[Rail IC] Academy City

[Anyr]

Uncoordinated as it was, the flailing weapon was quickly restrained. The unseen attacker spoke again, sounding considerably more confused this time.

"Kami, another robot? I gotta admit, that's a pretty good disguise you've got there! Let's see how long it lasts against this..."

So saying, Jirou proceeded to focus the full weight of his power on his target's supposedly artificial body. It was a good job for Kenta that he was mostly flesh and blood, because otherwise he'd most likely have been dead in seconds. As it was, only his artificial hand came under the sway of Dissolution; Lucky him...

[13_CBS]

Uncoordinated as it was, the flailing weapon was quickly restrained. The unseen attacker spoke again, sounding considerably more confused this time.

"Kami, another robot? I gotta admit, that's a pretty good disguise you've got there! Let's see how long it lasts against this..."

So saying, Jirou proceeded to focus the full weight of his power on his target's supposedly artificial body. It was a good job for Kenta that he was mostly flesh and blood, because otherwise he'd most likely have been dead in seconds. As it was, only his artificial hand came under the sway of Dissolution; Lucky him...

Jirou and Kenta

Kenta's face is a bizarre mix of confusion, horror, and outrage.

"I...my hand! How the hell did you do that to my hand! And I'm NOT a robot, dammit!"

He pauses a moment, then realization dawns on him.

"Did you just...were you...trying to kill me?"

[Anyr]

Jirou allowed himself a brief smirk at his opponent's shock. Seeing people's initial reactions to Dissolution never got old. And apparently this man was a person after all, which made his reaction all the more satisfying. On top of that, he seemed to have mistaken Jirou for a killer; Jirou wasn't really sure how to feel about that. In the end he settled for being indignant at the accusation, mainly because he was so obviously the victim here.

"You can't kill a robot, moron; They're not alive in the first place. And besides, it was self defence! How would you react if some random lunatic just jumped out of nowhere and attacked you for no reason?"

[13_CBS]

Jirou allowed himself a brief smirk at his opponent's shock. Seeing people's initial reactions to Dissolution never got old. And apparently this man was a person after all, which made his reaction all the more satisfying. On top of that, he seemed to have mistaken Jirou for a killer; Jirou wasn't really sure how to feel about that. In the end he settled for being indignant at the accusation, mainly because he was so obviously the victim here.

"You can't kill a robot, moron; They're not alive in the first place. And besides, it was self defence! How would you react if some random lunatic just jumped out of nowhere and attacked you for no reason?"

Kenta

Kenta's face contorts. Is it outrage or embarrassment? It eventually settles on indignant.

"Jumped out and attacked you?! What are you, stupid? I just ran into you! And then you said something about wanting to kill me, or something..."

He realizes something.

"Wait, did you say...'another robot'?"

[Anyr]

"Oh come on, drop the act. A guy with a metal hand just happens to 'bump into' me a minute after I send that killer droid to the scrap heap? Those are some pretty long odds you're trying to sell, buddy. You got anything to back them up, or should I just take you down here and now?"

If only things were really that simple. Now that he'd been given some time to think, Jirou was quickly becoming aware of a few problems with his approach; The main one being that he had no idea what to do next. Okay, so he'd caught the suspected assassin in a vice-like grip...What now?

"Okay, let's try and think this through. I can't just stand here holding the guy forever, but I can't let him go either. Should I knock him out? Not much help, but it'd at least shut him up. Take him to the cops? Great, except I've got no proof that he's actually done anything; Let's face it, I look more like a criminal than he does. Seriously, what are you supposed to do with the bad guy after you've caught him?"

Whatever it was, he'd better think of something quickly. This backstreet wouldn't stay deserted forever.

[13_CBS]

Repost:

Spoiler

Show

Warehouse

"What the..." The thug is momentarily distracted by the flapping of wings.

"Get offa me, you stupid bird!"

"Oh come on, drop the act. A guy with a metal hand just happens to 'bump into' me a minute after I send that killer droid to the scrap heap? Those are some pretty long odds you're trying to sell, buddy. You got anything to back them up, or should I just take you down here and now?"

Kenta

"Killer droid? Wait, no...no way. He couldn't have..."

Kenta coughs, his eyes darting around. "I-I, wait what? Quit talking crazy man, what robots are you talking about?"

"He looks tough, but...no way. Not by himself."

[Maximum Zersk]

Repost:


[/I]

Whoops! >///>

Catarino

Catarino attempts to land a hard kick to the thug's neck.

Cici

Cici tries to jump at the bot while he's distracted.

