[BiTPR2] Renewed Revolution: Spirit World III

[strawberryman]

Chouko turns her head to Vern for a moment after Koutarou's speech. She then sends the video file she recorded of the Command Division's lieutenant to a few reliable parties within the engineering division, along with a rather simple text-based message. Most of them decline.

"...Yo, Vern, you doubtin' the efficienacity of the Engineering division? I can finish the damn bomb, but I can't be in two places at once. I figure you want the best mechanic available to set this explosion party in motion. S***, I already have the paper hats, cups, and punch ready. Don't go and think I'm not down for a little mosh pit action."

Efficienacity, for those with the official Takenaktionary™, is a portmanteau of Efficient and Tenacity.

[Kuroimaken]

"Takenaka-kun. What's your estimate for building said bomb? Assuring its quality and safety in handling, of course." There is no malice in the Vice-Commander's words - he speaks rather matter-of-factly.
He doesn't doubt she can do it.

"I'm going to need your utmost expedifficiency in this matter."

See, he can make up words too. This one is a mix of expedience and efficiency.

[Mina Kobold]

[Las Noches]
Central District -> District 1

There is a blink, a sense of motion, and the group is in District 1, the Grand Library. They stand before a particularly massive building, which Jehoel strides toward, opening the door for the two mortals. The entire building is series of large floors overlooking an open, central space. Apart from this central area, which is covered with tables, the rest of the building is consumed by bookshelves. Occasionally, an Arrancar can be seen flitting between the shelves. Jehoel leads them to the second floor before leaning against one of the railings. When he speaks, it is slightly more quietly than his usual, already reserved, tone.

"This is the largest portion of the Grand Library, repository of knowledge, literature, philosophy, and those who pursue them. Now, I ask of you both: why did you come here?"

Rin looks curiously at their surroundings every step of the way, halfway seeming to disbelieve what is going on and halfway resisting the urge to investigate every nook and cranny of the library. At Jehoel's words, the Mortal looks up from a particularly interesting shelf.

"Didn't want to stand behind and hope nobody got hurt going to another world, mostly. Doesn't hurt that it's a better way to learn than trying to research based on practically nothing"

The security guard fish-out-of-water says, seemingly too distracted to think too much about whether or not to reveal ignorance of most of the afterlife to Jehoel.

[ImpSyndrome]

[RUKONGAI, DISTRICT 63 (HAIDANI)]

"Less talk, more work, son. Grab a hoe." His father doesn't sound angry. Satoshi probably made a bigger deal out of things than he needed to.

"Have you managed to get some thinking time to yourself? Figure things out?"

"I only wish," Satoshi says with a tone of humility. He grabs up one of the nearby farming implements and continues, "But I'm done worrying about it for now. It's not helping me any, so I might as well try to do something more productive...It doesn't feel very pleasant, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes..."

[Kuroimaken]

"You're going to give your mother wrist pains from smacking you upside the head so much." Satoshi's father shook his head. "Stop thinking and keep moving. Best medicine for a problem you take too long solving. Otherwise the frustration mounts and you don't go anywhere.

With this at least, you have a tilled field, and what will be, will be."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Soul Society]
Vice-Commander's office

At this point, Li opens the commander's office's door and steps back into the room. "I believe the deadline I gave was four days", Li remarks. "Do feel free to surprise me and finish it earlier, but do realize the isotopes won't get here with a snap of my fingers. Building the delivery mechanism is the easy part."

"In any case, Takenaka-san is right. She can't be in two places at once. Neither can Vern-san. If building the device can't be delegated to someone else, one of them has to stay here. I don't care which, draw lots if you have to."

[strawberryman]

[Soul Society]

The door opens again. A rather large, hunched man steps in, messy black hair tied in knots in some places by cloth strands. His eyes are blue, and apart from his lack of sleeves (which show off his rather muscular arms), the only thing to set his shihakusho apart is a blue sash wrapped around his waist, with what seems to be an aquatic themed gold embroidery. His zanpaktou, a large nodachi with a sheathe painted with waves, is tucked through the sash, and there's a bandolier carrying several vials that snakes around the other side of his hip.

Harada will probably recognize him as Hamasaki Daiki. Former member of SSI, and a rather talented chemist. His physical stature and other modifications can be linked to his propensity towards self-testing. There's rumors he has shark-teeth. His slight baring of the pearly whites confirms this to be true.

