Late Evening Guests [Shiina/Cecilia]

There were people who would be disappointed in the daily forecast, if it hadn't been hampered with from last night. The night was open to the light drizzle that SMILE Television initially believed was to be of the next week. But evidently, they were wrong to the disappointment and annoyance of others. As long as nobody stayed out for too long, they would remain relatively dry. It was usually best not to tempt fate. But what the two Cadets were doing was a different thing entirely.

It wasn't a complicated matter to reach the site of the explosion. There was nothing to be lost in when inside the Camping Grounds, especially when the entire area was more or less just a bunch of empty plains with a bare amount of trees that rarely anyone hung around. A ring of yellow police tape created a parameter around what appeared to be an abandoned building, the decommissioned former space the Camping Grounds employees once used. There were reasons for abandoning, but none relevant to what was to be had tonight.

What the Cadets could probably notice upon entering premises was a completely silent and empty space devoid of activity. But if they took the time to tour the entire area around the building, they would notice a gaping hole on the roof allowing the moonlight and drizzle to fill in. The size was too large to be some kind of normal mishap. There was an entrance as far as they can perceive through the weather and the moonlight. A dilapidated wooden door that was open ajar as if beckoning them to enter inside.

As if all the pain and anxiety associated with the meeting, Raidou, and even her discussion with Maxwell hadn't been enough, it seemed now that the world was deciding to rain on her parade even further. Literally. Still, Cecilia would remain relatively optimistic about it, thankful if nothing else that she'd been toting around her hood the entire day. The rainwater bounced off her sweatshirt quietly as she pushed herself off the seat and scanned the abandoned(?) crime scene with quiet intrigue. "Even ignoring what happened here I can't say blame them. Hell, even for terrorists or Demons this'd be a crummy hangout spot... This place is ridiculously eerie." She commented aloud as she furrowed her brows at it. Deep down she knew it was probably just the mixture of the damages, tape, and time... but knowing that still didn't offset the bad vibes this place was giving off. This was the first time the Cadet was visiting it, so there was no clear frame of reference for how the building and the surrounding vicinity had changed in atmosphere following the incident. She could only look at it for it what it was now and, well, what it was now was a glorified trash heap. Certainly not a place befitting her fair city.


Ducking underneath the police tape without pause, the girl would continue walking up to the doors and stop in front of them. After looking around the general area for a bit as to survey her surroundings, she'd slowly turn around and lean back against the wooden entrance, being as careful as possible not to make a sound as she did so. Checking her phone and putting it to vibrate, she'd place it back into her pocket and cross her arms as she did her best to keep an eye out for anyone approaching the area.

As Shiina began to peer inside through the hole, she would notice there seemed to be some kind of stage inside accompanied with a dirt clearing. But, as the moonlight began to suggest with its gentle light, there didn't seem to be anyone inside. There was certainly what appeared to be debris and paraphernalia down under, but it was hard to tell what exactly it were from the distance. But there seemed to be some kind of faint glinting on the dirt ground below. Shiina could also begin to notice something peculiar about the roof. It was damaged in a manner as if it was penetrated through from the outside, but what exactly cause this was maybe difficult to theorize. Save for the fact that it had to be something big and there didn't seem to be any kind of burn or singe marks around the edges of the hole.

Truth be told, Cecilia didn't exactly have anything in her repertoire that'd prove useful for that sort of task. But she wasn't going to admit that so readily; if there was a will, there was a way, and her mind was already formulating possibilities for keeping the place on lockdown. Dropping her arms from her chest and letting them fall casually to the sides of the door, she'd touch the surface with her hand and as she began to push off would secrete a rapidly expanding pool of blood onto it which would cover the exterior end completely, uttering a silent prayer of thanks as the substance faded from sight and she began to wander around the nearby vicinity keeping an eye out for anyone (or anything) of note. The viscous liquid would render the door unbreakable and incredibly rigid for a time, sticking to the lock as well and binding it even further to the rest of the object, though ultimately she was aware it could only do so much to keep out interlopers. There were limits to it, and well... limits to how she was willing to use it.

