(no subject)

[fridgeflower]

WHO: Laurie Collins, Ruka, and Lucina
WHERE: De Chima, VA
WHEN: Backdated to Late July/Early August (Probably)
WHAT: Investigative Footwork
WARNINGS: Possible talk of death and body-horror stuff

[ Standing at the edge of the lot again feels dreamlike, which... It's not a good hypothetical dream. The haze of the day and the current still of the air, coupled with knowing what's happened here, makes for an unsettling surreality. Apart from the remnants of what the false Porter did, though, the day's relatively normal.

The warehouse in which the Porter was housed might be a lost cause. Laurie gazes at it from their current, reasonable distance. Cleanup and recovery has been spread thin, so the shell of the collapsed building remains. The thought of picking through it makes her skin crawl, but it may be part of what's on order today.

There are nearby buildings in much better shape, some with visible activity around them. The thought of approaching the people who live and work here is also not particularly pleasant, but it has to be done.

She rings her hand and turns back to the other members of her investigative team. It may be good that they're a relatively harmless-looking, all things considered. Maybe the natives will be more forthcoming and less aggressive. How they must feel right now... ]

Let's hope we aren't run out of town or otherwise mauled, huh?

Where should we start? Rubble or potential witnesses?

Comments

[fauxmarth]

[the recovery in this area should be a lot more comforting than this, but...as hazy as her memories are of the crisis, they're still much too soon to feel at all consoled at the sight of bricks cleared of moss.

gods, she wishes she was more armed. Falchion is a formidable weapon, yes, but...it couldn't save her from what had happened in here. maybe nothing could, but...more and more, she understands her young sister's love of armor. she ought to procure some of her own.

at the sound of gravel shifting with Laurie's turn, Lucina's eyes snap to attention -- perhaps a bit too quickly to be very at peace with this. as fast as she's looked, though, she still hesitates to speak up right away, giving Ruka a tentative glance as well.]

...The two of you remember the epicenter of this. I'm afraid I'm of no value there, so, please. Take point, and I'll make sure neither of you come to harm.

[dragony]

[ the tension of her companions is as thick in the air as the summer heat; neither of them are particularly thrilled by the prospect of going into the dead heart of calamity, despite the premise for the excursion, and Ruka can't really blame them.

for Laurie, who was there with Ruka when it happened, who saw what happened to Kirie, and to Will... and all those other people, and all that destruction. The weight lays with her different than it does with Ruka, and she's been putting on a good face of strength, but... not everyone can wear a face like that for long. and for Lucina, a girl Ruka has not met in person before this, she doesn't know the full scope of the horror of that building, but she does know the horror of this destruction in her own way. the way she longs and regrets swirls back on itself.

on the one hand, it's prudent to get the worst of it over with first. on the other hand, what they find might leave them too worn down to proceed — or some lingering power might still live there, in that rubble.

it's not quite fear or resignation, but Ruka shoves her gloved hands back into her pockets, trying to mask the way they shake. ]

People. [ her voice is still rough, healing from the damage of transformation and of use; she casts her one-eyed stare to the wreckage, and beyond. ] They're likely to know something. Better for our image, too. Look like we care more about helping them than getting revenge.

[ she doesn't think either of them have revenge in mind at all — they both seem to have good hearts — but Ruka knows how people feel, and how they react. the sooner they make some positive connection, the better. ]

[fridgeflower]

Right. [ Image is an important thing to keep in mind, all things considered. The damage here will be easily placed over imPort heads, which... Maybe if they weren't here, these sorts of awful things wouldn't happen. This particular blight isn't their doing, though. It's all something much worse than they are.

Laurie starts across the lot to the nearest intact building, pointedly not</> sparing the collapsed epicenter a glance. ]

I'll-- I can influence their attitudes, if need be. Unless their rabid or something, we shouldn't have to worry about coming to blows. [ An artificial nudge in a friendly direction never hurt anybody, right? ]

Ruka, can you tell when people are lying?

[ Is that part of empathy? ]

[dragony]

[ the question catches her off-guard; there's a jolt to her step, gaze flitting to Laurie but attention pulling backwards in memory, and shooting forward again, like the bite of a rubber band snapping against the skin. ]

No. Not really. A fake face, sure. Attitude. Not what they say. I can't feel falsehoods.

[ Something like that would have made the change actually useful, after all. She spares a glance toward Lucina. ]

What do you do?

