IC Inbox for VRDR

[herewardbound]

"This is Phoenix. If you have this number, you're smart enough to know how to leave a message."

Comments

[herewardbound]

'Organizing' is a strong word, but that's right. Feel free to come with, we typically meet up a little bit before midnight.

[lakebrat]

More like wrangling cats, is it? Thank you, I'll be along.

[If he's going into Ren's Palace, after all, he's going to need to be a lot stronger than he is.]

The other thing I wanted to ask is rather more personal, if you don't mind.

[herewardbound]

Ask away. I'll let you know if it veers into too personal.

[lakebrat]

Thank you.

[So let's just dive right in.]

I heard you nearly got shot during the operation with Falcon. Is that correct?

[herewardbound]

Bit more than shot, bluntly, that's part of why I'm throwing myself at Tartarus. I got my ass kicked, and I can't afford to be that sloppy.

[lakebrat]

We understand each other, I think.

What went wrong?

[herewardbound]

Just an opponent with a level of force we weren't prepared for. Didn't help that we hadn't previously worked together before, so we were out of sync. Little to no communication of strategies beforehand, lack of clear communication about positioning.

Just generally sloppy. Hoping to foster a better atmosphere, at least.

[lakebrat]

[That all sounds good. Plausible. But it's not what he heard.]

I've been in a few situations like that. But I'll level with you.

I heard you fell foul of a member of your team.

[herewardbound]

Technically accurate, but I don't hold it against them, and I hope they offer me the same clemency for my own actions while 'under the influence'.

If you know what 'Call of Chaos' is, then I'm sure you're at least marginally familiar with the effects. Falcon fielded it against the entire party at once, and more than one of us succumbed. I'm the only person who started attacking indiscriminately, but that's on me. I'm not happy with, or proud of, the way I reacted.

Yet another reason I need to improve. I can't afford something like that happening again.

[lakebrat]

You won't get any argument from me on that. Given the stories I've heard since I arrived, I'd say we could all stand to be stronger.

I've been told about Call of Chaos. I don't have direct experience with it. Was there some reason it hit you harder than the others?

[herewardbound]

I have my own theories, but before I answer:

Why is it you want to know? As far as I'm aware, you weren't involved in the operation.

[lakebrat]

[So it's sensitive, whatever it is. Fair enough.]

Not that operation, no. I believe it took plane well before I arrived this week. But without going into too much detail, I suspect there may be another operation coming up that it could be relevant to.

I understand you don't know me at all.

[herewardbound]

Well, I'm certainly willing to hear the pitch.

[lakebrat]

[And now here's the rub. Because Goro has things of his own that his instinct is not to share.]

It's a Palace.

[herewardbound]

He wasn't a complete idiot. He could read between the lines.

Belonging to someone here.


Someone involved in the falcon operation, that you're connected to, maybe.


...


Shit.

There were really only two options, there. And the other possibility had already been here for a long time.



A picture is forming in my mind, but if that suspicion is correct, then I'd like to help.

[lakebrat]

[All right, that's quicker than he anticipated. But that strikes him as a good sign.]

You're sharp. I suppose I should have expected that.

What do you say we meet in person? At a place of your choosing, perhaps? After all, if we'll be fighting together tonight, we should at least say hello.

[herewardbound]

In person sounds good. Sushi?

[lakebrat]

Damn. Yes, please. Wherever you think is best.

[Wherever Phoenix proposes, Goro will arrive shortly after him, doing a great job of not staring like a tourist at what certainly is a giant bird.]

[herewardbound]

Really, it was the only sushi place he knew well. Inexpensive, but not bad. Sae had taken him here, a few times, as a treat.

To his credit, perhaps, he didn't seem all that bothered by the staring. "Trust me, I was more surprised than you were. Goro Akechi, right? Goro Akechi, nice to finally put a name to the face."

[lakebrat]

He offers his hand—just a hand sticking up out of a mossy green overshirt, no glove or anything. Shit, Phoenix is tall. "Yes, indeed. Pleased to meet you, Goro Akechi-san. I've heard so much about you."

The place is new to him. He's seen it back home, of course, but eating out has largely been out of his price range. "Shall we go in? I suppose I should have done this from the off, but I didn't want to. You know."

Seem idly curious. Which he did an astounding job of all the same.

[herewardbound]

"No, it's totally fine." He took the offered hand, shaking. "I get it. There's a morbid fascination with seeing how all these different iterations of the same story turned out, and I'm the one who took a hard left at the fork."

Maybe conveyor belt sushi wasn't the best... but it was nostalgic.

[lakebrat]

It's like being ten years old, shaking hands with an adult. Goro grips firmly, with a bit of a grin, resisting the urge to ask how Phoenix manages ceilings. "Less of a hard left than a quantum leap, by the sound of it. I've read the board."

That Phoenix chose to go to hell. He'll leave an opening, but won't pry. Holding the door, he steps inside; conveyor belt sushi is still pricey, and though since Morgana showed up (and started paying) he's eaten more of it, he still views it as a treat.

[herewardbound]

How Phoenix navigated doors, apparently, was 'duck'. "You don't know the half of it. If I had a hundred yen for every time I've been dragged off to another weird-ass spiritual and/or cognitive realm... I'd have enough for a day pass on the Subway. That isn't a lot, but the fact it's happened more than once is enough."

He took a seat.

[lakebrat]

The height difference is less pronounced when they're sitting—though not the beak. Goro starts fiddling with the soy sauce and disposable chopsticks, watching the familiar coloured trays swoosh past on the conveyor. "Not your first rodeo, then?"

More than one of these cognitive spaces? He'd like to hear about that.

[herewardbound]

"You could say that. If you've read the board, you know the basics, probably. Died, got resurrected for dumb fuckin reasons, died again. Woke up in a place not unlike this one, with the many worlds connected shit and the shared dream world crap. Went to Hell, though that one was, admittedly, my choice. It was that or death again, so."

He shrugged, and snagged a plate for himself.