Meanwhile walking around the sides of the building and keeping an eye out for anything noteworthy, Cecilia would do her best to ensure no one was approaching the area from any angle. If she found other entryways she could see about applying blood to them as well, but for now it was more important that she just kept an eye out. She wouldn't venture too far from the frontal entrance though... assuming she didn't spot anything unusual that is. While she was searching primarily for people, if a particular object or detail stood out then she was open to investigating it further. After all if they were serious about this then they needed to leave no stone unturned.

Action:

As Shiina descended from the roof and unto the dirt ground, there was debris everywhere from the roof. However, there lay a series of what looked like bent lead bullet tips. They were deformed as if something was attempting to cut into them strangely enough... as if to swat them to the side. To a distance away, there were specks of what appeared to be dried blood. Even slightly further away, a piece of ripped kimono with a modest pink design. Perhaps the most interesting of all was the number of footprints imprinted on the ground as if signifying a large group was once in here. While Shiina was still on the clearing with the footprints and all such evidence, the stage was empty with some debris of its own.


Meanwhile, Cecilia wouldn't find much in the way of entrances as she meandered around for any openings. However, she would notice someone approaching in the distance. The sound of footsteps signaled it was only one person. It would be difficult to tell exactly what they were at a certain distance. But as they got closer, it appeared to be a man approaching Cecilia with confidence and with purpose. He appeared to be an uniformed individual with what appeared to be a sheathed katana on his hip.

Spinning around to face the figure, Cecilia's heartbeat would quicken and she'd curse under her breath in conjunction with Shiina's own complaint, quietly grumbling just as their minds linked together and the Wild Card announced her displeasure. The girl instinctively reached down toward her pocket before anything was said, but the continued dialogue on the other side would cause her hand to stop, the Cadet waiting for the man to finish approaching her and using the time to communicate with Shiina mentally. "I know this area is pretty close to the Outer Rim... Maybe he's a Cadet from there? But you'd think they'd have more people guarding this place." She sighed internally. In truth, she wasn't sure what to think of this situation; it was full of oddities and the way it was addressed (or seemingly the lack of a response) left her scratching her head in confusion. Was there something she was missing? Why was it that they, first-class Cadets, wouldn't know about an incident like this? They'd been trusted with far greater information so...

...no. It wasn't worth pondering over. They knew what they needed to. Though if that was the case then perhaps coming here was a mistake, perhaps her visit to the detective's office was a mistake (a thought that'd been resting quietly at the back of her head throughout all this). But it couldn't be, could it? She trusted the government with all her heart, otherwise she wouldn't have joined it in the first place, and yet simultaneously she knew how fragile the peace it protected was... or how fragile it felt in any event. They were viewpoints that proved oddly conflicting, oddly difficult to try and reconcile, ones which she could only do her best to crush down and push aside. Thankfully Shiina's instructions would draw her back to reality though and as her gaze focused in on the man she'd pull out her badge and raise it to greet him. Simultaneously she'd draw on Ms. Cherri's teachings as best as she could at the moment, forcing a personable yet still somewhat stern smile to her face, a look that'd hopefully prove accommodating without sacrificing authority or so-called professionalism.


"I'm Cadet Cecilia. My partner Shiina and I are surveying the area; she's inside the building. There was talk around the city of explosions happening in this area a few days ago, so we decided to check it out. A lot of unreliable hearsay gets peddled around the districts, but it's better to be safe than sorry. That being said, could you identify yourself sir? What's your business here tonight?"

The man narrowed his eyes, as if trying to scrutinize something from Cecilia's face. She seemed ultimately familiar. But when the girl introduced herself as a Cadet, it easily clicked in that connection. What were Cadets even doing here at this dead end middle of the night? His guard relaxed, though cautiously as he began to adopt a seemingly disarming smile. "Cadets, huh...? I wondered where I've seen you before. They call me Geirin, Geirin Kuzunoha. You could say we work for the same boss, but I work independently from you guys. I didn't think the Lamecia's were interested enough in this dump when they're more concerned for the inner city... Oh well. I wanted to check if there were any clues left going on to find this Heretic. My investigations afterwards didn't quite turn up much. Did you both by chance find something? And why don't you tell Shiina to come out here and introduce herself? I would like to see the esteemed Tsurinai in the flesh."

