Fantasy Noah's Ark | IC [CLOSED]

[Nano]

GMnano

CO-GMlebirb

in character

noah’s ark

"I am dead because I lack desire; I lack desire because I think I possess; I think I possess because I do not try to give; In trying to give, you see that you have nothing; Seeing that you have nothing, you try to give of yourself; Trying to give of yourself, you see that you are nothing; Seeing that you are nothing, you desire to become; In desiring to become, you begin to live." (Rene Daumal)

“To them, we are monsters disguised as humans.”

overview

the storyi

Birth, Life, and Death. That is the cycle that this world’s laws act upon which not even humanity can overwrite. Or can they?

Frantically, while scribbling away to find some sort of purpose, people grasp at the pages which have long run out. Drawing their last breath, their final chapter is written into oblivion, and what’s left behind is only a cesspool of regrets. That is, until a strong will towards life heeds death’s invitation to the next hidden chapter.

Some simply wake up and move on with their mundane lives; others find that the world is no longer quite so ordinary—you being part of the latter. Is it a new power stirring within you? Is it something seemingly paranormal hanging about in the air? Whatever the case, you all find yourselves drawn to “Noah’s Ark” in the end, or perhaps it’s the other way around.

You have questions. Noah’s Ark has the answers. “Elegies,” they call people such as yourself. You are one of the select few who return from the brink of death, wielding your strongest regret in the form of a special ability. However, this phenomenon isn’t always a gift: those who fall prey to their regrets become lifeless, hollow abominations. And Noah’s Ark is tasked with two missions. The first is to keep these “failed” Elegies from the eyes of mankind, and the second is to find the source of their powers itself.

code by Nano

 

[Nano]

▌Chapter 1: Flicker

“A candle is a living, flickering light. It can easily be blown out. As we watch a candle burn we see the wax diminish. It melts away - a symbol for life.” —Gunilla B. Norris

- - - - - - -​

Date: Friday, June 26th
Location: Noah’s Ark Café
Time: 1PM
Weather: Sunny (83°F)​

Expressing its summer spirit, the Sun sat at its zenith, warming the streets below while periodically ducking behind a stray cloud to relieve the air of its scorching rays before the temperature could become too stifling to bear. In response to the fair weather, the loud chirping of cicadas cried over the footfalls of the pedestrians milling about. Businessmen and students alike crowded the streets, whether they be on their lunch breaks or enjoying the beginnings of their summer vacations. Occasionally, some of the more aimless drifters found their eyes drawn to the brightly smiling face of a large white dog sitting within the shade of a certain café’s awning. Upon meeting its eyes for a few seconds, the dog would bark at the passerby, as if inviting them inside. Then, satisfied with the number of potential customers it had successfully roped in with its endearing puppy eyes, the self-proclaimed poster dog stood, shook itself, and padded back into the café.

In contrast to the sticky air outside, the inside of the café was cooled down to a far more refreshing degree. The interior, decorated with a variety of plants which complimented the earthy tones of the walls and furniture, was split into two main areas. The front of the store featured a long counter facing the cafe’s large window and a few loose tables for those who wished to focus on eating or studying. To the side of the register and serving area, a modest pair of double, half-sized swinging doors separated the dining area from the “play pen,” the section of the café dedicated to playing or relaxing with the various animals staffing the café. Compared to the front half of the café, the back room was furnished with smaller and less tables and set up beanbags and couches in place of chairs and stools. Food was permitted in the area but limited to drinks, snacks, and smaller dishes such as sandwiches.

Even without Chase the Samoyed’s schemes to increase the café’s flow of customers, the café was already bustling with activity. Since its establishment ten years ago, the summer months had always been the busiest season, hosting both vacationing locals and tourists. However, the atmosphere of the dining area was unusually charged in comparison to the playpen. A majority of the customers gossipped at a volume just low enough that their words were obscured from the ears of the wait staff. If one listened closely, phrases such as “that’s terrible” and “who would do such a thing” could barely be made out in passing. One particularly emotional customer, however, prattled on to her friend complete with dramatic gesticulation as the pair waited for their drinks and lunch orders.

“I was shocked when- What was the school’s name again? East Ryde? Hasn’t it been the fourth time already? How is it that the police haven’t caught that person yet?” she said. When her friend held a finger to her mouth as a signal to lower her volume, the teen coughed and looked over her shoulder nervously. To her relief, the other customers were too engaged in their own conversations or mobile devices to pay attention to her outburst. In the first place, many of the other discussions mirrored the girl’s own, perhaps adding on a few details and rumors here and there. After all, it wasn’t an everyday occurrence that an arsonist would attack a single school repeatedly. It was even stranger that there was never any conclusive evidence found to determine who or how the explosions had occurred.

To the expectations of some of the Noah’s Ark staff, the sound of a bell chime rang out as a familiar woman walked into the café with a manila envelope in hand. When she caught the gaze of one of the workers, said worker gave her a curt nod, a signal that the Manager was present in the café. Without a word, the woman, Karen, cooly made her way upstairs.

It was a new case from Babel, likely one that was related to the rumors that had been floating about recently.

 

[Alteras]

Alex Fayfield

LOCATION Noah's Ark

INTERACTIONS Rosie ( A Murder Of Corviknight ) Karen. Open to Interactions

CS

Alex walked around serving the adorable lattes and hotdogs. Swiping a dish from the counter and replacing it with another order, she maneuvered her way through the tables and chairs to the customers. Each step seemed to be in rhythm to the soft background music of the cafe. Her notes remained as gray silhouettes fading in and out around the cafe, giving her a sense of security. Her facial expression was a neutral, if not somewhat glaring expression, but her motions displayed a laid back attitude. The day started off well! It was a Friday, she woke up well enough, and the customers weren't being pushy.

Well, not that they could be. It seems that they're more focused on gossiping about the latest hearsay. Serving an order of coffee, she overheard the pair of particularly loud girls. Another troublemaker out there it seems. Maybe it's another case. Alex silently hoped. Not that she could help it, the record shop near her place was about to get some new albums from the far east, and she needed some extra money. The last time she tried to get foreign imports with only her waitress salary, she had to cut back on trips to the arcade for the month. She took a step offbeat and looked around the cafe.

Ah... the noise is starting to get a bit too loud. Better find another song and play just a bit louder. Alex turned on her heel, picked up empty coffee mugs, and walked towards the counter at the back.

"Nightbird or Closing Time? It's getting a bit too loud here." She asked Rosie as she placed down the mugs before reaching for her trusty iPod behind the counter. As she flicked through the various songs in there, the bell at the door chimed. Looking up, she saw the ever mysterious and somewhat annoying Karen. Giving a quick nod to her, Alex turned back to her iPod.

"Looks like we might have a case," she muttered to Rosie.

FontsFonts Coded by Alteras

 

[voracity]

THEA

1PM - NOAH'S ARK

Just in time. With a hair tie in her mouth, Thea begins to gather her hair as she shuffles behind the baristas hard at work, serving those who were in need of NA's finest drinks to stave off the summer heat. As she pulls her hair through the last loop, her arm bumps against Enoch's shoulder, "sorry about that," she gasps, hurrying to get out of their way. With four baristas moving about, there wasn't really much space for her to be dilly dallying. Unlike Thea though, Jane seems to be well aware that she needed to move fast through the gauntlet that was the middling space between the baristas ... and left Thea with only a hastily performed high-five to celebrate their changing of shifts.