[fauxmarth]

[her frown deepens when eyes fall on her, and she squeezes on Falchion's hilt out of reflex. it's a comfort.]

I'm no magic-user, I'm afraid. I'm a student of the blade, and this world has given me the power to fly. When it comes to sussing out the truth, I can only go by my intuition.

[fridgeflower]

No worries. [ Or... There are no worries related to truth-telling abilities, at least. It might've been a long-shot and, while it would've been nice, it's not necessary. ] I just wanted to know if we'd have a way to gauge whatever we're told.

I can make them way less likely to lie, I think. That's better than nothing. We can interpret anything we're told from there.

[ It's not too much ground to cover before they're approaching two warehouse workers, men in their twenties in worn, comfortable clothes coupled with hardhats and thick gloves. Laurie holds up a hand to flag them down, determined to be as direct as she can muster. There's still hesitancy in her, though. ]

Hi. Excuse me. [ Dependent on the breeze, the other girls may feel a sudden wash of warmth and comfort come over them. She's trying to project ease onto their first witnesses. ] Do you work here? I mean, did you work here before? Or are you cleaning up?

wife of nolan christensen - manip as u see fit

[fauxmarth]

[Lucina steps aside as Laurie begins her work, letting these two girls take the lead. it is...frustrating that she doesn't have much in the way of power to help, yes, but she consoles herself with the resolve that neither of them are going to get caught up in any trouble so long as she's around. that, mixed in with the aura Laurie exudes, keeps her nerves in check as the middle-aged woman is approached.

even with that pulse of security, there's very blatant suspicion etched on the woman's face. her eyes are puffy and red from some recent weeping, and her voice gives it away, too, when she replies with No. What do you want?]

kicks back in from oregon HI FRIENDS

[dragony]

[ And so it goes like that, in pieces and paces. Laurie's pheromones keep anyone they talk too from getting too aggressive with them, no matter where the topic strays; Ruka can feel Lucina's fruitless uncertainty like damp water at a curtain's edge, but it'll fade in time. And Ruka, she doesn't have the charisma of approachability, so she lingers at the edge of the conversation, able to devote more of her attention to listening, to gauging their feelings, and putting things together.

Laurie's first target—a couple young guys, the inbound delivery crew for the local wholesale marble-and-tile company (Marbleous Ti-Tile-Ation, emphasis on the tile). They're friendly enough, clearly enjoying any topic of conversation if it gets them talking to cute girls, even if they can't give too much information that's useful. They don't really know what kind of work they did in that building — with the way the neighborhood got fucked up, though, maybe it was a munitions plant? Nuclear energy? They don't know — but their loading yard had a view of the rear side of the building, and they tended to get their deliveries really early in the morning. Like, really early; these guys usually saw deliveries right at 7 on the dot, when they'd be going out for their coffee break, but some mornings there'd be packages delivered as early as four in the morning, when they'd be arriving for their own shifts to start. It'd seemed weird, but mundanely so. They didn't know anyone who worked there.

They'd moved to the nearest coffee shop from there. As a more development-and-industrial district, there weren't a lot in the way of retail stores or residences, but there were a handful of small restaurants and couple cafes; several had been destroyed during the catastrophe, while others got away with only minor damages. This one is the latter. A spiderweb of cracking in the main window, secured in place with layers of shipping tape, and a handwritten sign that reads: DO NOT TOUCH
YOU tOUCH It And We'LL ThRoW YOU ThRoUGH IT!!

The inside of the shop is mostly intact, the cafe rotunda-style with the coffee makers and espresso machines central and flush to the wall, and a wide U-shaped countertop bar encircling it. The woman sitting at the counter, sniffling into her cappuccino, wears her misery with all the finesse and subtlety of a scrap-cloth raincoat. She doesn't want to be here, but of course more than that is she doesn't want to -- well, something. Ruka can't tell anything that specific, but there's reticence and impending dread and suspicion of them and, obviously, grief. Great. ]

We're trying to figure out what caused the mutation fucking shit-show. [ Coarse, and impolite, and excessively blunt; enough, Ruka hopes, to rattle her into honest. ] It was a man-made catastrophe, and not everyone responsible is accounted for. We want to find them, so they can... meet the justice they deserve. So they don't try again, and kill even more people in the process.

[ ... Okay, looking like the Least Friendly of the girl squad has this single perk: seeming like the one who will fight dudes for revenge. Maybe next time she'll wear more black. ]

Did you know anybody who worked there?