Working independently for the queen? It wasn't the most outlandish assertion, but it seemed strange, strange and convenient. Her brows almost instinctively furrowed in suspicion, however, she'd keep her current expression affixed to her face until the rush of doubt died down enough to make that a non-issue. At the very least he'd given them a name (one that seemed to stand out for some reason to Shiina) and that made it more trustworthy than a simple assurance alone; after all, they had a label to attach to this face now, and it was one that they could check the validity of through Julius or maybe even records in the Bibliotheca. There was the possibility of it being a pseudonym but...


Before she could catch her tongue she'd already blurted out the realization in a fit of plentifully evident shock. Her face contorted in surprise, her eyes even flickering gold for a split second like suddenly malfunctioning lights, the Cadet stopping just shy of being taken aback so literally as to lose her footing and stumble rearward. The Kuzuwhatsits worked for the queen?! She'd figured the business was government sanctioned of course, otherwise she wouldn't have set foot in there, but working directly with the royal family? Why wasn't that shit on the flyers? Business would be booming with that kind of reputation! It raised all sorts of questions about who that woman (and who this man) really were and concerns to go along with it. On one hand, it was good to know for sure that the information was in the hands of a fellow servant of Isla, especially with all these post-transaction doubts she'd been having... but on the other, did that mean she'd be getting reported? Geirin said they worked independently from Class Zero, or at least that he did, but would that at all stop them from filing a quick notice to the prince? Surely there had to be some kind of obligations regarding that sort of thing, right? Either way she needed to focus for now. Panicking would get her nowhere: if the pieces were falling so well into place then she needed to trust that everything would turn out alright. At the very least nothing good could come of dwelling on such feelings; she'd already let her emotions get the better of her in the morning and she didn't plan on letting it happen again. Continuing this display wasn't an option.

Clearing her throat and silently pummeling the shock down into minor jittering, Cecilia thanked Isla as Shiina came to the rescue with her introduction, for the most part rescuing the conversation from potentially spiraling into some awkward territory. Not that it was necessarily damning, but still, she wasn't exactly eager to get dissected by a detective if for some reason that surprise came off as suspicious... and she especially didn't want this day to continue even further down into the gutter with some silly revelation like it just being a coincidence that the two shared a surname or her having misremembered Raidou's in the first place. And regardless, while there were some other interesting details about Geirin like what appeared to be prior knowledge of Shiina, it was better for them to use this time to discuss what they actually came here for. The talk of this Heretic was definitely more important than their personal concerns and the Tsurinai seemed all too inclined to agree judging by the voice in her head.

"A Heretic, huh? Boy can I understand that. We've been dealing with plenty of em' inside the city. Is it another Psyche Terrorist? I'm guessing they'd have to be one for the scuffle to leave a mark like that." She'd say pointing a thumb back at the hole in the roof. "If it was one I wonder if he was trying to set up shop for a Domain here... Tch. I guess no matter where you go, rats love their burrows."

The smile fell and what appeared to be derisive distaste weaved through the expression of his face at the mention of Raidou Kuzunoha. There was no helping someone knew about her, but it didn't make the matter wasn't one he liked all the same. But there was no need to mistreat these kids. No need to make any trouble for himself. He was back to his smile, though less genuine than last time. "Yeah, I guess you could say something like that. She's more responsible for the inner city as I am for the outer rim."