"Cap'n said you need volunteers. Guess I'm as good as any."

Chouko gives two right-side thumbs-up. "Hamasaki here can be my wingman. He might not be a techno mastermind robotics engineer... or... really, any kind of engineer, but hey, not like I'm gonna bitch about getting a voluntary poach from you guys, right?"

Daiki picks his teeth slightly. "No hard feelins, I hope." He doesn't sound like he overly cares.

[Kuroimaken]

"Are you volunteering for the expedition or the bomb-building?" Koutarou's face clearly indicates which answer he fears.

[strawberryman]

[Soul Society]

"Daiki here is comin' on your prison party crashin' party, ain't much of an engineer, like I said. I can vouch for him, he's solid, and I don't just mean his head or his arms." Chouko folds her arms, and Daiki nods.

"Sounds like a plan, boss."

[Kuroimaken]

"That works for me. Harada? Vern?"

[KnightDisciple]

Michael Harada had given Hamasaki Daiki a polite nod as the chemist walks in. He shrugged at the mention of "poaching", declining comment.

"If Daiki-san's willing, I think he'd make a very solid addition to the team."

[Spacewolf]

"Couldn't hurt I suppose."

[AnimeKid]

"Got some of my boys handpicked for the job as well. Mostly former Rukongai residents. They should be able to help out. Teaching investigation techniques as well as police protocol will take a lot longer, so they'll have to shoulder that burden alone for a while, but it can't be helped."

Naijeru nods at Setsurou's words thoughtfully. The teaching of investigation techniques and police protocol would indeed be tricky and lengthy. Depending on the opinions of the people when they tried to teach and implement then they be considered as overstaying their welcome.

"I see. Well then it seems we truly are just about prepared for this undertaking. Here's hoping that nothing goes wrong. I swear if I find this Murpy guy I'm gonna put him through a table."

Spoiler

Show

Overuse of spoilers? What's that?

[Las Noches]
Central District -> District 1

There is a blink, a sense of motion, and the group is in District 1, the Grand Library. They stand before a particularly massive building, which Jehoel strides toward, opening the door for the two mortals. The entire building is series of large floors overlooking an open, central space. Apart from this central area, which is covered with tables, the rest of the building is consumed by bookshelves. Occasionally, an Arrancar can be seen flitting between the shelves. Jehoel leads them to the second floor before leaning against one of the railings. When he speaks, it is slightly more quietly than his usual, already reserved, tone.

"This is the largest portion of the Grand Library, repository of knowledge, literature, philosophy, and those who pursue them. Now, I ask of you both: why did you come here?"

[/COLOR]

Tamaki looked around with wonder evident on his face. It looked a bit unusual on him considering his usual frosty expression. When Jehoel asked his question he turned towards the Arrancar and pushed his glasses up before answering.

"My answer is quite simple. I came here to learn. As humans, we typically fear that which we do not understand. Such as yourselves. As you saw from my teacher there is some fear of you and some of it is for good reason. However at the same time we fear you without fully understanding why. Is it just the power? There are possibly various humans with such power as well and yet we do not readily fear that fact.

Mikael offered me a different opinion, backed by his experiences as you saved him. I wish to form one of my own. I do not wish to do it blindly however. So far I have seen that like humans no Arrancar is the same. I wish to see the extent of our similarities and our differences. I wish to learn the culture that has been set up here, the way of life, the philosophies, the opinions and beliefs of these beings. The reason I came here is because I seek to understand. That's as simply as I can put it."

[Kuroimaken]

Naijeru nods at Setsurou's words thoughtfully. The teaching of investigation techniques and police protocol would indeed be tricky and lengthy. Depending on the opinions of the people when they tried to teach and implement then they be considered as overstaying their welcome.

"I see. Well then it seems we truly are just about prepared for this undertaking. Here's hoping that nothing goes wrong. I swear if I find this Murpy guy I'm gonna put him through a table."

"He's probably already reincarnated, but I share the sentiment.

I will leave Urameshi in charge of my side of the recruits... there's a mission I need to see to in the Mortal World coming up in a couple of days. I don't foresee any problems though."


________

"Very well, lady and gentlemen.

Ready yourselves. We depart in two hours."

[Dorizzit]

[Las Noches]
Grand Library

Jehoel nods sagely as he listens to both explanations.

"I see. Well, then. This is your first lesson. This was very close to terminally stupid for both of you."

He turns to look first at Rin.

