[RailITP] Academy City FFRP IC I

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Bye, Hibiki-san! See you later!" Shellie forces a smile as she bids the kid farewell, but turns serious again as the mystery duo disappears and she and Shun make their exit.

Shellie stomps away from the compound, her fists clenched. She doesn't seem too concerned about the cameras; she has the feeling that Dr. K is going to keep that footage quite under wraps, to hide whatever he's planning. It's getting dark out, but it doesn't seem to slow her down at all.

"Is this really the end, or will it come in the future to bite us? Anyway, I should apologize for involving you in this mess, Tieger-San. If only I didn't give him the chance to clone me... I have to admit, though, that a part of me is glad you've been involved because otherwise I'd probably be dead now, despite my forcefields. That Kihara was right to praise your lateral thinking capabilities."

"But all's well what ends well, isn't it?"

Shellie growls at the mention of Kihara, but then just sighs. "It's not your fault. I'm... glad, actually, that I got involved, that I could help. Really."

She pauses for a moment, and listens as hard as she can. Cars, crickets, toilets, someone calling a nurse about a broken television in their room. Kihara and Hibiki really did just... vanish. Shellie shakes her head. "Dr. Kihara... he's using Hibiki, trying to take advantage of his powers. You caught that, right? He's up to something, and whatever it is, we can't let him get away with it. We have to... I don't know. We'll have to figure out who he is, and how deep this really goes."

...but, there's something else, too.

Shellie removes her headphones, and continues to listen as she opens her eyes. "...when Hibiki took us to his other city... something happened. I told you that my eyesight was screwed up, right? I think he might have... fixed it, somehow."

She looks up, and finally notices that the sun is gone. She sees the crescent moon shine like the day as far-off radio towers cast an infrared spotlight. "No, it's more than that. All of the noise and brightness is still there, but it's just sort of... not in the way, anymore. I'm not even sure how to explain it."

...

"I have some leftover pudding at home that I need to eat. I'll see you tomorrow!"

[Hyperbolic sine]

Shun, unsure on what to say, remains silent until Shellie leaves to eat.

"Goodnight!"

He waves in her direction, then heads the opposite one to his apartment thinking on what she said: that they had to stop that Kihara.

But how? What can we do against an army of immortals? Actually, what can anyone do against such an army?

Think and think, Shun arrives at his apartment and enters. A frugal dinner after, he goes to bed and, despite all the worries he had whirling in his mind, he sleeps soundly all night long.

[The day after - Onizuka Middle School]

Shun arrives in time today and throughout the day he tries to locate Shellie, to inform her that he is going to do some research: they never exchanged phone numbers nor mail addresses, so...

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

At lunchtime, Shellie can be found on the edge of the roof, staring away from the door, trying to figure out how far she can see into the distance now. Next to her are laid out the contents of her sack lunch as well as today's spicy school lunch, a number of vending machine snacks that nobody usually gets, and what must be every variety of juice and soda available. She's opened maybe half of it so far.

"Hi, Hikigaya-san," she says without turning around to look.

- - -

Later in the day, Gure arrives at the entrance to Onizuka and manages to spot Eli. She approaches him as calmly and professionally as she can muster, but panics and breaks into a sprint when she hears him begin to answer Moroe's questions.

She interposes herself between the two. "At the risk of stating the obvious, Secret Club is Secret. Security clearance, regulated government stuff."

Yeah, that's not going to cut it, is it?

"If it helps, the gist of it is that we're helping out with the experimental ESPer testing program. You know, the one where they test new ways to search for latent powers. It's just privileged information because it involves government research."

[Hyperbolic sine]

[Onizuka Middle School - Rooftop]

"Tieger-san! How was the pudding?"

Shun glares over all that food, then approaches the girl and brings out his own lunch: curry bread and a thermos of coffee.

"Seeing something interesting? Anyway, I was looking for you: if we want to do something, we ought to do some research first, and you seemed to know that Kihara better than I do."

[ImpSyndrome]

Spoiler

Show

Later in the day, Gure arrives at the entrance to Onizuka and manages to spot Eli. She approaches him as calmly and professionally as she can muster, but panics and breaks into a sprint when she hears him begin to answer Moroe's questions.

She interposes herself between the two. "At the risk of stating the obvious, Secret Club is Secret. Security clearance, regulated government stuff."

Yeah, that's not going to cut it, is it?

"If it helps, the gist of it is that we're helping out with the experimental ESPer testing program. You know, the one where they test new ways to search for latent powers. It's just privileged information because it involves government research."

Eli immediately clams up as Gure approaches, inwardly cursing his hesitation. If only he'd been quicker to the point...In any case, it's out of his hands at this point, so he stands back and waits for something to happen. The least-eventful scenario involves Moroe disengaging and Gure chastising Eli for neglecting her superior's earlier warning, but that seems unlikely, given Moroe's assertive tone...

((Sorry it's short, but it looks like this is between you two for the moment.))

[Anyr]

Later in the day, Gure arrives at the entrance to Onizuka and manages to spot Eli. She approaches him as calmly and professionally as she can muster, but panics and breaks into a sprint when she hears him begin to answer Moroe's questions.