[Anyr]

"You wanna hear about it? I'll do you one better; The thing's only a street away, so let's just go and see it! Maybe that'll help 'jog your memory'. Come on, let's take a little walk."

So saying, Jirou proceeded to disentangle himself from Kenta so that they could do just that. Releasing the man felt like a mistake, but it was still the best plan he'd been able to come up with. Besides, holding that grapple hadn't been doing his tired muscles any good at all.

Assuming that Kenta didn't try to make a break for it, Jirou would guide him back to the shady street where his most recent battle had occurred. He kept a hand on his prisoner's shoulder at all times and guided him from behind, while silently hoping that the man really was as scared as he seemed. It wouldn't take long for the the robot's remains to come within sight, and once they did Jirou stopped to survey his handiwork.

"There you go, Mister Innocent; Was this what you wanted to see? There's not much left of the thing now, but it was a pretty impressive piece of gear in its prime. Of course, that was before it decided to jump me..."

Jirou let the words hang in the air, allowing them to settle into Kenta's consciousness. Even someone like him knew that a sight like this was worth a thousand clumsy threats, so he wisely stayed silent. A good thing, too, because his skills in serious intimidation weren't exactly finely honed. Still, that twisted wreck would hopefully be worth a good few scare points on its own.

[13_CBS]

Friday

Catarino

Catarino attempts to land a hard kick to the thug's neck.

Warehouse

The thug falls down hard, groaning. He struggles to get back up.

Cici

Cici tries to jump at the bot while he's distracted.

Cici's Apartment

Cici successfully lands on the robot, whose buzzsaw now targets Cici. Its whirring blades inch ever closer to her vulnerable face...

"You wanna hear about it? I'll do you one better; The thing's only a street away, so let's just go and see it! Maybe that'll help 'jog your memory'. Come on, let's take a little walk."

So saying, Jirou proceeded to disentangle himself from Kenta so that they could do just that. Releasing the man felt like a mistake, but it was still the best plan he'd been able to come up with. Besides, holding that grapple hadn't been doing his tired muscles any good at all.

Assuming that Kenta didn't try to make a break for it, Jirou would guide him back to the shady street where his most recent battle had occurred. He kept a hand on his prisoner's shoulder at all times and guided him from behind, while silently hoping that the man really was as scared as he seemed. It wouldn't take long for the the robot's remains to come within sight, and once they did Jirou stopped to survey his handiwork.

"There you go, Mister Innocent; Was this what you wanted to see? There's not much left of the thing now, but it was a pretty impressive piece of gear in its prime. Of course, that was before it decided to jump me..."

Jirou let the words hang in the air, allowing them to settle into Kenta's consciousness. Even someone like him knew that a sight like this was worth a thousand clumsy threats, so he wisely stayed silent. A good thing, too, because his skills in serious intimidation weren't exactly finely honed. Still, that twisted wreck would hopefully be worth a good few scare points on its own.

Kenta

For just a moment, Kenta's eyes widen with shock. "So he did...damn. He must be level 4 or something..."

He shoves is (only remaining) hand in his pockets and shrugs. "I, uh, I..." He sighs.

"Come on, man. You can't go around accusing people who run into you of trying to kill you with robots." He laughs, perhaps a little to forcefully.



Saturday

A bright Saturday morning. Clear skies, and not a flake of snow to be seen. This is the morning that Masaki wakes up to--that, and a cup of coffee as usual.

He gazes at the pile of documents that he had been working on late through the night--more test data that needed checking.

"Hmph. Maybe I should request a lab partner..."

[Lillith]

Saturday, Jane's place

With a yawn Jane woke up. She stretched and looked at the clock. 9am, she had expected to be asleep longer. Yesterday she had been studying till very late, just so she could finish all of her homework. After that she had been trying to learn more kanji and installed a program on her computer to translate her school books for her.

"Alright, time to get started for today!" Jane thought. She wanted to explore the city today and find out where she could take archery and swimming classes. Jane walked towards her closet and took out a clean school outfit. "I just hope that there aren't anymore rampaging robots or trigger happy ESPers around today. The last thing I want is getting involved into another fight."

[Maximum Zersk]

Catarino

Warehouse

The thug falls down hard, groaning. He struggles to get back up.

Catarino uses him as a springboard and launches himself out of the window. He grabs the ledge and climbs, sometimes jumping, down. Once he reaches the ground, he dashes off, jumping and ducking around obstacles.

Cici

Cici's Apartment

Cici successfully lands on the robot, whose buzzsaw now targets Cici. Its whirring blades inch ever closer to her vulnerable face...

