Investigate all the things!

[princeoffortune]

Characters: Naoto and YOU.
Setting: Starting in room 2-03 and then wandering about the tower!
Format: Prefer brackets because I'm lazy, but I'll match.
Summary: DID SOMEONE SAY GIRLS? Because I'm totally a boy, just so you know.
Warnings: None that I can think of!



A. Room 2-03
[Naoto was sick. Very sick. Sick to the point that her days had become nothing more than hazy moments of lucidity while the fever continued to wreck havoc on her body. Stasis was no longer an option, is was a necessity and her confusion upon waking was more than understandable. The sleep paralysis was unnerving, her eyes darted around the room, taking in every inch that she could see from her current position. This was not Sphere, she knew that much, and she doubted that she was in Inaba. This room did not remotely resemble anything from home.

As soon as she was able to move she was up and looking around. The letter next to her bed caught her eye first and she sat back down to read through it. The news did not come as much of a shock to her considering Sphere had told her much of the same -- not so much that the world was destroyed completely, but that the world had succumbed to the virus and fell into ruins. What did come as a surprise was her current state of dress. The jumpsuit would not do. Next on the list: FIND APPROPRIATE CLOTHING.

This proved to be easier than expected as the trunk by the foot of her bed contained clothing from home. She was pleasantly surprised to find her revolver and some ammunition along with some other items that she had not seen in quite some time. She changed as quickly as possible, immediately feeling more at ease now that she was no longer in a skintight garment.

She searched through her trunk once more, pulling out a small notepad and a pen small enough to fit in her pocket and holstered her gun. TIME TO INVESTIGATE.]

B. Around the tower

[Naoto has started his investigation and can be found wandering the various floors observing and taking notes. He's pretty occupied, but you may find him heading in your direction to speak with you.]

Excuse me, do you have a moment to answer a few questions?

Comments

[princeoffortune]

[... Yeah. He expected that. Enjoy your lineface.]

My age is of no great importance. Please do not assume that I am incapable of effectively doing my job for that reason. I have been working in the field long enough to have gained sufficient experience and have assisted in many cases across Japan and overseas when my assistance is requested.

[But the bit about his gender makes him pause, brow furrowing in confusion]

I see. I was under the same assumption until now. Does the tower house no co-ed dorms at all?

[guiltapalooza]

[Whoops, totally hadn't meant to be as enormously rude as she'd just been. This is definitely real life, because this always happens to her. Willow winces at his lineface.] No no, I'm sure you're great at it, really, I just-- am all surprised they let you join at that age. Must be different in Japan, cause the police, not so trusting with the teenagers where I'm from. [She's just biased because they always write up vampire related deaths as "impalement by barbecue fork".]

I just got here, so I could be wrong. But I was pretty sure. [She's frowning in thought. This is really taking her an embarrassing amount of time to come up with an answer.]

[princeoffortune]

[Don't feel too bad there, Willow. It's just a touchy subject.]

I am not officially a member of any police force nor do I work directly for the government. Nearly all my cases have been private investigations, but when I am called in to assist with one I become a temporary member of the force. I go where I'm needed. So in that respect, you are correct. I have never officially joined and I assure you it is not much different in Japan. Gaining the trust and respect of officers and detectives who are far older than myself is always a rather tedious task. [And his efforts usually were not successful. They would learn to trust his judgement, but rarely would they grow to respect him.]

Oh? When did you arrive?

[guiltapalooza]

[Her username comes from reality, she feels guilty about everything...

Anyway. She listens intently to this description.] It must be really important to you, if you keep trying despite all that.

I got here earlier today-- oh. [Her eyes go wide.] Oh oh oh. So you're... [Embarrassed for real now, but there's really only one reason someone that looks male would be housed in the female rooms. Willow pushes on stridently, determined not to say it aloud if he doesn't want to.] I'm Willow Rosenberg. Sorry about the-- um, everything. Just a little taken aback to be here, still.

[princeoffortune]

I suppose you could say it runs in my blood. Both of my parents were detectives and my grampa is one as well.

[jfkdlsjfad s-so. looks like you've figured it out, though considering the circumstances, Naoto's not really surprised. He does appreciate her silence on the matter.]

Y-yes, that's correct. It's quite alright, I doubt you're intentions were malicious and I can certainly understand your state of duress. It's a pleasure to meet you, I only wish it were under better circumstances.

[guiltapalooza]

So it's a family thing, [she realizes aloud, smiling. As much as she can't relate to that - she's not close to her family at all - she still says,] That must be nice.

No worries. I make all my best friends while we're fighting for our lives. True story.

[princeoffortune]

It is, yes. [Naoto remembers very little about his parents and he would be lying if he said following in their footsteps didn't make him feel closer to them.]

[Oddly enough, that brings a bit of a smile to his face. Clearly he can relate.] Ah, I believe you. You are certainly not alone in that matter.

[guiltapalooza]

[Willow doesn't need a lot of encouragement, and beams back when she gets a slight smile out of him.] So it shouldn't be too bad here if we're all working together, right?

Not to get after school special on you. Just, it'd be nice to have someone to worry about that I can actually help, instead of vague stuck-at-home-where-the-world's-ending people.

[princeoffortune]

[Congrats, Willow. You've managed to drag a smile out of Naoto not once, but twice. Quite the achievement.]

Indeed. I certainly hope that will be the case.

You said you only recently arrived here yourself, but I'm curious to hear what you have learned about our present location.

[guiltapalooza]

[It's a special talent of hers. Seriously. She's known for it in canon.]

Let's see. Your first meal has to be oatmeal, sometimes people get experimented on, death isn't permanent, you have to sleep in your room at least every so often, the terminals aren't always reliable... Oh, and a lot of the floors are dangerous.

That's what I've got.

[princeoffortune]

[Well, Naoto's used to unreliable technology at this point and this isn't the fist time he's been told that death isn't permanent. It's no less disturbing a second time around.]

... Experimented on?

[guiltapalooza]

I didn't get all the details on that one. Or any of the details, really-- just lots of implied anger.

Sorry, I'm still undergoing the info gathering.

[princeoffortune]

Understandably so. I doubt it would have been a pleasant experience.

No need to apologize. I'm certain that a little digging with provide me with the answers I need.

Though I wonder... what did you mean when you said that some of the floors are dangerous?

[guiltapalooza]

Dig away, [she encourages.] I'm all about the research.

Oh, well, someone said that there were soul-sucking monsters that looked like people you know on one floor, [Willow says matter-of-factly.] I think they said they might not be around anymore? They kind of followed that up with a more general, "the floors that aren't dorms tend to be dangerous," warning. So anything above the third floor with the library, I'm guessing.