She interposes herself between the two. "At the risk of stating the obvious, Secret Club is Secret. Security clearance, regulated government stuff."

Yeah, that's not going to cut it, is it?

"If it helps, the gist of it is that we're helping out with the experimental ESPer testing program. You know, the one where they test new ways to search for latent powers. It's just privileged information because it involves government research."

"Really."

Moroe couldn't even pretend to buy that explanation. She might as well have pulled out a rubber stamp saying 'LIAR!', and slapped it against Gure's forehead.

"So this program's official? Well, that's certainly a relief. Nothing sanctioned by Academy City could possibly be harmful. Students must find it a great comfort to know that, even though you're testing experimental procedures on their brains, there's absolutely no risk of being turned into dribbling vegetables. Modern science really is amazing, isn't it?"

Though it might not have seemed like it, Moroe was actually restraining herself. What she wanted to say was 'I've seen dozens of fools like him get chewed up and swallowed by this soulless machine you call a city': But she couldn't. Ordinary middle school students didn't know about things like that. So instead, she just had to settle for dropping some really really blatant hints.

[Arkhosia]

[Tokiwadai - Arcade]

"Yeah, definitely." Shizuka sticks her tongue out at her sister, then turns to Shantelle with a grin. "You did nicely too, considering you were up against Sakura."

Shantelle chuckles.
I'm not that good, but thanks.
She replies, bowing theatrically with a silly grin.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Really. So this program's official? Well, that's certainly a relief. Nothing sanctioned by Academy City could possibly be harmful; even though you're testing experimental procedures on their brains, there's absolutely no risk of being turned into dribbling vegetables."

"I..."

Gure struggles to maintain her composure as her eyes tear up. Moroe must have nailed some kind of personal trigger for her.

Eli feels a tug in his stomach again, and with it a sort of conflicted disappointment... survivor's guilt? He's also reminded of Shellie for some reason.

"...we have an appointment. Come, Matthew-san." The girl with the bowl cut turns to walk away, not bothering to check whether Eli is following.

[Anyr]

No amount of eye moisture would sway Moroe. She continued to glare daggers at Gure, without the slightest hint of sympathy. The girl felt guilty about her atrocities? Big deal. So did Moroe, and half the other chained dogs of Academy City. Actions were what counted.

When Gure turned away from Eli, Moroe turned to face him. Her final words to him were simple, direct, and to the point.

"You don't have to follow. You don't have to obey them. There's still time to walk away."

If he still wanted to leave after that, she wouldn't try to stop him. The choice was his to make.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Onizuka Middle School - Rooftop]

"Tieger-san! How was the pudding?"

"Ha! It. Was. Amazing! I could taste everything in it without puking or passing out, which probably sounds less impressive than it is." Shellie turns, follows Shun's gaze to her experiments and frowns. "I wish I could say the same for everything else. Even the orange soda just tastes like acid now. But still, it's an improvement."

She claps her hands together and nods as they get back down to the Serious Business.

"Right! I was trying to find him online last night, but I wasn't really getting anywhere without a picture or a full name. There are about two thousand people named Kihara in Academy City alone; they're like the freaking Slytherin house of super science. I think we might be able to get more from a school computer; he might have his name on something related to, 'emergent phenomena.'"

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Well, soda is acid after all...with some chemical flavouring. The school computer, you say? Hmm...it doesn't seem like a bad idea. Especially because I know Satou-sensei's password...he should pay more attention when he types."

Shun smirks, shaking his head, then voraciously devours his curry bread.

"We'll need to find an excuse to remain here afterschool. Want to try some coffee?"

He then asks, pouring some in a plastic glass.

"It's real, black coffee...not that dirty water that they serve in America. No offence. I have some sugar, though I don't use it."

It's in times like this that him being raised in Italy becomes evident...well, he can't help it. Should Shellie accepts the offer he will give the glass to her and pour his share in a second glass.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Shellie nods at the password comment, amused. "Heh, okay. I don't think we'll need it, but we'll see."

She hesitates slightly before accepting Shun's coffee. So that's what that smell was... but, she hasn't tried any coffee since the incident, so who knows, maybe she'll see something in it she didn't before.

"Thanks. I've never been to America, but I know what you mean - you should hear my dad complain about the beer served around here."

*sip*

...welp. Shellie tisks and suffers through a longer sip of the roast, out of analytical curiosity if nothing else.

"...baking chocolate and balsa wood. It's still better than a lot of this junk food, though, which is really good considering I was never a big fan of coffee in the first place." She sets the cup in her lap. "Anyway, after school. You know where the A/V room is, right? I still have the key, and I like to hang around and do my homework in there anyway. They have a couple of good computers in there for video editing and managing the school website, so we can use them."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"You've never been to America? Oh, sorry, I just assumed that you - well, nevermind."

Shun gulps down his coffee, and some goes down the wrong pipe: he almost chokes on it.

"Yes, I know were *Coff coff* the A/V room is. *coff* Seems like *coff* a good plan. *coff coff coff* I'll head there *coff coff* as soon as classes *coff* end."

He then waits to stop coughing before continuing.