She wasn't one to let small details like this deter her mood though. With a quiet hum, she quickly secures her apron across her hips, checking that she was equipped with everything necessary to tend to both humans and animals on her person before she steps into the oddly peaceful play pen. A quick headcount revealed that all were accounted for ... except for one. Thea was just ready to turn on her heel and search high and low for the Samoyed, especially if he found his way under the tables, but there before her feet sat the missing Samoyed in question, peering up at her with the happiest of smiles.

Cocking her head and raising one eyebrow, Thea rests her hands at her hips as she addresses Chase with half-hearted exasperation, "up to no good again?" An indignant bark is quickly made in reply. At this, Thea kneels down and grins, "oh? Hard at work then, are we? Thank you, Chase," she praises, before stepping aside to allow the dog into the playpen. Before he was allowed to bounce about though, Thea has him sitting beside the doors. Pulling out a white fluffy towel from her apron pocket, she begins to clean the proffered paw.

When she motions for Chase to turn around, so that she could reach for his hind legs, she sees a familiar face among the few people in here at the hour. "Look who it is!" She gasps at Chase in a playful manner, just loud enough hopefully to catch the attention of the young man a few ways away from them. "I think one of your favorite friends is back, make sure you say 'hello', Chase," Thea chuckles, patting the Samoyed's back - letting him know that he was free. And boy, did he take that job seriously. Though mindful of his rather fluffy-proportions, Chase still made the decision to butt into Emiyn, twice even. Because he was a good boy. And once the pleasantries were exchanged, he bounced off towards the bunnies.

Thea herself also spared a moment, waving to the young man, but her attention was quickly stolen when she saw Eeve walk past the unclosed doors. Stepping out quickly, she tapped on the waitress's shoulder, smiling in greeting, "is Luca out today? Nothing on you and the wait staff, but it looks like we're moving slower than usual ... what's up with that?" She asked, peering at the busy bodies all over the dining portion of the cafe with some degree of concern.

TAGS: Cryptids Quark Hella Downweather

 

[A Murder Of Corviknight]

Busy as the day was, Rosie hummed a quick greeting to Thea as she scooted past her and the rest of the baristas behind the bar. She moved onto finish off her current order, a delivery apparently, only to quietly grumble in annoyance when she realized the chocolate syrup pump chose to be empty with that last order. After carefully canning and packing up the delivery order for pick up, she slid the order over to the waiting (Uber? GrubHub?) driver before tackling the task of refilling the chocolate syrup.

Instead of asking the other equally busy baristas, Rosie slid her hand under the counter and discretely had a new bag neatly fly into her hand after weaving through a few legs and cabinet doors. Without a pause, the barista took the bag of chocolate syrup and quickly started to disassemble the container for the chocolate syrup. She did look up from her scrubbing of the pump in the cafe-bar sink when Alex slid over to ask which song she would prefer to be changed to next.

Rosie paused scrubbing the syrup pump to tap the sink before answering, “Closing Time sounds good.”

She ignored the bell of the door, trusting the cashiers or waitresses to take care of it, to put the clean but wet container and its components to the side to dry. She only looked up once the blonde next to her mentioned that they may have another case. The infamous (for their employees) Karen swept past and headed to the back. The moment the woman was out of sight, Rosie made a face but kept any comments about the woman to herself.

“It’s probably about the arson case at East Ryde High School. Or that case about the locked room murder in downtown from last week. I heard that one was solved yesterday though…”

One semi-violent stab into a stubborn bag of chocolate syrup later, Rosie had a reassembled and functional container of chocolate syrup in her hands. Before she headed over to pass the container to whoever needed it, Rosie paused and looked back at Alex.

“Is there a new rare plushie you need or a new album?”

------------------​

NAME. Rosalind “Rosie” Berne
OBJECTIVE. ???
MOOD. Calm
NOTES. Anyone who is a cashier or barista is free to drop in. < w >
TAGGED. Alteras

 

[Dawnsx]

The café was bustling with customers, and Aria worked quietly to dish out the endless drink orders. She'd gotten used to the busy lunch hours, but business was thriving more than ever now that they've hit the beginning of summer vacation. If it was like usual, she would have easily lost herself in the chatters of the customers and the familiar routine of drink-making. But there was an edge to the café's atmosphere today, and everyone seemed extra invested in their mealtime conversations. Aria absently pressed herself to the counter to allow some space for Thea to pass through, straining her ears in hopes of catching whatever topic had caught the interest of their customers today. Aside for something about East Ryde and the police, it was impossible to make out anything else.

...Eavesdropping was probably unprofessional in the workplace.

Aria sheepishly returned her focus back to the order at hand. If their customers were talking about some important news, she'd catch wind of it eventually anyway. Just as she was about to melt back into her work bubble, she caught sight of a familiar woman entering the café.

Her name was... Ah, Karen? Aria had only seen the woman a handful of times, and only when there were new cases from Babel. She quickly lowered her head to avoid making eye contact, but Karen was already on her way upstairs, no doubt with another case. Anything and anyone related to Babel still felt a little intimidating to Aria. It was a surreal reminder that she worked at a café with ties to the government, alongside other people with strange powers like hers.

As Alex came over to the counter, Aria awkwardly ducked behind Rosie as if using the older barista as a human barricade. She'd learned over time that Alex's neutral expression just seemed to resemble a glare, but it didn't make her any less intimidating. Aria clumsily put the drink in her hand through the canner to cover up her rude gesture as she listened in on their conversation.

Alex and Rosie seemed to have reached the same conclusion that Karen must have brought along a new case. The topic of East Ryde popped up, and something about arson. Huh, so that must be what the customers were talking about... Aria's mind couldn't help but drift to their fiery coworker in the kitchen before she hastily waved off the thought. Vincent was a nice person and definitely didn't deserve any misplaced suspicions. Probably.

After a mental apology to Vincent, Aria perked up at the mention of plushies. She peeked her head out from behind Rosie and looked at Alex with curious eyes.

"Um... Miss Alex, you collect plushies?" Aria asked softly, after a moment of hesitation. She fiddled with the hem of her apron and wondered if the question came out a little judge-y. She quickly added, "I, ah... Plushies are nice! I make my own plushies sometimes!"

A Murder Of Corviknight Alteras

 

[Hella Downweather]

They were completely swamped.

And Evee wholeheartedly blamed the cute animals for it. How the hell could they be so cute day after day, when even Aria was not on that level! She didn’t even have the time to chat with regulars, as the brunette was waltzing from table to table, making sure to flash a smile to everyone. After all, being busy wasn’t an excuse for not being at her top in terms of customer service!

Plus, if they tipped her well….it would mean more funds to her video game fund.

So with her uniform perfectly in place, her hair loosely tied up in a messy bun, she was navigating between the tables, making sure to bring everyone’s drink in a timely fashion. What was once hard to do without touching or bothering anyone was now a routine, and the brunette had a few different routes planned in her head to maximize her walking time. Soon enough, her little notepad, lovingly adorned with penguins stickers, was full of orders again.

Time to hit up the baristas again!

Seeing that Rosie was busy fiddling with the chocolate syrup pump, Evee oriented her attention to one of her favourite barista, Enoch. It was the time to deliver her long list of orders :

"Hey! I got another big order if you have time! Table 3 needs a ristretto with an animal art latte, table 4 asked for a hot chocolate and the window side asked for a cappuccino and two milk foam tea. Got it written down if you need it. Thank you! You are awesome!"

Giving her friend the sheet with the items written down, the tornado named Evee made her way to the kitchen, as she still needed to give the food order to the staff behind. Quickly spotting Vincent, she made her way towards her younger coworker, her trusty notepad still out and ready to give the rest of her orders.

"I hope you are not completely dead yet Vincent! Because table 3 asked for two Owl-topped pancake sets and I need a hot dog combo for table 4. Good luck! And don’t worry, we’re almost through lunch hour!"

She waited for Vincent to confirm he had heard everything before stepping out, having one last destination to take care of in her usual round. But as she made her way towards the playpen, she quickly spotted their infrequent visitor. Great...more work! And they were already swamped...As she saw that Alex was taking care of the woman, the brunette made her way to the playpen. Almost immediately, she was accosted by Thea. Sighing, she answered her question :

"Luca should start his shift any minute now but yeah...we are so swamped it’s not even funny. Every time somebody leaves, two more people enter...Honestly, I blame Chase...he’s too good at his job...Did you just start your shift?"

Interactions : voracity SilverBlack Cryptids

 

[Cryptids]

The warm, sunny afternoon found Enoch pausing in his usual rhythm at the café. He’d already served up plenty of drinks decorated with foam dogs, cats, and even a little polar bear. Now that only one drink remained to be made from the last surge of orders, he wanted to use the extra minute or so before the next rush to experiment. Ever since seeing a latte foam hedgehog design online, Enoch couldn’t get his mind off giving it a try. The trick was getting the snout to look natural.

He was sure the woman waiting at the counter wouldn’t mind.

With practiced movements, he dolloped some foam on top of the hot coffee to form the animal’s body. As he worked, he glanced towards the crowded tables. It was impossible not to notice the low buzz in the air as customers spoke in hushed tones, leaning forward over plates and mugs to show each other their phone screens, which presumably displayed articles and photos. Enoch couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it didn’t take much to guess that whatever had happened wasn’t good. A particularly loud teenager confirmed that theory moments later.

Enoch lowered his eyes back to the hedgehog-in-progress, feeling a pang of sympathy. A school, police, the culprit still at large...He knew it was unrealistic to hope that, whatever was going on, no one had been injured. He did anyway.

Shaking his head, he forced himself to refocus on the task at hand. Spooning more foam, Enoch carefully began to form the most critical component of the creature: the long, narrow snout. He was just scraping the shape into perfection when Thea passed in a flurry of activity, bumping into his shoulder. And, just like that, the spoon gouged the whole snout off.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Enoch automatically replied to his co-worker’s apology, staring down at his maimed creation. Where the hedgehog once had a face, it now sported an unsightly dent.

Maybe...it could be salvaged? The woman at the counter briefly looked up with a searching expression any barista knew all too well. No time to redo it from the beginning. With a couple more dollops of foam, a bit of chocolate, and a quick maneuver of the spoon, Enoch concentrated on fixing the blob, attempting to form it into some kind of cat.

After a few moments, he surveyed his handiwork.

Well...cats came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. At least it looked happy.

As Enoch was debating scraping the whole thing off, after all, a familiar voice caught his attention. Evee approached with her trademark penguin-themed notepad, heralding the next onslaught of orders. Once she’d finished listing off the various drinks and their destinations, Enoch nodded.

“Coming right up,” he said. At her addition of “you are awesome” at the end, he gave a small smile.

Right. The blob-cat would have to do. Enoch took the order and slid it across the counter to the awaiting woman, attempting to suppress a wince as he did so. While he was there, he caught sight of a familiar face heading for the back. The snippet of conversation Enoch had heard earlier flickered through his mind; that couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

Rosie’s voice drew his attention as he moved back to his station. “Arson? Is that what everyone is talking about?” he asked in a concerned tone, grabbing a mug for the latte. Already he was beginning to slip back into the familiar rhythm of his work. This time, he wouldn't try to experiment with the foam art. A classic grinning dog would do the job.

 

[Alteras]

Alex Fayfield

LOCATION Noah's Ark

INTERACTIONS Rosie ( A Murder Of Corviknight ) Aria ( Dawnsx ) Enoch ( Cryptids )

CS

"Closing Time it is..." Alex flicked through the songs list until she reached one that had a plate and some ingredients for its album cover. She waited for the current song to finish before playing the new one. Even if she couldn't hear the current one over the sound of the customers, it was a cardinal sin to stop a song in the middle.

"From what I picked up, its the arson. Though as for the culprit..." Alex sent a sideways glance in the direction of the kitchen.

Before the glance could even last a second, she returned to focusing on the music. After a moments pause, she finally pressed play, raised the volume, and looked back up. With the calming sounds playing above the noise of the cafe, everything seemed to quiet down a bit. Satisfied with the new noise level, she turned back to see Aria hiding behind Rosie.

In the few proper interactions Alex has had with Aria, she's come to realize that she isn't... errr... "emotionally resilient," as Rosie put it. When they first met, Rosie kept shaking her head at every word Alex was about to say to Aria. It took a while, but eventually Alex had understood that Aria was not the same type of 'children' that she knew from the arcade.

"Album, not plushie." Alex replied back, though, looking at the girl hiding behind Rosie, she quickly added on some more of an explanation. "Light Night Beat DX by Hachimitsu-Lemon, good deep house music... Comes with a nice artbook..."

Hopefully that was fine??? Whatever, Enoch is here to save me. Alex placed down her iPod and turned to her fellow waiter. "Ya, arson. The gossip is a bit strong this time around. From the sound of it, police still hasn't found the cause yet."

FontsFonts Coded by Alteras

 

[A Murder Of Corviknight]

Rosie glanced back at the girl hiding behind her and wondered if she should correct the misunderstanding that took place. She probably should have mentioned if it was a new arcade machine, as most of the new plushies that Alex coincidentally wins tend to be exchanged into someone else’s hands. In the end, she mentally shrugged as Alex had answered Aria in the end. Instead, Rosie absentmindedly patted the pink-haired girl on the head for her bravery and turned to the others.

“Hnn...hopefully Babel doesn’t get the wrong idea and think it’s one of us,” she commented, glancing in the general direction of the kitchen. “The timing of the incidents don’t really match up with our usual daily activities. ...Other than Tom. But...let’s just say Tom doesn’t know how to operate a lighter or match. Not to mention none of us really have a motivator to set a school on fire…

“Even if someone did hate school enough to set it on fire...all the incidents were done at night. Isn’t it usually in the morning to make a statement?” she added in the end before moving to help with the orders. She set the chocolate syrup container down on the shelving unit with the other syrups and quickly wiped down the area next to Enoch. Her shift was supposed to end in an hour. But it was starting to look like she wouldn’t get to go home early tonight...

------------------​

NAME. Rosalind “Rosie” Berne
OBJECTIVE. Pre-investigation briefing
MOOD. rip her free time, she wanted to have cake for dessert
NOTES. ???
TAGGED. Alteras | Dawnsx | Cryptids

 

[Nano]

» Luciano Bianchi

『 TAGGED 』 Hella Downweather Alteras SilverBlack

The moment the doors of the subway train opened, Luca squeezed his way through the crowd of fellow passengers and made a mad dash for the staircase. Adrenaline carried him up two flights, through the terminal, and down a couple blocks, but his lungs began to develop a dull ache by the time the cafe’s banner entered his sight. While wiping away the sweat that stuck uncomfortably to his skin, the brunette muttered lightly under his breath. Thea’s words rang truer than ever. However, even after five years with Noah’s Ark, he continuously failed to put her suggestions that he work out more to practice. His lack of stamina cried out louder with every mission and late train.

Gulping in the welcoming, cool air that washed over him as he walked into the cafe, Luca quickly brought his labored breathing back under control. A single look at his watch informed him that he was a whole ten minutes late. Fortunately, he’d already texted the Manager about his situation.

“Sorry, there was a delay,” Luca apologized, directing his words particularly towards the waitstaff. The brunette was about to ask how Alice and Vincent were holding out in the kitchen but noticed the crowded tables within the cafe. Judging that it was better to hurry and get to work, he gave a quick wave to greet Thea and the baristas and scurried onwards to get changed. However, he couldn’t help but frown when his ears picked up the words “Babel” and “arson” on the tail ends of the multiple conversations taking place. Based on the popular rumors being passed around the city, it wasn’t difficult to take a vague guess on their conversation topic.

Thus, by the time he’d taken a single step into the kitchen, Luca greeted Vincent not with a standard hello but a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “If Babel asks about the arsonist, just tell them you properly had your phone on you the entire week,” he said before heading off to wash his hands. It was no secret to the members of Noah’s Ark that Babel kept track of their locations at all times. As such, they weren’t likely to actually suspect the poor boy. However, it wasn’t like they hadn’t questioned the validity of an Elegy’s alibi before.

“Ah, right,” Luca suddenly added, “sorry that I came in late during such a busy time.” His expression remained sheepish as he dried his hands and walked over to look at the order papers pasted next to the door. A plain BLT, tomato bisque, two orders of owl pancakes, and a hot dog combo were listed as the most recent orders.

“Which of these did you already start on?” he asked, tapping the papers and looking back at his coworkers.

code by Nano

 

[Quark]

EMIYN YUEN

He had barely sent a greeting wave towards Thea when the Samoyed had already bounded forward and butted against his arm. Felix, laying on his lap in a relaxed manner, raised his head at the disturbance.

“Hello, Chase.” Emiyn gave Chase a friendly pat at the second headbutt, then watching the large, white dog heading towards the corner with the rabbits.

His phone buzzed, and he muttered a word of “sorry” as he felt the jolt of surprise from Felix. Setting the cat gently onto a soft cushion with both hands, he lingered a little longer to give a last headstroke.

“I don’t have school now, so I’ll come again tomorrow.” He murmured before standing up. “See you next time then.” He said with his usual grateful nod in reply to Thea's wave.

… …

Like most other days, he had ordered simply one milk foam earl grey tea, and one jar of assorted animal cookies.

However, since his usual sitting corner had already been occupied, he settled in a table between several other tables. Making it easier to overhear other conversations.

“Yeah, there’s a few from that school in our coaching math class. One told me she got questioned by the police after the first incident.”

His eyes stopped moving across the textbook page, and his writing hand had stopped spinning the pen. Though the signs were subtle, he had lost his focus on studying.

“Even now the police haven’t stated any suspects. There’s a lot of information they haven’t released to the public.” The other seemingly more knowledgeable girl from the left table pondered.

Emiyn’s eyes clouded with uneasiness, and slowly reached towards his transparent pencil case. Taking the card from inside, he quickly placed it into the bag where the jar of animal cookies was in. It was a student card, clearly marked with the school logo for East Ryde Technical High School in the top corner.

“So my guess is… the police are definitely waiting for some tip-offs. Or maybe…. They’re withholding the information only people of interest would know.”

The conversation was interrupted as their lunch arrived at the table, and the conversation trailed to something about the upcoming summer events.

“…,”At this, Emiyn silently lifted his head, a contemplative and concerned look in his eyes as he glanced towards the baristas and waiters near the counter.

NOTES
Tag: (Thea) voracity , (people Emiyn can see behind the counter) Cryptids Alteras A Murder Of Corviknight Dawnsx

CS link

 

[SilverBlack]

Vincent Huo
Location: Kitchen................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Interaction/Mentioned: Nano Hella Downweather

Air conditioning could not cure the heat of the kitchen, and Vincent could feel his sweat beginning to make his clothes stick against his skin. The best form of relief, then, was the fresh cool water running down his hands as he hurried to wash off the sticky pancake mix that accidentally dripped onto his fingers. This moment of comfort was brief, however, and the kitchen timer went off as soon as he turned off the faucet handle. He reached down to dry his hands on the towel hanging on the rack right under the sink, then hurried to open the lid of the steel steamer above the stove. Heavy steam mixed with the hot, sweet scent of freshly made mantou escaped eagerly into the air. Once it cleared, he picked up two of the mantous in there , one bunny and one hedgehog shaped, and placed them gingerly onto the plate that already had a wutou waiting there. The steps were repeated several times before 4 plates were completed.

In another four white bowls each with a small drawing of an orange veiltail goldfish, he poured in hot tomato bisque one by one with a large ladle. Placing one next to each of the mantou plates that sit in the wooden tray, he set them down onto the front counter just as he heard Evee’s next order requests.

"I hope you are not completely dead yet Vincent! Because table 3 asked for two Owl-topped pancake sets and I need a hot dog combo for table 4. Good luck! And don’t worry, we’re almost through lunch hour!"

“Got it,” he responded, nodding subtly, before gesturing toward the tray to whoever shall pick it up. “Double mantou sets for table 1 and 5 are done.”

Summer. Summer defined the time when students were freed from the grasp of schools and education. Summer also defined the times when the activities of the cafe reached its peak, especially during lunch hour. Waves of orders followed one after another, keeping Vincent beyond busy. However, tolerance against stressful and busy environments were long built up over the years from his past lifestyle, so he didn’t particularly mind. Saying he wasn’t tired would be a lie, though. He glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall, watching as seconds ticked by. Luca should be here soon. At moments like these, it’s always worth being appreciative about if a senior’s here to help.

Because he was fully occupied in the kitchen this whole time, he wasn’t too aware of what’s happening outside, what the customers are talking about, or who may have just entered the cafe. Neither was he paying attention to the conversations that were going on between the staff outside, the waitresses/waiters and baristas. Perhaps there were even a couple of suspicions directed at him that he did not know yet about. With a new batch of pancake mix complete, his focus was concentrated fully on making more pancakes and pretty much nothing else.

Nonetheless, he did have some knowledge over the hot topic of conservation going outside, even if he didn’t know that that’s what everyone’s talking about. The continuous cases of arson against East Ryde Technical High School had occurred again even though it’s summertime now. He recalled Hana talking about it this morning just as he woke up to prepare for work, voicing her suspicions in this matter as she was just reading up the news on her phone. Upon hearing about it, at first he felt the relief again from the fact that his sister did not go to the same high school, to then an unrelated thought about why his sister’s awake at such an early time, and finally the realization that his sister had stayed up all night watching anime and didn’t even sleep.

He remembered shaking his head as he went off to work, but his head ultimately returned to the arson cases as he walked to the cafe.

If all the cases happened at night, when most students are gone and the building’s mostly empty, can that possibly mean that the arsonist did not really intend to hurt the students…? If the goal wasn’t to hurt people, then it’s to set an example…? Send a message..? Reach some unknown goals..?

If it’s to grab attention, then the culprit was certainly successful at doing it.

Vincent has a bad feeling that with this ongoing, mysterious arson case, they will be forced to get involved again. Another case, perhaps.

However, as he was standing here preparing pancakes, he did not consider the possibility that he himself may be a target of suspicion.

Luca’s appearance brought a wave of relief that was hidden well behind his typical blank expression. He glanced toward the clock to check the time, realizing that the other was late. He responded to the greeting with a nod, and blinked when he felt the pat on his shoulder.

“If Babel asks about the arsonist, just tell them you properly had your phone on you the entire week.”

Vincent looked up at Luca to be greeted by his sympathetic look. The ashed-blonde lad was confused for a moment as to what the other might meant, before figuring it out. Are they suspicious that he might actually be the arsonist..? Or, worried that he might be a target of suspicion..? But why? Because he has the power of fire?

“Okay,” he replied simply and ended that topic there.

Everyone else aside, he hoped Babel is not one to equip such an absurd thought in mind. If simply the ability to make fire is enough to make him suspicious, then everyone in the region who has the ability to wield a lighter or match and ignite flame should equally be a target of suspicion. And that’s pretty much every single person who has functional hands and feet.

Just in case though, he would keep Luca’s words in mind.

“It’s alright, but please come on time next time,” responding to Luca’s sheepish apology, he looked to the order papers pasted next on the door and moved on to his senior’s next question. It wasn’t often for his senior to be late, and now is not the time for him to waste time over it. Arson, Babel or cases aside, right now dealing with all the orders should be their top priority. Hopefully, Luca’s presence would increase their efficiency.

“The tomato bisque should be ready in a minute,” Vincent answered. “The pancake mix was ready but that’s it.” At that moment, the oven dinged, signaling the bread for BLT was finished. “I just need to put the sandwich together. For the last order, I haven’t started on the hot dog combo yet.”

He took the bread out of the oven and began to put mustard over it. However, his mind couldn’t help but drift back to how Luca said Babel might ask him about the arsonist. So it’s something she’s paying attention to, too. That means…

“...Are we getting a case?” His hand paused temporarily as he asked, not aware that Karen had actually visited the cafe already.

 

[voracity]

THEA

1PM - NOAH'S ARK

"Did you just start your shift?"

Thea nodded, "only just," she confirmed. "I'll let you get back at it ... good luck out there!" She gave a light cheer, waving as Eeve hurried off.

Soon enough, Thea was left by herself. As the playpen held few customers, and the animals made their usual sounds of distress, as opposed to the more dire sounds of distress, she allowed herself just a moment to watch the hustle and bustle of the cafe in its prime summer hours. Most worthy of note was the sheer number of young youthful faces, a sure sign of vacationers and freed students. Perhaps when the sun began to set, and the cafe cleared out a bit, some may be open to having their pictures taken for NA's social media accounts ...

When Luca's ragged form came through the double doors, Thea smugly waved at the taller man. She would hold her tongue, she decided, turning on her heel as the first genuine sound of distress from within the playpen was heard - from the bunnies. Looks like today was going to be mostly saving the various animals from Chase's affectionate assaults by the hour.

Maybe Rosie might throw her a bone and let her ring the counter up for something to drink after the third hour ...

TAGS: Hella Downweather (Ending Convo), OPEN

 

[Nano]

Date: Friday, June 26th
Location: East Ryde Technical High School
Time: 7PM​

Concluding the post-closing time cleanup of the café with a sharp clap, the manager of Noah’s Ark had ushered her staff upstairs to her office for the expected mission briefing. Though the documents filing the details and damages were spread out on the table for all to see, the blonde had chosen to announce a summary of the situation to save time. Still, for good measure, the extra details listed in the documents were forwarded to each member’s mobile devices.

The new mission concerned the rumored serial arsons at East Ryde Technical High School—four instances, to be exact. Three security cameras set up near the gym and the connecting hallways had somehow been destroyed without the arsonist coming into view, making it impossible to identify the perpetrator through video evidence. Aside from the damaged surveillance equipment, the brunt of the damage was inflicted upon the gym, cafeteria and field areas, featuring broken lights and destroyed equipment and various scorch marks. However, the fire damage strangely never appeared to spread past the initial contact point, and the police had failed to find evidence of electrical failures or explosives. Furthermore, the police had been incapable of finding any physical evidence identifying the culprit whatsoever, bringing the case to Babel’s attention.

Fortunately, East Ryde was a short seven minute transit by subway, allowing for a swift and efficient dispatch from Noah’s Ark. Babel had also graciously cleared the area of both civilians and police to make way for the investigation.

Hearing the crisp sound of shoes slapping against concrete, the Babel agent assigned to guard the school’s entrance looked up from his wristwatch. Once the group approached the gate, the man studied each face carefully. Roughly three seconds would pass between each time that he moved his gaze to study the next person’s general features.

“Noah’s Ark?” he asked. However, without waiting for an answer, he looked down to thumb over the screen of his phone a few times. After confirming a headcount of eight and running a quick ID check, the man moved off to the side.

“Split off into two groups: one inside the building and one outside.” he stated curtly. His wave to dismiss the group was perfunctory, as if uncaring of the potentially dangerous situation within. Even if someone were to speak up about his indifference, he would only answer with an offhand glance before shuffling back to his original position in front of the school gate.

 

[A Murder Of Corviknight]

As their whole group was gathered together in one group, they waited for the guard to scan through them like a much less pleasant Costco employee checking off your receipt. With the instruction to split into two groups, the Noah’s Ark employees quickly discussed who would go in which group before splitting into two groups without too much delay. Apparently, it was still not fast enough for the Babel guard because Rosie was sure she saw an eyebrow twitch. But if anyone else noticed, the guard was ignored as they all marched into the school grounds in their two groups.

Rosie casually swiped through her phone to scan the notes (done in layman terms) that she made on the way to the school. It looked like, as the group that is investigating the fields, they wouldn’t need to worry about the cameras as they were...thoroughly destroyed by the third party. Personally, she felt that they should do a quick search of the already affected areas first. However, considering it was group work…

“Do any of you have a preference on where to start looking?” she asked the other three members of their group.

------------------​

NAME. Rosalind “Rosie” Berne
OBJECTIVE. Get a plan
MOOD. Calm before the storm?
NOTES. Yes, Rosie got the files on her phone like everyone else. But she also likes writing things in her own words so she retains information better.
Inventory! Wallet, phone, cap/hat, thin backpack with shock blanket and first aid kit for their group since Luca isn’t always with them (like right now)
TAGGED. voracity | Hella Downweather | Cryptids

 

[Dawnsx]

Almost half a year into the job, and Aria still found it baffling that a government agent was fine with letting a high school kid assist in investigating an arson case. And even if they were here on legitimate terms, snooping around a school at night still made her feel a little iffy. Regardless, she'd learned to stop dwelling on these trivial matters and to stay focused on the case at hand. After being given the green light by the agent to proceed, they were split into two groups. Aria remained silent for the most part and allowed herself to be sorted into whichever group she would be the most helpful in, which was apparently the one going inside the school. Once they were sent on their way, Aria reached behind her and gingerly tapped her backpack. The weight on her shoulders shifted, then came the sound of the backpack zipper being opened.

"Are we there yet?" Jerod asked, popping his head out and glancing around.

"Yep," she replied with a fond smile.

"About time," he huffed sulkily. With practiced ease, Jerod hauled himself out and climbed onto Aria's shoulder before dutifully zipping up her backpack. Aria patted his head apologetically. Jerod had to be crammed into her tiny backpack every time they had to travel somewhere, which, according to him, always made his joints stiff. She was never sure if he was just being dramatic, but either way, she felt a little squeamish about carrying a doll in her arms in public. Thankfully, Jerod was considerate enough to not demand her to do that. Once he made himself comfortable, Jerod asked, "So, what're we doin'?"

"We got split into two groups. We're going inside, and the other group's gonna be outside..." Aria glanced at the other members of her group nervously. They were supposed to be looking for clues to identify the perpetrator, but that was easier said than done. She wasn't even sure what she should be keeping an eye out for.

"Great, great," Jerod nodded. He gave a half-hearted wave at the other Elegies and asked, "Sooo, who's the brains of this operation? Do we even have one?"

Horrified, Aria slapped a hand over Jerod's face.

"Jerod! Rude!" Aria squeaked out, cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

Jerod swatted Aria's hand away and shrugged.

"Hey, I'm just teasing. I don't have a brain at all, so someone else gotta make the plans," Jerod said with a cheeky grin. After a beat, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "We do have a plan, right? Or are we just gonna go in and walk around all willy nilly?"

Aria shuffled from foot to foot and lowered her head.

"Sorry about Jerod. I-I'm fine with doing anything," she mumbled, even though she saw Jerod's point. Going in without a solid goal in mind would just make her feel like she didn't know what she was doing, but she certainly wasn't smart enough to come up with a plan either. Whatever the group decided on, she'd go along with it.

Nano SilverBlack Alteras

 

[voracity]

While everyone was more or less prepared for tonight's excursion, Thea was still taken aback. Unlike the rest of her peers, she hadn't had the opportunity to note Karen's visit, nor had anyone else been free to inform her, given that the rather demanding day had kept them all busy and working hard right up until closing. She had kept her own surprise and comments to herself as they were debriefed on their task at E. Ryde High - once the initial shock had worn off, there was nothing left but a small bit of anxiety. Confronting an arsonist didn't sound pretty on paper. And she doubted that it would go over any better in reality. It was also the peak of summer - if she was a lesser woman, she'd have pulled someone aside to complain and ask if they could delay this one by a month or two.

Having stood next to Enoch while they were scanned one by one though, she considered that perhaps she was such a lesser woman. After all, Enoch could sympathize with the dreadful anxiety of confronting an arsonist perhaps a little more keenly than everyone else here, right? Overwhelmed by a sudden swell of concern for the tall man, when she caught his eye, she gave him a thumbs up with an assured smile.

... With Rosie keeping an eye on the important details, Thea began stretching, pulling her elbow behind her head.

“Do any of you have a preference on where to start looking?”

"Dumpsters," Thea answered immediately, though there was just enough of a wishy-washy kind of note inflicted in her answer to allow the others to know that she wasn't fully committed to it. "If they wanted to get rid of any kind of evidence, I can't really think of a better way than to have the city come and wipe it off their hands for them. Kids still smoke these days, right? Anyone doing anything worse probably gets by like that, too."

Ah. She stiffened, was she too bitter? Forcing herself to relax, she fell quiet, hoping to fix her sudden shift in mood - allowing the others to chip in with their own inputs.

TAGS: A Murder Of Corviknight , Cryptids , Hella Downweather

 

[Nano]

» Luciano Bianchi

『 TAGGED 』 Dawnsx SilverBlack Alteras

Even after five years, Babel’s attitude never ceased to amaze him. He knew Noah’s Ark wasn’t very well-liked due to how volatile elegies could be, but he still expected a certain level of professionalism from a government agency. Well, being ignored beat being bossed around, he supposed.

After a quick discussion on how to split their members, Luca gestured for the indoor group to start from the gym area. Bringing out the key Stella had handed him from his pocket space, he chuckled lightly at Jerod’s offhand remarks while focusing on twisting the key into place. Even if the horned doll wasn’t as cute as Pastels, it was still difficult to get angry at such a tiny thing.

“Unfortunately, Babel gave us nothing except for the damage report this time,” Luca said. Upon pushing the door open with a gloved hand, he glanced in the direction of the Babel agent guarding the school’s entrance. Even though the guard was completely out of sight, he couldn’t help but lower his voice. “This isn’t anything new, but they’re probably hiding a lot about this mission. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even went as far as to manipulate memories.”

Without another word, Luca stepped into the gymnasium. In sharp contrast to the untouched state of the gym’s double doors, the room itself was a mess. Metal beams hung down from their broken fixtures on the ceilings, while the glass of the accompanying ceiling lights littered the floor. Any flags and banners that had previously hung on the gym’s walls had been burned beyond recognition, while the bleachers and the padding on the walls hadn’t fared better. Strangely, there was a lack of soot to accompany the glass shards on the floors, suggesting that the arsonist had been careful to destroy only the equipment rather than the building itself. As for why, that was for them to find out. Or perhaps the reason would be forever forgotten. If it was a Regret, it would be difficult to determine without knowing the history of the original person.

“Seems like Babel is sure that it’s a Regret or an Elegy,” Luca said, being careful to step around the glass. “If so, there’s a good chance they sent us here tonight, because they know it’s likely to show up again tonight.”

Luca frowned. Having nothing of significance to work off of really didn’t sit well with him, especially considering even the police hadn’t come up with any leads. So far, it seemed like their best bet was to figure out where the Regret was coming and going from and its goals by checking which objects were damaged the most. At the very least, the indoor group had Alex while the outdoor group had Thea. It wouldn’t be easy for the arsonist to catch them off guard.

“If you think there’s any area of the building that the arsonist is likely to visit next, make sure to mention it.” he added. “We’ll have to be careful of the areas that still have working surveillance cameras, though.”

code by Nano

 

[Cryptids]

So, they were tracking an arsonist, after all. During the briefing, Enoch had relaxed upon hearing it confirmed by someone in charge that the attacks hadn’t resulted in any injuries, largely due to the combination of summer vacation and the fact that they took place during the evening. Immediately after breathing a sigh of relief, though, he couldn’t help but wonder why it was worth bringing him along on this mission. Plants and fire mixed about as well as spiders and venus flytraps.

Rather than bring it up, though, Enoch resolved to make himself trust Babel’s judgment on the case. He had to. Besides, he doubted any worries he voiced would have made a difference, anyway.

Once they arrived at the high school, Enoch flipped open the gray messenger bag slung across his body to take inventory. They were here to gather evidence, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared. As per usual, the seeds for thorny brambles and Virginia creeper were in their designated pockets. Easy to tangle someone up in, should he ever get mugged again. The small LED grow light was there, too, hooked up to a battery pack. Closing the bag, Enoch noted the sun’s position in the sky; it wasn’t setting quite yet, but who knew how long they would be out there?

When it came time to split into two groups, no one voiced any complaints at the plant specialist preferring to remain outdoors. Tugging on the strap of his messenger bag, Enoch frowned, imagining flames licking across the open field. If the arsonist happened to show up, he hoped the situation wouldn’t turn violent. And if it did…

He caught Thea’s eye then, momentarily disrupting his train of thought. Enoch returned her smile and thumbs up, albeit with less enthusiasm, before continuing to scan their surroundings. At her immediate suggestion to check the dumpsters, he raised his eyebrows. Certainly not the first place he would’ve thought to inspect.

After a moment of thought, though, he gave a half-shrug. “No objections here. Thea is right, it could be a method the arsonist uses to dispose of evidence,” he said, finally tearing his gaze away from the fields. “If no one minds, I’d suggest looking over the areas the police have already investigated, too, if the dumpsters are a dead end. Maybe they missed something.”

That was what the detectives in the serialized crime novels he liked to read usually did. True, those were fiction, but they had to be based on something, right?


Tags: voracity A Murder Of Corviknight Hella Downweather

 

[Alteras]

Alex Fayfield

LOCATION Inside School Building

INTERACTIONS Nano SilverBlack Dawnsx

CS

Slotting her earbuds in, Alex absentmindedly watched as everyone shuffled themselves into two groups. It seems the case really was about the arson, and from the looks of how their... supervisor? handler? MIB guy was doing things, we probably have free reign over how we approach this.

