Trial of Trials : Act 2

[thequestgiver]

There's something uneasy that can be felt in the city, and seemingly no end to the rumors springing up in the wake of the downtown explosion that leveled BOARD's headquarters. Stories of an odd sickness where the afflicted suddenly winds up anemic, their blood levels dangerously low, despite feeling fine that morning have already taken root, others of strange animals seen roaming at night, and horrible screams and gunshots in one of the parking garages....

The space where the ill-fated headquarters lays silent, an empty patch of dirt and gravel that seemed to attract those drawn to stories and rumors. Police have already had to shoo away opportunists with metal detectors, hoping to find something interesting in the impressively quickly cleared wreckage, and others have reported something that just feels... wrong, when they walk by the site. The ghosts of those who hadn't made it out of the collapse? Or something else? Noone can really put a finger on it to explain.

And meanwhile, under the cover of shadows, things unknown to those who still walk in the light continue to move. Whispers of the rogue mage and a treasure trove of information, of upsets in the vampire hierarchy, and sworn revenge on the mages who had used one of their own for their gain.

And deep in a hidden lab, BOARD's remains and allies continue to work, twisting all they can get their hands on to create the perfect weapon; made of the very things they wish to cleanse from the world. The loss of the incapacitated vampire elder was only a small one, with how much they had already extracted and drawn from it. And if the rumors of their knowledge being in the hands of their enemies were true? They would just have to speed up their projected timeline. Or simply slow down that of the world. After all, they were mages. Reality bended to their will, not that of those who opposed them....

Comments

[shironekodoshi]

There's a bottle of milk waiting for him on the counter when he does come out of it, Bakura scrolling through something on his computer.

"The card doesn't have any enchantments on it." Bakura's tone was much calmer and normal sounding. That and the milk seemed to be almost an apology for the explosion of anger. "He likely thinks he has you enough in hand already that he didn't need to add one."

[kamenwriter]

The milk is a very welcome sight, but he still hesitates for a moment before taking it. He's on edge, it's understandable. But it still helps a lot in calming him down further.

"I'm not surprised, really. With how quickly he managed to do that... mind control thing..." He grips the now-empty bottle tightly, rubbing his thumb against the top. "Honestly, if I'd-- if you hadn't gotten mad at me, I wouldn't have even noticed."

[shironekodoshi]

"Have to get you something to resist that effect," Bakura half muttered with frown, starting to type again. "Should have enough credit to arrange a proper one..... Maybe something to dampen down whatever the hell you have that keeps painting a damned target on your back. Didn't the Doctor get rid of whatever crap was in that bite? And why the hell didn't you come to me with all that data instead of have it out in the open like that?" There was an almost hurt tone of offense in his voice as his scowl looked more like a sulk.

[kamenwriter]

There's not much that can dampen suicidal curiosity, Bakura. But Kotaro does look guilty at the sulked accusation. "I-I was going to, I swear. But Hirose and I have just been busy trying to get any of it in the first place, BOARD's database is almost impossible to crack. We can't get past the third layer of security yet." He rests his hip against the counter, pouting staring at his milk bottle. "There's this file we can't access without it, something about Trials."

[shironekodoshi]

"And you were going at it in the middle of a public place without anything to protect yourself," Bakura sighed, anger finally having faded, leaving him looking more frustrated and tired than anything else as he leaned back in his chair.

"...I can crack that final layer, since you have physical access to the server." He reached down, opening a drawer that was just out of sight and almost delicately pulling out a small figurine, his eyes growing a touch unfocused as he looked down at it.

[kamenwriter]

"I wasn't--!" He didn't even have the servers open at that point, it was all what had been saved on his laptop. So really, the point remained, and he scrubs violently at his hair in self-admonishment.

Which means he misses the figurine being removed from the drawer, but not Bakura staring at it. "...how's that going to help?" But his hand still drifts to the charm in his pocket, restored to its rightful home during his drive. Was this another piece of Bakura...?

[shironekodoshi]

A small, enigmatic smile tugged at the changeling's lips. "There are questions better off not asked," he answered, gently replacing the figure and closing the drawer again before looking up, eyes clearing. "But it will help. It will just take some time to find its way in. There isn't much left in that one, after all."

[kamenwriter]

...reassuring. "Right. W-well." He uses the milk bottle to gesture at the door. "I've got my laptop on me, so I can get that and show you everything we've gotten so far?" Though now it has the feeling of paying a debt rather than sharing information. "It's actually pretty impressive, but Tachibana doesn't seem to think most of it's accurate anymore..."

[shiromadoushi]

"Most of it won't be," Bakura smiled. "But that isn't what's important."

[kamenwriter]

"Yeah." He hasn't got much choice but to agree there. He half turns towards the door, and looks back at Bakura with something like concern. Are we back in the realm of reality now?

[shiromadoushi]

"Just open it slowly."

How swiftly Bakura had switched modes back to his usual would be concerning if he weren't in the habit of rapid switching so often.

But good to his word, when Kotaro opened the door, it would show the correct parking lot. ...if just two doors down from where it had been before. Strip malls, man. All the abandoned fronts looked the same.

[kamenwriter]

The two doors is enough to throw Kotaro off, just a bit, but when he steps out the door he relocates himself quickly enough, and rushes off to his car. He's fumbling with the keys a little, and as he gets the door open he's really, very thankful that this hadn't played out any worse. What if the card had been bugged, what would Bakura have done then? What if Bakura hadn't done anything, just let Kotaro keep talking...?

It's a warm enough day, but he can't stop a shiver as he reaches in for his bag. And then he's off back to the shop front.