It didn't take long for the Tsurinai to appear. He easily detected where she was and followed her path of entry to the scene. The Kuzunoha raised an impressed eyebrow at how easily she got up from such a high altitude back down to the ground. But, he didn't hold that for long as there was business to discuss with her. At first he figured there was no need to share anything. But, he was starting his activities in the City. It was for the best to give them a polite heads-up since they were vaguely co-workers in a way. He began to address Shiina. "I am. You've heard of the recent rumors of people becoming suddenly unresponsive and declared medically in a vegetative state, I'm sure. People becoming like unresponsive dolls. This Psyche-Terrorist--No, maybe you can't call him that. But people call him 'Heretic'. He was targeting Persona-Users. Psyche-Terrorists, Cadets. Either side didn't seem to matter for him. Though Psyche-Terrorists seem to be nabbed the most. His activities took place in my area of work for a while. But recently, the movement on his part began to decrease after I exposed his little cult following here on that night when I had to track down an Outer Rim Cadet who disappeared suddenly from work. He was my original task to begin with, but I think you can imagine my surprise when Heretic was involved. If you couldn't find anything here tonight, then I'm afraid he's finally moved his activities into the City... What a slippery bastard."

Though when Cecilia mentioned about the roof, he winced. The Kuzunoha sheepishly began to scratch the back of his head. "Oh... that. Uh, that was me. His cultists were blocking up the path so I couldn't exactly reach him at the stage through the entrance like anyone. At the time, he was about to turn the Outer Rim Cadet into a vegetative state just after he dealt with a Psyche-Terrorist he captured in front of everyone to show his power. Desperate situations called for desperate measures. So I interrupted his little ceremony from above, but he managed to escape before I could capture him."

That made sense. Her base of operations was inside the city, so it was easy to connect the dots and conclude she primarily operated there. Still, it was strange to think that the government was hiring private investigators on the side, especially when such souls would no doubt make a great addition to Class Zero. She remained unsure of how to feel about that.

Turning people into vegetables though? How abhorrent... What was it with Psyche Terrorists and destroying people's minds? Though the man seemed to disagree with that label, a matter she wouldn't deign to comment on, instead keeping her thoughts on it to herself. It was just a matter of semantics, nothing of true importance, though as far as she was concerned there wasn't any need for a distinction: he used supernatural powers to terrorize people and defy the queen's Order. That made him a Psyche Terrorist just as it made his contemporaries Heretics all the same; whether or not the wolves fought amongst themselves made no difference. In any event, there were more interesting things afoot then word games, something Shiina picked up on and relayed to Cecilia. "...A Demon Summoner, huh? Are you sure the queen would employ people like that?" She'd never heard the term before, but it was obviously pretty self-explanatory, prompting an undertone of disgust to the mentally conveyed words... yet not one as potent as one might usually expect from Cecilia. She did naturally prefer enslaving and repurposing Demons to outright killing them, not to mention she worked well with people like Maria who wielded them as weapons, but neither of those two factors were really responsible. Ultimately either way, she still had plenty reason to despise the abominable creatures and so even if she saw pragmatic value in the practice, it was still inevitably going to leave a bit of a sour taste in her mouth. Maybe it was because of the term though. Summoners sounded far too ambivalent for her liking, far too ambiguous... Perhaps that was how Geirin felt about the Heretic being referred to a Psyche Terrorist.


"Is that so? Well, no need to be embarrassed about it! If it was done to save people then who gives a crap about a little property damage? A roof can be fixed, but you can't glue together a mind so easily. I'm sure that Cadet's really grateful to you." Her tone was reassuring and she was clearly happy to hear he'd saved one of their own, though there was a hint of sadness to it, albeit not one attributable to any fault of the Kuzunoha. She didn't exactly have any love for terrorists, especially in light of recent events, but even so they were human... or had some spark of humanity in them beneath those masks at least. A spark that could've been salvaged, could've been saved like they'd done for Sera or Shin, for so many people infected by those self-destructive rebellious tendencies. Snuffing it out like that was unfortunate; maybe it was better than outright killing them, but rehabilitation could've made them so much better, got them into the corps or back into a normal life. After a sigh however, she found herself nodding in agreement with Shiina, her focus shifting back to the greater issue at hand. She'd already seen so much; she couldn't stop and cry crocodile tears over every individual casualty. This Heretic had other targets than Psyche Terrorists and if he was truly in the inner city then that meant her comrades were at risk too: short of dealing with forces like Infinite Jest, the stakes couldn't be higher.

Relevant(?) Strengths/Weaknesses: