Requiem 04: A Dance To Remember
The promised night is here - VitaTech's dance. Mitsuru arrives nearly at 8:00 o'clock, dressed in a dress so black and slinky it's like she's
got on spandex. She leans against the door, watching the interior of the detective agency with a critical eye as Yukari gives a whistle.
"You look great, Mitsuru!" She cheers. "You really went all-out, huh?"
"This?" Mitsuru smiles. "Oh, it's an old dress. I just had it laying around."
"I wish I had things like that just laying around," Yukari sighs wistfully.
Old dress lying around? That's not the best way to have put it. Thomas sat in a nearby armchair, black suit and tie- the classic formal attire.
He tries to disguise the stupor that so firmly affixed itself to his mental faculties, but is likely doing poorly. Any man would have been floored by Mitsuru-
more so now, in that skintight dress.
Hands were nearly necessary to keep his jaw shut.
Mitsuru leans off the doorway and turns, crossing her arms. Her hips jut to the side, and she looks Thomas over for a moment, once again as though he were a
piece of meat in a butcher's store. "You'll do,"
she approves after a few moments. "Come on. There's a limo out front."
"Keep your hands to yourself, Tommygun," Yukari chirps, pointing her finger at him like a gun and making a 'bang' motion.
'I'd hope so' he wanted to say. He feels that 'bullet.' Right in the nerve, "Yes ma'am!" Whipped, without even trying. He
carries himself out after her, apparantly dull to everything else.
Mitsuru's swaying hips are certainly an easy target to follow, especially in that godlessly sexy black dress slit all the way up to the thigh and just
tantalizingly, achingly attractive. She moves over to the limo, waiting for the driver to open the door - which he does in short order. Mitsuru slides into the
seat first, and the driver waits for Tom before slamming the limo door shut. Mitsuru holds out a piece of paper - a very small, but very helpful, floorplan of
the facility. A few doors are marked 'off-limits' on the map, and seem to be heavily monitored, if Mitsuru's map is any indication.
At least in the relatively dim limousine he's able to avoid accidentally glancing at Mitsuru's curves. Most of them. What's left is still enough to
sideline his mind into the redzone... "S-so this is the place, huh?"
"That's correct," she says, her tongue running across her lips as she pulls down a mirror. It's the most perfect meeting of oral devices
since the first man realized how to kiss a woman without hitting her over the head. "The VitaTech corporate building. You're going to leave when my
uncle starts his speech - until then, we'll dance, drink, and socialize. Don't talk too much. And don't tell them who you
are. Your cover is that you're a Britannian tourist who moved here recently - you're not employed yet, but you're looking at a job with
VitaTech." Satisfied, she pushes her mirror back up.
"What am I supposed to be looking for?" Besides his lost psychological innocence, and Mitsuru's missing modesty... "Alright. I
understand."
"Find the personnel files - they'll be in the office." She points at something with her slender finger - a spot on the map. "You know the
man's name - find it, find the file, and see if there's anything you might be able to glean."
...Wait a sec. Dance? Dance with... Mitsuru?
A maelstrom of violent and provocative images fills his mind. Each and every one assailing just a bit more at his ability to restrain himself, and each totally
safe for work.
...If you work in a brothel.
What could go wrong, he tells himself: It's the perfect excuse to be with her. Nothing is possibly going to ruin this night...
Except... She's the CEO's daughter. Shit.
"Are you listening?"
Shit. Shit. Shit. Was he listening? What was the last thing she said... "Uh, right. Head to the office, find the file."
"Very good," she says, sliding one leg into a crossed position - oh man, the way that dress is interacting with her legs ought to be illegal. And
just look at that soft skin. "You can be discreet, yes?"
Discreet? Oh yes. Definitely discreet. Discreet like he, and her, in a closet at her parents' home. Yes, yes, discreet, "Oh, yes. Definitely,
don't worry about that."
"Very good," she repeats, "Do you know how to dance?"
"Of course I can dance, even with these legs. I've just got to be careful." With the way his heart was pounding? MUCH easier said than done.
"And you can, of course, avoid crushing any of my bones or backside with those." She waves a hand at his mechanical arms. "Right?"
"If not, you can put your hands on my hips instead."
"No one will look twice. They'll simply assume you don't know how to dance properly."
"I'll try my best," Hurt her? Impossible. He couldn't hurt her. Ever, ever hurt her. Precioussssss....
Bruising that skin is a mortal sin.
"Mmm. Use my hips, then."
Damn. "Alright."