The only thing going through Cici's mind is Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Electricity jumps from her fingertips, quickly reprogramming the robot.

[Silverraptor]

Saturday Jason

Despite the sun shining right through the window, Jason didn't stir at all. Too comfortable to try to fully adapt to the new time zone. Especially since there was no school today.

He'll still be in there for a few more hours.

[13_CBS]

Catarino

Catarino uses him as a springboard and launches himself out of the window. He grabs the ledge and climbs, sometimes jumping, down. Once he reaches the ground, he dashes off, jumping and ducking around obstacles.

Warehouse

Catarino can hear shouting and crashing behind him as the thugs try (and fail) to bullrush their way through the various knickknacks in the warehouse. He makes it to the door with no problems and, as far as he can tell, no pursuers immediately behind him.

"Damn it, get him! GET HIM!"

Cici

The only thing going through Cici's mind is Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Electricity jumps from her fingertips, quickly reprogramming the robot.

Cici's Apartment

The buzzsaw blade begins to slow, but continues to inch towards Cici's face...

[Anyr]

For just a moment, Kenta's eyes widen with shock. "So he did...damn. He must be level 4 or something..."

He shoves is (only remaining) hand in his pockets and shrugs. "I, uh, I..." He sighs.

"Come on, man. You can't go around accusing people who run into you of trying to kill you with robots." He laughs, perhaps a little to forcefully.

It didn't take much to convince Jirou of Kenta's guilt, and that nervous laugh was more than enough in his eyes. Even so, he hesitated; As guilty as the man seemed, he did have a point as far as accusations went. Here he was, intimidating someone who still hadn't confessed, with absolutely no evidence to back up his claims; That didn't sound like the sort of thing that most good guys (and he was the good guy here, damn it!) would do. This important conclusion having been reached, he resolved to find at least one decent clue before delivering the beatdown.

"Okay wise guy, turn out your pockets! If you're really innocent then you shouldn't have anything to hide, right? You certainly wouldn't have anything with this symbol...this symbol...hold on a second, let me dig it out..."

Taking his hand off Kenta for a moment, Jirou triumphantly produced his phone...which, upon closer inspection, turned out to have a flat battery. After a few fevered curses to the gods of narrative causality, he stamped over to the twisted hulk and started rooting through that instead. Once again a perfectly good dramatic moment was ruined by modern technology...

[Mina Kobold]

Katsu

Katsu throws a piece of rubble at the buzzsaw and waves at the robot

"Oi! Over here!"

He runs around the robot, throwing more pebbles at it to distract it.

[13_CBS]

Friday

It didn't take much to convince Jirou of Kenta's guilt, and that nervous laugh was more than enough in his eyes. Even so, he hesitated; As guilty as the man seemed, he did have a point as far as accusations went. Here he was, intimidating someone who still hadn't confessed, with absolutely no evidence to back up his claims; That didn't sound like the sort of thing that most good guys (and he was the good guy here, damn it!) would do. This important conclusion having been reached, he resolved to find at least one decent clue before delivering the beatdown.

"Okay wise guy, turn out your pockets! If you're really innocent then you shouldn't have anything to hide, right? You certainly wouldn't have anything with this symbol...this symbol...hold on a second, let me dig it out..."

Taking his hand off Kenta for a moment, Jirou triumphantly produced his phone...which, upon closer inspection, turned out to have a flat battery. After a few fevered curses to the gods of narrative causality, he stamped over to the twisted hulk and started rooting through that instead. Once again a perfectly good dramatic moment was ruined by modern technology...

Kenta

"Now."

He flicks his hand, and several of the screws once belonging to the robot fly at Jirou's face. Not bothering to see if that had any effect, Kenta takes off towards the more populated streets again.

He yells out behind him, "That's for my hand, arseface!"

Katsu

Katsu throws a piece of rubble at the buzzsaw and waves at the robot

"Oi! Over here!"

He runs around the robot, throwing more pebbles at it to distract it.

Cici's Apartment

The robot tries to aim another dart at Katsu, but its aim is wild--the reprogramming seems to have gotten to its targeting protocols.

[Anyr]

"Son of a-that really hurt!"

Jirou stumbled after the fleeing Kenta without delay, but thanks to a well-placed screw in the eye he wasn't exactly at his fastest. By the time his vision cleared, the one-armed assassin had already vanished.

It was a good job that there were no children nearby, because the string of curses which followed would have scarred them for life. The burst of anger soon faded, however, in the wake of sheer exhaustion. Succumbing at last to the rigours of the day, Jirou trudged wearily away with his hands in his pockets. When at last his dingy apartment came into view, it was greeted with an enormous sigh of relief. The long day was finally over, and there was an unmade bed in there with his name on it.