"Why do you think that you'll have more success with the school computer?"

[ImpSyndrome]

No amount of eye moisture would sway Moroe. She continued to glare daggers at Gure, without the slightest hint of sympathy. The girl felt guilty about her atrocities? Big deal. So did Moroe, and half the other chained dogs of Academy City. Actions were what counted.

When Gure turned away from Eli, Moroe turned to face him. Her final words to him were simple, direct, and to the point.

"You don't have to follow. You don't have to obey them. There's still time to walk away."

If he still wanted to leave after that, she wouldn't try to stop him. The choice was his to make.

Somewhere in his gut, Eli feels a queer sensation not unlike his nausea from yesterday. At first, he just tries to stomach it, but then he remembers something that Shellie mentioned the other day, something about feeling sick from hypersensitivity on occasion...

"No."

If it wasn't for Moroe, Eli would probably just give up and go along with Gure, regardless of whatever twisted scheme her superior(s) have in store for him, if only out of fear of punishment. Seeing her stand up to the mysterious girl, though, gives him some courage of his own, and he doubts that she'd try anything in broad daylight anyway, no matter what she's capable of.

"I'm not going," he tells Gure. "I don't want to be part of your test any more. Especially not if it involves any more experimental stuff..." If she tries to pull any legalities on him, he'll argue, "I signed a non-disclosure agreement, not a contract. I won't blab about...whatever it was you did, but I don't want anything else to do with you or your boss or your experiments."

[Morcleon]

Shantelle chuckles.
I'm not that good, but thanks.
She replies, bowing theatrically with a silly grin.

[Tokiwadai - Arcade]

"Well you're better than me." Shizuka giggles at her friend's antics and stretches. "Mm... do you wanna keep playing here, or do you wanna go somewhere else?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

ONIZUKA SIDEWALK

"Huh??"

Gure stops in her tracks, her mind racing. Eli's stomach doesn't really feel better for it; disappointment, then panic, then another, different sort of panic.

She turns around. "Matthewsan, you can't! I mean, even without any more tests..." She stops and looks at Moroe, suddenly remembering that she needs to be careful with what she actually mentions. Well, careful-ish. "...there's still... a thing, that you were in the middle of? We don't understand what it's doing yet! What if it's dangerous?!"

Gure shakes her head. As he says, she can't physically force him to go, but she also can't let Eli endanger the whole school as she almost did. She approaches to rejoin the other students.

"...alright, fine. Let's talk about something else. I was watching a movie last night, about an earthquake. The ground shook for days on end, and nobody knew how to stop it. Eventually, it shook apart the entire city and swallowed up all of the characters in a huge fissure."

She leans in towards Eli, a grave look on her face. "I think it was an old SyFy original. I mean, nothing like that could ever just happen. Right, Matthew-san?"




Onizuka Roof, and Later Probably the A/V room

"I think so. The school pays for a bunch of subscriptions to research journals, so students can search through their databases for research papers and stuff. We should be able to find something there."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Fair enough.

A glance at his watch tells him that lunchtime is nearly finished.

Alas, time to return to classes...well then, see you later!"

He waves, and hurries to the classroom.

[Later - A/V room]

Shun approaches the door and knocks, but doesn't wait for someone to answer before opening.

"Can I enter?"

[Anyr]

"...alright, fine. Let's talk about something else. I was watching a movie last night, about an earthquake. The ground shook for days on end, and nobody knew how to stop it. Eventually, it shook apart the entire city and swallowed up all of the characters in a huge fissure."

She leans in towards Eli, a grave look on her face. "I think it was an old SyFy original. I mean, nothing like that could ever just happen. Right, Matthew-san?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that one. Wasn't the disaster caused by a bunch of greedy scientists who didn't know when to stop? If it's SciFi we're talking about, that seems to happen a lot."

Moroe rolled her eyes. Did this girl really expect them to buy such a sloppy scare attempt? If Eli really had been that dangerous, then he wouldn't be walking free. Even Academy City's lunatic researchers wouldn't let an unstable, city-destroying time bomb go home for the evening...

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"...wait, really? Does it actually end the way I said, too? Because that would be hilarious."

It seems that Gure is as bad at reading other people as she is at lying herself. But, it does calm her down somewhat. The lab equipment didn't actually detect anything dangerous, so it's probably not that bad.

Disappointed, she sighs, and then lets out a short, airy laugh. "Alright, fine. No more Secret club. I'll tell Siri-Sensei you're not coming." She straightens up, more comfortable with the situation but still quite serious. "But remember, you're suspected of having ESPer abilities now, so you still need to have them registered. You can talk to the school administrators about it, but I think they might just send you to the basement facility again anyway. Just not, you know, after hours."

Up the sidewalk, through the doors and just around a corner, Shellie calls from the A/V room.

"Yeah, just come in!"

[Hyperbolic sine]

Up the sidewalk, through the doors and just around a corner, Shellie calls from the A/V room.

"Yeah, just come in!"

Shun complies, greets Shellie and heads to the computers, booting them if necessary, then sits on a chair with a sigh.

"Finally, I thought I was going to die of boredom today! Where do we start?"