The limo pulls up to the corporate office, and it's quite impressive - it dominates the skyline, thrusting high into the sky and commanding attention. An
enormous VT stands out high above. The limo
driver opens the door. "If you're certain," Mitsuru says, sliding out, "That you can avoid crushing my fingers, I'd prefer to dance
properly. It makes you look less like a yokel."
He'd thrust high and command attention with her...
Mitsuru taps her foot, waiting for him. "Well?"
"Of course! Of course! I'd not even think to hurt you!" -r ass, or fingers, or skin. He steps out of the limousine, thankful that his mechanical
limbs were incapable of quaking in her presence.
She sighs. "Are you going to take my arm and lead me in, or not?"
There's a very faint whirr as his arms finally move again, crooking about hers. Similarly, faint well described how he felt. Mostly because of the
'holyshitshe'stouchingme' reflex.
She starts walking, doing an excellent job of escorting him despite it obviously being him escorting. The doors open, and the lobby of VitaTech's corporate
office looms before them,
polished black marble as smooth as Mitsuru's skin. Mitsuru leads him over to an elevator, pressing her finger to the up button. The doors open with a
'ding',
revealing lush red carpet and warm lighting. Elevator music plays as the pair ascends up the massive building, Mitsuru's face the model of patience. Not
that it's likely that he'd be looking at her face,
when so much cleavage and thigh is exposed - but it's only so much, just enough to tease and tantalize with false promises and wishes and dreams that
likely would never come true. She purses her lips
and frowns. "Are you ready?" She asks.
Smooth as Mitsuru's skin? That's blasphemy! He'd have to sort that out later. By breaking it. "Of course." He wasn't- really, but he
could damn well look like he was.
The doors open to a hallway, and Mitsuru leads him down to another pair of double-doors. She pushes them open...to reveal a massive party. A huge gathering.
People from the upper crust, clad in black suits and beautiful dresses.
The thing about being a Crim.Sci major, or studying anything that had to do with criminals is that you're great at looking like you're doing one thing
while in fact doing another. Such as looking quite proper and formal while simultaniously taking snapshots of your woman's best features and fawning over
them in the mi- But Mitsuru still stands out nonetheless, stands out like a jewel in the rough, and most of the eyes turn to the pair as they enter. She puts
on a gorgeous smile - it practically changes
the way her face looks - and leads them into the middle of the room.OHGODMITSURUSMILE.
Some of the men in the crowd practically pant, earning them smacks in the back of the head from their dates. Mitsuru nods to various people, saying "Yes,
yes. Hello. Lovely to see you, too." And so on. After a few moments, the band starts up again, and Mitsuru slides her hand into Thomas's metallic one,
pressing up against him. And oh dear sweet Christ how she presses. Mitsuru tucks her head under his chin, practically toe to forehead touched to his body. The
black dress is even more apparently slinky now, in this luxurious, dreamy position.
It was as if something was flicked 'on' inside his brain. And, damn nearly, in his pants. But no, come on, mental fortitude. He gently adjusts his
position as well, an arm about her body- for once, he was thankful he couldn't feel anything in those. Else he'd be on the floor by now. Likely with
Mitsuru.
Whether she would have agreed or not.
Mitsuru dances, and she dances divinely. Which one of them is leading and which is following is impossible to tell, but for a good half-hour - no, scratch
that, an amazing half-hour - the pair dances, the
center of nearly all activity. The band winds down to a close, and Mitsuru pulls herself away, her arms crossed beneath her bosom as her uncle takes the stage.
Noticeably, they're near an exit - the better for
Thomas to sneak away.
He'd never.
Ever.
Forget that thirty minutes.
Best. Thirty minutes.
EVER.
"Go," she hisses as her uncle taps the mic.
They'd play in his dreams, now and likely for the rest of- YES MISTRESS.
The exit opens behind him easily, sliding into a hallway. It closes once he's through, probably by Mitsuru's hand.
He looks about the hallway for any sign of patrols. Hopefully, they were all too concerned with the ball to bother with the halls... The map is retrieved from
his pocket, he unfurls it and begins to find his bearings.
It takes him a few minutes to locate his position - it's on the opposite side and two floors up from the personnel office.
A sigh. Looks like he has some walking to do.
Good thing his muscles don't feel pain- not his legs, anyway.
Time to go. Where is that quickest route?
The quickest route seems to be to the left - it'll cross him to the stairs, which may be guarded.
And the safest...
...is a long route around the right, circling the conference room to another set of emergency stairs.
Time was limited. Perhaps a combination of the two?
Straight ahead down the utility elevator.
That would have to do.
He pockets the map once again, and makes his way down the center of the hallway.