Before she could decide on the song, the group started moving into the school. Alex continued to trail behind everyone for a bit, still scrolling through her iPod. She should really be standing at the front, acting as the scout of her "party," but she needed the right music for both the tempo and mood. And it wasn't like they'd just run into the arsonist right off the bat.

"... maybe 'Mt. Coronet' or 'Ghost' ..." Alex muttered to herself before responding to the rest of the group. "They're a mysterious sort. I wouldn't be surprised if they're actually the same people that pop up in those UFO conspiracy theories. We have quite the free reign this time tho. Ah! 'Driving in the Dark' will work!"

Satisfied with her choice, she hit the play button, stood in place, and nodded her head to the opening part of the song. Soon, her notes appeared before her, making its way down the hallway. Just in time too, as they entered gym, revealing the damage to the fullest extent, well, to the full extent that can be seen. Alex exhaled in silent awe at the scale of the attack. Walking up to the various destroyed equipment and the walls of the gym, she was impressed by the difference between the scene inside and outside of the gym.

Alex then let herself wander the gym, carefully observing every note of herself that showed up inside. "Mmm... it's been a while I've last listened to this. Everything's safe here Luca. Nothing's gonna break and fall anytime soon. Oh right. Hey ya'll" She said, tossing a glance back to the others. "This song is pretty heavy on the percussion, so if ya'll hear anything yourself, lemme know."

Walking back towards the group, Alex openly pondered the next place to look. "... Gym, Cafeteria, Fields... whatever is starting these fires, doesn't seem like their regret has to do with any classwork. Maybe something like a bad social?" She tossed the question out, a shot in the dark. Her own experience of high school was quite lacking in the social department, as most tended to avoid her back then. In fact, one of the only few things she was regularly sought for was dodgeball and the occasional fight...

Alex's Music: Driving in the Dark — Jeremiah Castelo

FontsFonts Coded by Alteras

 

[Hella Downweather]

Her shift ended after what was for Hella a good cardio workout. She had to run around, carrying trays of drinks, plates, and delicious food she couldn’t touch after all...But everything was for a good cause! Soon she’d have enough to play Ultimate Smash Brothers with the new fire emblem character introduced!!!! Ahhhh she couldn’t wait to play another swordsman. Maybe she’d be able to rope most of the crew to do a tournament...It would surely end up with a heated match between her and Thea….though Enoch could be a bit of a wild card...Maybe Aria could cheer for them in the background using her Elegy too? Ahhhhh so many possibilities…..

Not wasting time during the briefing, Evee connected herself to her cell phone to familiarize herself with the contents of the file. She was not really looking forward to another mission to be honest. And an arsonist to boot….just great. There wasn’t much she could do against these kinds of Elegies, besides flaying her little appendages at him uselessly...Surely they would stick her to surveillance of something like that. Well, at least she hoped so, as the brunette wasn’t the fighter type.

Grabbing her usual detective kit, as she liked to call it, Evee quickly put a hoodie on, cleverly dissimulating her arms, before moving with the group, texting her parents quickly to tell them she was on a night cleaning duty at the Ark so they shouldn’t wait for her to eat dinner. This white lie was her usual excuse when it came to the other kind of work she had to do. With luck, this little excursion would end before 10 PM and she’d have time to game a bit to cool down before bed.

The group looked a bit tense, well the people she cared about at least. Sure it wasn’t Enoch type to prance around and tell jokes, it was more hers, but even Thea was being oddly silent on the way to the school. Well...at least she didn’t seem to be alone in her disdain for this mission.

Once arrived and scanned, the girl was relieved to be on the same team as Enoch, Rosie and Thea. As much as she and Rosie weren’t the best of friends, there was no denying that the older girl was skilled and had good judgement when it came to these investigations. Plus, with her taking the lead role, she could step back and let herself be used without worrying if she was being efficient or not. Armed with Thea’s originality, they were a fearsome duo.

Listening to her friend’s suggestion she simply nodded, agreeing to the logic as much as she didn’t look forward to rummaging through piles of trash. She’d have to take a loooong shower after that. Before saying anything, however, Evee took out a tablet and two small hunting cameras from her pouch and showed the electronics to the group.

"Can’t say I disagree with you guys. Just a small thing to add...I have my special mission kit peeps! A freshly wiped tablet in case we find any electronic devices that we want to extract information from and these two babies! Hunting cameras, with night vision that sends footage of movement directly to the tablet and to my phone. "

Then, addressing herself specifically to Rosie, she added :

"Just say the word Boss and I’ll plant them wherever you want. Unless you’d rather have me help with searching the dumpsters."

Good detectives needed gadgets after all...and Evee was full of them.

Mention : Cryptids voracity
Interaction : A Murder Of Corviknight

 

[A Murder Of Corviknight]

Rosie paused at Thea’s suggestion, she glanced up and gave the other girl a wordless tilt of the head as if to ask if she should be concerned. Either way, Rosie did agree with Thea’s, as well as Enoch’s, suggestions. “It’s possible. Good idea, guys. Let’s check the dumpsters first? Then we can go ahead and…” she trailed off to glance at the rough map that Google gave to her. It only gave her what and where each building was and the vague locations of the facilities like the field. “It looks like it’ll be best to circle around to start from the outer part of campus and end towards the buildings. If it takes long, we can just call the others but it will put our groups closer together to regroup at the end.”

However, at Evee’s comment, Rosie slowly blinked at her with a carefully blank expression on her face. When...did she suddenly become the leader of the operation? With an internal sigh and a mental pep talk to herself, she moved her focus away from the harmless comment. Surely, it was meant to be a joke.

...It was probably better not to ask Evee to clarify. She didn’t want to be ‘ok boomer’ed by someone...again.

“...Probably one facing the field. We could hold onto the second one until a good spot is found for it, right? If you don’t mind. I’ll send everyone the best map I can find.” Rosie sent everyone the googled image of the...very lackluster map of the school. Unfortunately, Babel didn’t provide them with an actual detailed blueprint of the school’s layout. It wasn’t surprising, considering this kind of relationship with Babel has always been the norm, from what she’s witnessed over the years. Well, they always made do in the end...

---

Once the dumpster came into view, Rosie volunteered to search the dumpster since...she had the means to rummage through the garbage without actually touching it. She noted how one of the lids was opened before jumping towards the dumpster. Without much fanfare, she mentally maneuvered (floated?) herself to land carefully on the second closed lid. The dumpster eerily creaked and groaned under her feet but Rosie ignored it in favor of turning the flashlight widget on her phone on. She didn’t have time for her mind to play stupid tricks on her right now.

Instead, the woman used her telekinesis to carefully lower her phone into the dark maw of the dumpster. But before Rosie could attempt to peer over the edge to see more than what looked like books, a sudden rattling sound could be heard from the dumpster. Though alarmed, she didn’t have enough time to react before she felt her mental grasp on her phone snap.

Then, the phone was thrown back at her face.

“What the fu--?!

Within a very eventful and chaotic moment, the dark distinctive shape of a raccoon shot out of the dumpster soon after the phone. Rosie just barely managed to step back to avoid the crazy raccoon. Blinded by the unholy light of her phone, she took another to both avoid getting blinded or bludgeoned by her phone and to catch the wayward device. Fortunately, she managed to catch her phone even with her eyes closed.

Unfortunately, she stepped back on nothing but air.

?!