"You do not possess the power to influence the fate of anyone else in the Spirit World. A regular human, without powers, stands almost no chance against even the weakest of Hollows. One with less than a quarter of my power could kill you without even giving you time to react. If you know nothing, it is better to air on side of caution, unless you seek to end your own life. The world into which you have entered is fascinating, I'm sure, but also terribly dangerous. It would do you well to consider this in the future."

He switches to Tamaki.

"As for you, you knew how dangerous Hollows could be, and charged blithely in. Yes, we've been working with the Shinigami. Yes, we have the face of a human. Yes, I've helped you. That means nothing. Hollows are practically immortal. A few days, or months, or even years means nothing to the older among our kind. This could easily have been an elaborate trap to lure you in for any number of purposes. Humans fear us because we have hunted and consumed them for millenia, often in ways that are unnecessarily vicious and cruel. That doesn't just change from the transformation to Hollow to Arrancar: the evolution allows growth, but does not create it. 'Learning from the source' is all well and good, if there is any concrete indication that said source doesn't have more use for you dead than alive."

He pauses, letting his words sink in. At no point did his tone change at all.

"Now that I've rebuked you both, allow me to completely undermine my message by providing you everything you desired. I merely mean to encourage you to think before you act. Every action must be carefully weighed and measured, or someone might die. It is better to play the safe odds and survive than risk your own life, which is precious beyond compare. When, and if, you do choose to risk your existence, it should be with full knowledge of the potential consequences, and the desire necessary to succeed even so. Am I making sense?"

[Mina Kobold]

[Las Noches]
Grand Library

Rin surprisingly raises an eyebrow and shakes her head and replies in a slightly apologetic tone.

"Not particularly, I'm afraid. I don't see much safety about knowing nothing of why a, presumably Hollow-related, being appeared in the middle of my workplace and attempted to set me on fire. Seemed safer to go with my leads than assume it was a one-time event. Don't really have years to weigh whether the next one will succeed in offing me."

Shrugging, the knowledge-lacking Mortal pulls out a notebook and flips through over a dozen pages of diagrams and sketches to reach a particular one. Scribbling down a few words in a table and crossing out others, Rin adds:

"Am thankful, though, it's good advice in general and I won't complain about learning what to avoid."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Soul Society]
HQ - Vice-Commander's office

Li looks at those gathered, then nods at Koutarou. "You have your group then", the commander says, then turns to the rest of the group. "Now, I heard some musings about equipment? I will have to order you to wear Gotei standard hazardous materials suits for this expedition. There is a very high chance of the air there being contaminated with biological pathogens. It may not be good for breathing even without those."

"I already have assistants fetching those suits and external air supplies. One question remains, though: do you want the spirit-nullifying armor plates that go with them?" Li turns at Koutarou again. "I believe others here have experience with those, but you might need an explanation: those plates are made of Sekkiseki. They serve to magnetically seal the suits, creating a miniature version of the Shakonmaku protecting this city. They are very, very good at keeping any sort of spiritual influence out. They are, however, just at good at keeping any spiritual influence in." Fun fact: that includes not just manifestations of Reiatsu, but also stuff like body heat and urine. Remember to go before suiting up if you don't like catherers. "While wearing those, you have to rely on your raw strenght and intellect. Kido is not possible without external equipment. Neither are advanced forms of Hoho or Zanjutsu."

[Spacewolf]

"I think I'll have to decline Commander, while I still have my sword the trade off just isn't worth it."

[KnightDisciple]

Michael thought about the offer for a moment before shaking his head.

"Perhaps if I'd been inclined to take a few more laps around the courtyard, but as it stands I'm not comfortable cutting myself off from not only Kido but my Shikai."

He might be a bit of a prodigy in combat, but a lot of his style does revolve around the use of Kido or his reiatsu. It makes sense he'd turn the offer down.

[strawberryman]

[Soul Society]

Daiki shrugs. "Been around chem s*** enough, I'll be fine. I'll take the suit, if ya can make a fit."

Chouko flexes her arms a bit. "Well, it's about time to go back to the bomb jam, brothas." She leaves without a word, breaking into shunpo when she leaves the command division offices.

[Kuroimaken]

"Is there some kind of a release mechanism to go with those plates? My Shikai would have little to no issue with reliance on raw strength, given how it works. Although I might be unable to change to the bulkier forms while sealed in."