As he makes his way down....uh-oh. It seems the guard detail changed from Mitsuru's map, as a pair of guards round the corner.
"Hey!" One of the men cries.
'Hey' what? A reflexive signal pulses down his nervous system, into the command receptors in his legs...
Flight- but only if necessary, "Yes?"
"What do you think you're doing in here?"
"I'm not sure. Is there a problem, officer?"
"Are you authorized to be here?" The man asks, walking forward.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here- I'd be in the ballroom.
"Can I see some ID?"
Had he gotten out of the way of the stairs...?
The man moves forward another step.
He would too. And another, and another, and another- at mind numbing speed. The guard would probably feel nothing but a swift breeze as Thomas sped past his
side, and for the 'fast' route...
The few potshots the guards manage to take are nothing compared to the speed Thomas is moving; he makes it down the stairs, but not before he hears -
"Intruder alert on the ballroom floor. All guards to laboratories 1-10."
Ballroom floor, eh?
A few minutes later, and Thomas is standing at the door to the Personnel Office - all guards have been diverted to Labs 1-10.
Well, he wasn't there, anymore... Time to move. Move as fast as he possibly could- to his destination.
Hopefully, that route hadn't changed since Mitsuru handed him the map.
The door appears to be locked, unfortunately.
Locked, huh...? Well, he had two choices...
Break the lock- not hard, what with his arms, or wait for and knock out a guard to steal his keys.
Now, which was worse: Assault, or Break-in-and-entry?
...Or he could just...
Mess with the lock.
But what to use as a pick?
No time. Forget it. He was already caught, anyway.
He'd twist his wrist about the door's handle, just needed to snap it, and...
Click, SNAP.
And the lock falls apart in his hands. At least they only had to replace the knob...
Now, to find the files.
Files, files, files- just like back in College, eh?
There are several file cabinets - they too, however, are probably locked.
There's a file laying on the desk entitled 'classifications' - but that probably has nothing to do with this case.
He glances about, time to go to work...
A few minutes of rifling and breaking open locks, and he's found the files. It details quite a bit about the man - birthday, position, so on - and on the
second page,
it's a bunch of indecipherable statistics, including one very mysterious one marked "R-2."
R-2? Well, that was certainly interesting...
Time to grab and dash. Dash, very, very quickly.
If he got caught with the files on his person- in his suit, actually, he'd be dead.
Well.
Not dead.
Just in a very, very bad way.
Back up, just to make sure...
His phone flips out of his pocket, taking quick snap shots of each of the files.
...Before shoving them all in his coat and getting the hell out of dodge.
It doesn't take long for him to return to the ballroom through the exit. Mitsuru is waiting for him, and the speech has wound down - something about a new
generation of biotechnology for the
city. Mitsuru leans back into his arms to whisper into his ear.
"Did you find it?"
He nods, adrenaline negating much of her- OHGODSHE'STOUCHINGME, "Y-yeah. Everything's here."
She reaches up to trail her hand down his cheek, giving an excellent performance and generally causing a few people to look away - the desired result, of
course.
"Excellent." She murmurs.
Aaaand causing the blood in his brain to vacate for greener, firmer pastures. At least it wasn't obvious.
Though that would also mean he'd probably be unable to stammer, or speak, much at all.
"Let's go," she murmurs, turning in his arms and opening the door. It's an extremely convincing show - several people roll their eyes at the
'young couple's
enthusiasm as she slides him out the door. As soon as it's closed, however, she extricates herself from his arms. "Come on. We need to leave."
Ah~! Such a passing night, but oh how he'd cherish it so. "R-right! After you."
She crosses her arms under her chest and starts walking for the elevator.
In mere minutes, they're outside in the limosine. Her legs are crossed, and she's extracted the files from his suit, and is now paging through them
curiously.
"So..." He sighs, content to even be breathing her air, "What do you think?"
"This second page is very interesting," she muses.
"You mean about that R-2 thing?'
"'R-2' corresponds to one of the classifications in this file."
She opens it, revealing a bunch of pictures of those horrible Requiem monsters, as well as a large number of, well, numbers and statistics.
"I would assume this means that VitaTech is conducting research into the Requiems."
"I see. I had figured that was the case..."
She flips through the pages before passing them back off to him.
"These'll come in handy, then."
"That said...according to this information...they're only studying them."
She purses her lips. "The Requiem phenomenon is unrelated to VitaTech."
"You've done very well," she says as the limo pulls to a stop. The door opens on his side to reveal the Detective Agency.
He slides the files back into his coat, "Even if this lead is dead, the research they put into classifying these things will come in handy..."