Saturday

The alarm clock that sat on Jirou's bedside had to ring for quite a while before it could make itself heard. Its persistence was eventually rewarded when a hand emerged from the sheets and reduced it to dust. When Jirou eventually rose it was over an hour later, and with much less vigour than usual. Rubbing his eyes and scratching his head, he picked his way across the messy floor and into the bathroom for his morning shower.

"Wow, what a weird dream that was. Unless...No, it couldn't be..."

But it was. A quick inspection in the bathroom was enough to convince him that yesterday's events had been no mere illusion. Every part of it had left its mark on him somehow: On his back were the bruises from when that uppity schoolgirl had slammed him backwards with a gust of wind; His eyes were still slightly sore from the burst of tear gas they'd suffered when he'd fought the attack droid, as well as from the impact of a telekinetically controlled screw; And there, on the collar of his discarded shirt, a small drop of ice cream still lay visible.

For some reason that last one seemed like the most significant, and it took him a minute to remember why. Once the memory had surfaced, though, he leapt towards his jacket with all the speed at his command. In moments his battered phone was in hand and plugged into a wall socket. A little frantic button pressing later and his target materialised on the screen: Harada Rin's phone number, plain for all to see. Suddenly the day seemed a whole lot brighter.

The Jirou who eventually emerged into the crisp morning air was a great improvement on the shambling horror which had crawled out of bed earlier on. Though not completely recovered from his wounds, he was at least capable of standing upright with a smile on his face. He set off down the street, armed with a cautiously optimistic expression, a fully charged phone set to its loudest ringtone and a wandering eye scanning the populace for familiar faces. This new day wasn't going to know what hit it...

[Lillith]

Saturday, Jane's place

Finishing her breakfast and straightening her skirt, Jane grabbed a small notebook and her schoolbag. She was playing with a pen, turning it between her fingers, thinking of what to write down. After scribbling some things on her paper, the following things had been placed in order:

Things to do:
1. Find a decent bookstore > buy more Japanese language books
2. Buy a city map
3. Locate the archery court
4. Locate the swimming pool
5. Try to sign up for them
6. Find places with good food (and supermarkets)

Glancing over the paper once more, Jane put the notebook back into her schoolbag, which now only contained her wallet and her Japanese phrases book.

Jane closed the door behind her and left her apartment building. Once out on the street she looked slightly confused... where to start?

[Rhydeble]

After the ridiculously bad food he had had yesterday, Cale decided it was time to find a restaurant somewhere new. He was walking the streets with no specific place in mind, when he saw someone.

It was the wielder of the scream of doom.

It was someone he didn't know was called Jane.

He walked up to her, to go and tell her that she shouldn't panic so muc because of a single combat robot.

[Lillith]

Jane was looking up and down her street, making sure to remember the layout so she wouldn't get lost again. Just before she could decide which way to start her search, her mind alarmed her someone had focused on her. It was like this stingy sensation in her neck that she'd get if someone in her close proximity would notice her, with the intend to approach her.

Immediately she was on her alert, looking more mindful of her surroundings. Jane looked back and forth while scanning the crowd, who was it and how far away was this person from her? It wasn't long before a Caucasian looking guy with dark hair caught her eye. He seemed to approach her, but Jane stayed in her spot. Whatever this guys deal was, she could feel it wasn't of malicious intend. Else her senses would have gone haywire if he had.

[Silverraptor]

Jason

Jason was out and walking around, exploring the city. Not willingly, mind you. If it wasn't for his mother to kick him out of bed and to say explore the town, he'd still be in bed sleeping. It also didn't help that the packages of most of his stuff still hadn't arrived yet.

So currently, Jason is wandering the city with a pocket full of "Spending money". He spies a pastery shop up ahead and decides to head on over to it.

[Rhydeble]

<Hey there, you must be new here.> Cale said to the girl in English. He had an accent, but not one that could be recognized, because it was a combination of several international intonations.

While Waiting for an answer, Cale gave the girl a quick look, She looked pretty good, but not like something Cale would remember in a few weeks, Atleast that was what he thought before he looked at her Eyes, Which came in the form of two large darkgreen orbs that almost sucked the thoughts right out of your mind. It was unsettling, but also, in a quirky way, quite interesting.

[Maximum Zersk]

Cici's Apartment

The robot tries to aim another dart at Katsu, but its aim is wild--the reprogramming seems to have gotten to its targeting protocols.