[Frozen_Feet]

"There is a release mechanism, yes. It takes a minute of time and a calm mind to operate without breaking anything." Li thinks. "Hmmm, I suppose the speed record was shy of five seconds. But that was not in combat conditions, and was done by someone proficient with the gear. It might be easier for you if we just left them out. Li glances at the others around. "I will remind you, though, that without the plates the suits are just plexiglass, chainmail and kevlar. Good enough for a dip in toxic waste, not good for close combat. If you end up in a fight, they will be compromised. The visor will be the first thing to yield. They're mostly just dead weight if you end up breathing poison gass through cracks in the glass."

[Kuroimaken]

"If we end up in combat we'll have bigger things to worry about. Especially if Von Geister is somehow free. Even I'm not foolhardy enough to get into a fight with that man."

[Frozen_Feet]

Li coughs. "Well, then. If you feel that way, I'll give you the plates to try for yourself. I believe Daiki can assist you with the locks." Li paces around. "Are there any more arrangements we need to go over, Vice-Commander?"

[5a Violista]

[Hueco Mundo]
Las Noches - Valentina's quarters

Valentina returns to her quarters, hanging out in the doorway. If it hadn't had been for her arm, it would have been hardly perceptible. As it is, though, Mikael had twenty to thirty seconds to sense her coming before she actually arrived.

She's actually a little surprised that he stayed there and didn't take this opportunity to get away and explore on his own. I guess my first impression was wrong, she thinks. This causes the beginnings of a smile to appear on her mouth.

Then, in case he was too busy to notice her, she speaks up. "So, are you ready to take a look around the city?"

[Frozen_Feet]

When Valentina returns, Mikael has taken apart and put back together his rifle over thirty times. She can see its parts spread out on the floor in neat floors, as if reflecting its design schematic. Mikael is holding its lock in his hand, left eye closed, the right eye wide open and staring at it intently. If Valentina has been paying attention, she might note the man's eye is different than it was when he arrived. Gone is the blue and green, replaced with blackness with a white slit in it.

At first, the man is motionless, as if in a trance. In a way, he is. He has been ruminating on the epiphany he had of sensory perception, based on Jehoel's words and later confirmed by Hasunaga's. Seeing spirits is, indeed, like seeing light in another spectrum. But that was just the surface. Not just visible light and spiritual power can be seen by his eyes, but also infrared spectrum, gamma and ultraviolet rays, radio frequencies... even the molecular vibrations normally perceived as sound can be turned into a picture in his head. It is simply a matter of... focusing on the right aspect of existence and asking a bit of help from it.

Which, incidentally, means that during his breaks he has already taken a look at the city. Multiple looks. Some in ways completely alien to Valentina, just as some of her methods of spiritual detection are obscure to him. "Depends. Is it more interesting than what I can see from your window?" He puts the piece of weaponry down and blinks a few times, his eyes returning to their normal color. As fascinating as the molecular structure of carbon steel was, looking at it for this long was very straining to his eye. It takes a moment for it to return to using resolution usable in a humanoid scale.

[5a Violista]

Hueco Mundo
Valentina's Quarters

Valentina assumes that randomly changing eye color is just a thing mortals can do. It appears she has a very poor sample size of number of mortals she's met. For all she knows, every mortal is just like Mikael.

"Actually," she responds, in a matter-of-fact way, "my window has a terrible and limited view. You can hardly see anything good from it." She glances at the window, just to confirm what she just said. Yup. The same, old, boring view.

[Kuroimaken]

Li coughs. "Well, then. If you feel that way, I'll give you the plates to try for yourself. I believe Daiki can assist you with the locks." Li paces around. "Are there any more arrangements we need to go over, Vice-Commander?"

"Nothing comes to mind. Our exiguous knowledge of the circunstances of our destination is the reason for this expedition, after all. If we need further assistance, that's what our communications are for."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Soul Society]
Vice-Commander's office

"Good. I'll be waiting for you at my desk." Li limps back to the commander's office, leaving Koutarou to finish up discussion and close the meeting.

---

[Hueco Mundo]
Valentina's quarters

"I suppose you know better than me", Mikael replies and stands up. "Mind if I just leave the gun like that? I'm not finished with it. It hasn't told me how to make bullets yet." Mikael glances up. "Maybe because it lacks a clip. Really should've taken one with me when I had the chance."

[strawberryman]

Daiki shrugs, following Koutarou in case he did need help. He has really very little to say about this!