"Thanks, and uh..."
Mitsuru leans over, favoring him with an excellent view, and a tender kiss on the cheek.
"Now get out. And tell Yukari I said hello."
"Thanks for having me along. I-"
He didn't get out.
He fell out.
The door closes, the driver returns to the driver's seat, and the limo pulls off.
Thomas is left lying in the middle of the misty, foggy night.
A perfect end to a perfect night.
The door swings open, with Yukari peeking down at him. "I heard the limo pull up. So how'd it go?"
"It was..."
"Perfect."
Her kiss may have left a mark on his cheek- if that was any indication.
"...so the plan went off without a hint?"
*hitch
"It went better than I could ever have expected."
"Well. You sound cheery. But you should get up - Boss wants a word with you."
"Just... a few seconds longer."
"Better hurry. I bet it's bad news."
"Nng..."
He pushes himself onto his feet, even Headphones couldn't possibly break his spirits- grin wide on his face, "Mitsuru said hello."
"Glad to hear it, Tommygun," Yukari chirps as she closes the door behind them.
Inside, the Skull Man is leaning against the interior office, arms crossed. Minato is sitting predictably at his desk.
"Thomas." Skull Man says after a moment, tilting his head to face him.
Thomas nods back to 'Boss,' "Hey there, Bossman. What's going on?"
"Minato and I returned about ten minutes ago." He says calmly. "Listen to this."
He reaches forward, tuning an old radio.
'4461 - All officers are advised to keep watch for a cyborg guilty of breaking and entering VitaTech laboratories. Male, multiple cybernetic limbs."
"Huh? What is i- Oh."
"That."
Skull Man turns the radio off.
"What happened, exactly?"
"Yeah. That was my bad."
He retrieves the mass of files from his coat...
Skull Man tilts his head to look at them. Minato simply stares.
And sets them onto the desk before Minato, "Mitsuru had me grab all the information I could from their archive."
Skull Man snags them off the desk, flipping them open.
"Looks like VitaTech's been doing their homework."
"..."
"Hn."
"This is worthless," he says after a moment, "Classifications of features that never manifest the same way."
"I'll take another look at it. There might actually be a pattern to these things."
"Do it. Hand it off to Fuuka."
"Not just Classification, but in terms of if there's any relation to their victims. Roger."
"You two can go over it together."
"I also found the files on our suspect."
"Did you?"
"It looks like he's one of them."
"A Requiem? Impossible."
"Yeah," Another set of files is retrieved from his coat.
"Not according to VitaTech's research team."
"Neither Minato nor I detected any disturbances."
"Maybe that's his 'Feature.'"
"Escaping our senses?"
"Possibly." Skull Man considers it.
"Or perhaps they have a means of detecting their identity before the Requiem's emergence."
"That...that would be even more interesting, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, yes it would."
Skull Man taps the side of his helmet.
"If we could determine that, and get a hold of it, it would be an invaluable tool."
"...good work." He says after a moment. "You deserve a rest. Head upstairs and enjoy your sleep."
"Thanks, Boss. I'll just drop this stuff down with Fuuka quick."
"Sleep well."
The door closes behind Thomas as he leaves.
"Well..."
"Good news? Bad news?" Yukari asks.
"Both."
"I'm apparantly being looked for by the police... BUT!"
"...but?"
"We have a lead on the suspect!"
She claps her hands together. "Great!"
"Also, more files to review."
"Alright...want me to take them?"
"I was going to head downstairs and drop them off with Fuuka, a few more minutes of not-sleep won't hurt me."
"If you say so."
"I appreciate the offer, though!"
The files are run down to Fuuka, the papers are handed off, and she gives a smile as he heads back up the stairs.
The promised night is here - VitaTech's dance. Mitsuru arrives nearly at 8:00 o'clock, dressed in a dress so black and slinky it's like she's
got on spandex. She leans against the door, watching the interior of the detective agency with a critical eye as Yukari gives a whistle.
"You look great, Mitsuru!" She cheers. "You really went all-out, huh?"
"This?" Mitsuru smiles. "Oh, it's an old dress. I just had it laying around."
"I wish I had things like that just laying around," Yukari sighs wistfully.
Old dress lying around? That's not the best way to have put it. Thomas sat in a nearby armchair, black suit and tie- the classic formal attire.
He tries to disguise the stupor that so firmly affixed itself to his mental faculties, but is likely doing poorly. Any man would have been floored by Mitsuru-
more so now, in that skintight dress.
Hands were nearly necessary to keep his jaw shut.