Cici quickly tries to finish reprogramming it.

Almost, almost... there!

She finishes. The robot should stop moving now.

[Anyr]

On the premises of an upmarket bookshop in one of the nicer parts of Academy City, a young man sat fuming. Jirou had been in quite good spirits when setting out, but it hadn't taken long for his optimistic mood to ebb away in the morning light. The first blow had come when his investigations into the mysterious robot had come up with no leads. Well, perhaps 'investigation' was too generous a term for his activities, consisting as they did of him wandering around mostly at random hoping to stumble on something useful. To be fair, it was a method that had worked fine yesterday. Unfortunately the Fates weren't feeling quite as generous today, so by this point he'd been reduced to checking the Robotics section of local bookshops.

He sat back in one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs dotted around the place, holding a dense tome in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. That was the second cause of his bad mood: The fact that he'd somehow managed to acquire a priceless phone number which he remained too spineless to actually use. His only hope now was that the Goddess of Tokiwadai actually wanted his company and would call of her own accord; Yes, right after she'd finished watching the aerobatics demonstration by the local squadron of flying pigs...

Ah well, at least there was one number on here that he could actually use; Rin wasn't the only new person he'd met yesterday. Pulling himself forcibly out of his self pity, Jirou scrolled away from the angelic number and onto a more down to earth one.

"[Hey, Jason? It's Jirou. Listen, do you know anything about robots?]"

[Silverraptor]

Jason was looking through the display glass at all the different cakes and pastries. He had been shoved somewhat to the side from the cashier purely for holding up the line of the other customers. He just couldn't decide between the many varieties of chocolate cakes, brownies, and pretty much anything chocolate. Chocolate was his weakness. He knew this and his parents knew this. It was the one thing that he just couldn't get enough of. And it was the one thing his parents were really against him having.

Suddenly, his concentration is shattered as his cell phone rings. After a split second of needless panic, thinking his mom had somehow became and esper over night on knowing when he was trying to get chocolate, he finally looked at the caller ID. With a great sigh of relief, he stepped back away from the counter to get a little more Privacy.

"[Hello?... Oh hi Jirou... Huh? Robots? Why do you want to know?]

[horngeek]

Tsubasa gets up on Saturday, groaning. "Foooood..."

She starts to head to the closest cafe to the Tokidawa dormitaries. Could be interacted with.

[Lillith]

<Hey there, you must be new here.> Cale said to the girl in English. He had an accent, but not one that could be recognized, because it was a combination of several international intonations.

The sudden question in English almost took Jane off guard. That was pretty much the last thing she had expected. It wouldn't have surprised her if he had asked her directions. Though Jane had to admit she probably stood out in the crowd a bit.

<Uh... yes, I am.> She observed the guy suspiciously. Had her parents send someone to keep their influence over her? Were the higher ups of Academy City planning something? Or was this just a coincidence? <How did you know?>

[Anyr]

"[Hello?... Oh hi Jirou... Huh? Robots? Why do you want to know?]"

"[It's about those killbots that were throwing their weight around yesterday. You hear about those yet? I thought everyone'd be talking about them, but it's been pretty low key so far. Anyway, one of them jumped me in an alley and gave me some trouble, so now I'm trying to find the guys who sent it. Got any ideas?]"

Jirou wasn't really expecting much from his new acquaintance, but there was no harm in asking. Besides, it gave him something to do besides moping in dark corners.

[Rhydeble]

The sudden question in English almost took Jane off guard. That was pretty much the last thing she had expected. It wouldn't have surprised her if he had asked her directions. Though Jane had to admit she probably stood out in the crowd a bit.

<Uh... yes, I am.> She observed the guy suspiciously. Had her parents send someone to keep their influence over her? Were the higher ups of Academy City planning something? Or was this just a coincidence? <How did you know?>

"<Well, It might seem strange to you, but most people around here don't freak out from a single killer robot like you did. There's almost always an esper around, so those small-scale problems tend to solve themselves.>"

Cale said nonchalantly to the girl, while standing in front of her.
"< I'm Cale, Level four, what about you?>"

[Lillith]

"<Well, It might seem strange to you, but most people around here don't freak out from a single killer robot like you did. There's almost always an esper around, so those small-scale problems tend to solve themselves.>"

Cale said nonchalantly to the girl, while standing in front of her.
"< I'm Cale, Level four, what about you?>"

<Jane, Level... three I think they said.> She looked at Cale. Trying to get a reading on him. <Did you just say those kind of things happen often here? What kind of place is this?>