Alarmed, Rosie opened her eyes to see that...yes. She was indeed falling off a dumpster.

She had another brief moment of panic when she brain helpfully supplied her with the fact that she shouldn’t be catching herself with her Last Words in front of people. Then, the woman caught herself, both mentally and physically, and remembered that there were no normal civilians to witness any of it.

With that, she neatly flipped herself right side up and landed on her feet. The ruffled woman took a deep breath and brushed herself off as if she didn’t just tumble off the dumpster because of a raccoon. Instead, she gave all of them an intimidating glare as if daring them to comment on what just happened.

“...I think. Someone else can pull stuff out of the dumpster. I think I saw some textbooks or books in there before--...” she cut herself off by clearing her throat. She wasn’t willing to address it at all. “Anyway, I’ll hold the light. Just tell me where to shine it.

------------------​

NAME. Rosalind “Rosie” Berne
OBJECTIVE. I found textbooks? Books? No dead bodies tho. Only raccoons.
MOOD. Shooketh? Embarrassed
NOTES. *Last time someone ‘ok boomer’ed Rosie...they were sent home crying.
*To clarify just in case it’s confusing. Rosie has not been ok boomered by Evee. It’s just that a kid has pulled that stunt on her (just to be obnoxious and because they didn’t want to listen to her at all). She doesn’t know Evee well and doesn’t want to know if she is the type to do so.
*Idk about other states but the NY dumpsters for my old high school has two lids on one dumpster. And sometimes whoever dumped the garbage last into the dumpster would forget to close one or both of the lids...
TAGGED. voracity | Hella Downweather | Cryptids

 

[Nano]

» Luciano Bianchi

『 TAGGED 』 Dawnsx SilverBlack Alteras

“Thanks,” Luca said, sending Alex a nod of gratitude at her status report. While the fixtures that remained on the ceiling miraculously still appeared fairly sturdy, it was difficult to trust them considering the state of the gymnasium. On the other hand, his expression turned thoughtful when their resident danger detector mentioned the arsonist’s potential social issues. When it came to bad social and high schoolers, there was a certain thing that first came to mind. He wasn’t sure if it was due to having watched too many cliché movies with his grandma and Angela in the past, but it was worth a shot.

“Lockers,” he murmured lightly. After an additional second of ruminating over that train of thought, he lifted his head to announce his thoughts more loudly. “If it’s alright with you guys, let’s try checking the gym lockers. It’s written vaguely in the damage reports, but I want to check if there are any lockers that are more damaged than others. The lockers are empty and no longer have name tags, but we can probably still get this year’s list of names and assigned lockers from the PE office.”

The brunette was a bit apologetic about suggesting a break-in, but it was for the greater good. Besides, it wasn’t as if the course of action was decided. First things first, they’d have to split up to check both locker rooms for any lockers with significant damage. If there were any suspicious lockers, they could safely assume it had something to do with the arsonist. After all, the arsonist had displayed a strange amount of precision so far.

code by Nano

 

[voracity]

Catching the silent inquiry from Rosie, Thea shook her head, and along with it, the remnants of bitterness. There was work to do after all - and she was among friends. There was no reason to sour the mood when they were to go stalking about potentially dangerous grounds.

When their youngest member piped up and revealed her small treasure trove to the rest of the group, Thea couldn’t help but to let out a low whistle. There really were no words that could describe what she thought of their sudden upgrades. It was damned impressive that the slight girl had managed to haul that much on her person for such a long period of time, if anything.

“I was kind of hoping for snacks, you know,” she joked, as she took one of the cameras in from Evee’s proffered hands. “Night vision and live feed capable, though?” She repeated the points that she had heard. “No wonder you couldn’t afford your games,” she noted, before passing on the camera to Enoch to inspect for himself. As someone who had clumsy hands, it was better to entrust something like this to others, she knew.

When she felt her phone vibrate, Thea knew that it was time to move. She was quick in taking a peek at their route and destination, and just as quick to pocket away her phone. She only had 13% left in her battery - but the others didn’t need to know that. She didn’t have any objections to where Rosie and Evee had decided to place the first camera,and once the younger woman finished booting up the small sentry, Thea took the lead with her longer strides towards their destination.

…

Thea's shoulders shook uncontrollably. Oh, she'd play along like the intimidating glare had the power to silence her, but Thea also knew that just maybe, her silent, but evident defiance would sting the pride all the same. The blonde was a little brat at times like this.

Whatever entity was watching over their universe had a funny sense of humor. Of course their prim and proper friend would be the one to challenge the nasty container voluntarily, indignant but resolute. And naturally, the universe worked it out so that she would be accosted by a mere racoon of all things. Oh, how the mighty had been forced to fall - at this line of thought, Thea couldn't help but let one gasping-chuckle free.

"Just tell me where to shine it."

It would be cruel to ask Rosie to try again, Thea knew that. But damn it all. It meant that they would have to get their hands dirty, she grimaced before giving a heavy sigh.

“Since it was my idea, I guess I’ll be the one to dig around things,” she admitted, but instead of turning to Rosie to get hoisted up onto the dumpster, she turned to Enoch instead. It was clear to everyone that trying to do this from the top of the dumpster was just a touch too dangerous. Even with their combined strengths there was simply no good reason to try and risk it all again when they could explore alternatives to dig through the trash. Thea just so happened to find such an option in Enoch. Privately, though she couldn't help but to worry that Rosie might find that odd mean bone in her body to try and tip her if she tried to get on top of the dumpster herself. It would have been a great prank, it would have been funny even. But since the discovery of raccoons, she wasn't comfortable with the thought of risking anything. Least of all Evee or Rosie again, both who were short, and the former less than equipped to perform this task.

Submitting her idea to him, that she could peer into the contents of the dumpster on top of Enoch rather than on top of the dumpster lids, Thea gave a laugh when the white haired man seemed to be taken aback by such a brazen idea. "I'm not that heavy!" She reassured him, and was relived when she spied a smile and received his agreement to this.

Sat upon Enoch's shoulders, Thea took just a moment to savor the view. She was quickly reminded that while her claims of not being terribly heavy were true, it was still a laborious task for the man hoisting her, and so she set to work. Keeping herself steady, she endeavored to move as little as possible, even as chains rattled and manifested itself from her forearm. Dipping into the dumpster, clanging all the while, Thea kept an attentive eye on all that was inside with the help of Rosie's phone, revealing the contents inside the nasty smelly container with its flashlight.

Rosie hadn't lied. There were a few textbooks among the half eaten food, and ripped garbage bags. If this was a university, then it wasn't all that weird to find old editions given up like this. But this was a high school, with tight budgets and the like, students were likely given severe penalties for losing or decimating rented books. Definitely suspicious. Turning her head back to Rosie and Evee who stood just a step away, she gestured for them to make some room as the first book was claimed and dropped by her coiling chains at their feet.

...

Carefully taking a step back and off Enoch, she waited until the tall man stood once again, rolling his shoulders before she rested a palm on his shoulder. "Sorry about taking so long, anything hurt?" She asked. She would nod once when she received an answer from him, before quietly thanking him again.

She then turned her attention to the last textbook that had been retrieved, left in her clutches. Crossing her arms, Thea ignored the low chattering among the rest of her friends as the sharp arrow tip of her chains turned the cover of the textbook open. Her eyes ran down through the chart that had been printed on the back of it, listing its years of use, under many different students - sometimes the same student in different years. At the very bottom though, there was only one name from the present year to have claimed to use this particular textbook.

"Jane Clarke ... 20XX," she read aloud, murmuring.