and tried to see what's that about, but the Police had it locked tight then and it was closed for... 'renovations'. I think something is fishy there."

"That seems like a hot topic that we would be happy to shed a little light on. However, in exchange, you are going to have to give us some information about the studio and the person that's in charge of this place. It's currently a place of interest, it's good to know if a professional seeker of truth like yourself has any sort of information or sketchy suspicions that resulted from your own investigations that are involved with the studio. If you are able to provide such a piece of information for us, maybe that can change our minds about how much we could be willing to share."

Gabe shared a quick glance with the others, he hoped they would stop talking for a moment and don't allow themselves to give anything else away. They needed as much as they could in order for this next heist to be successful. This time, Gabe wanted to do it properly.