Mitsuru leans off the doorway and turns, crossing her arms. Her hips jut to the side, and she looks Thomas over for a moment, once again as though he were a
piece of meat in a butcher's store. "You'll do,"
she approves after a few moments. "Come on. There's a limo out front."
"Keep your hands to yourself, Tommygun," Yukari chirps, pointing her finger at him like a gun and making a 'bang' motion.
'I'd hope so' he wanted to say. He feels that 'bullet.' Right in the nerve, "Yes ma'am!" Whipped, without even trying. He
carries himself out after her, apparantly dull to everything else.
Mitsuru's swaying hips are certainly an easy target to follow, especially in that godlessly sexy black dress slit all the way up to the thigh and just
tantalizingly, achingly attractive. She moves over to the limo, waiting for the driver to open the door - which he does in short order. Mitsuru slides into the
seat first, and the driver waits for Tom before slamming the limo door shut. Mitsuru holds out a piece of paper - a very small, but very helpful, floorplan of
the facility. A few doors are marked 'off-limits' on the map, and seem to be heavily monitored, if Mitsuru's map is any indication.
At least in the relatively dim limousine he's able to avoid accidentally glancing at Mitsuru's curves. Most of them. What's left is still enough to
sideline his mind into the redzone... "S-so this is the place, huh?"
"That's correct," she says, her tongue running across her lips as she pulls down a mirror. It's the most perfect meeting of oral devices
since the first man realized how to kiss a woman without hitting her over the head. "The VitaTech corporate building. You're going to leave when my
uncle starts his speech - until then, we'll dance, drink, and socialize. Don't talk too much. And don't tell them who you
are. Your cover is that you're a Britannian tourist who moved here recently - you're not employed yet, but you're looking at a job with
VitaTech." Satisfied, she pushes her mirror back up.
"What am I supposed to be looking for?" Besides his lost psychological innocence, and Mitsuru's missing modesty... "Alright. I
understand."
"Find the personnel files - they'll be in the office." She points at something with her slender finger - a spot on the map. "You know the
man's name - find it, find the file, and see if there's anything you might be able to glean."
...Wait a sec. Dance? Dance with... Mitsuru?
A maelstrom of violent and provocative images fills his mind. Each and every one assailing just a bit more at his ability to restrain himself, and each totally
safe for work.
...If you work in a brothel.
What could go wrong, he tells himself: It's the perfect excuse to be with her. Nothing is possibly going to ruin this night...
Except... She's the CEO's daughter. Shit.
"Are you listening?"
Shit. Shit. Shit. Was he listening? What was the last thing she said... "Uh, right. Head to the office, find the file."
"Very good," she says, sliding one leg into a crossed position - oh man, the way that dress is interacting with her legs ought to be illegal. And
just look at that soft skin. "You can be discreet, yes?"
Discreet? Oh yes. Definitely discreet. Discreet like he, and her, in a closet at her parents' home. Yes, yes, discreet, "Oh, yes. Definitely,
don't worry about that."
"Very good," she repeats, "Do you know how to dance?"
"Of course I can dance, even with these legs. I've just got to be careful." With the way his heart was pounding? MUCH easier said than done.
"And you can, of course, avoid crushing any of my bones or backside with those." She waves a hand at his mechanical arms. "Right?"
"If not, you can put your hands on my hips instead."
"No one will look twice. They'll simply assume you don't know how to dance properly."
"I'll try my best," Hurt her? Impossible. He couldn't hurt her. Ever, ever hurt her. Precioussssss....
Bruising that skin is a mortal sin.
"Mmm. Use my hips, then."
Damn. "Alright."
The limo pulls up to the corporate office, and it's quite impressive - it dominates the skyline, thrusting high into the sky and commanding attention. An
enormous VT stands out high above. The limo
driver opens the door. "If you're certain," Mitsuru says, sliding out, "That you can avoid crushing my fingers, I'd prefer to dance
properly. It makes you look less like a yokel."
He'd thrust high and command attention with her...
Mitsuru taps her foot, waiting for him. "Well?"
"Of course! Of course! I'd not even think to hurt you!" -r ass, or fingers, or skin. He steps out of the limousine, thankful that his mechanical
limbs were incapable of quaking in her presence.
She sighs. "Are you going to take my arm and lead me in, or not?"
There's a very faint whirr as his arms finally move again, crooking about hers. Similarly, faint well described how he felt. Mostly because of the
'holyshitshe'stouchingme' reflex.
She starts walking, doing an excellent job of escorting him despite it obviously being him escorting. The doors open, and the lobby of VitaTech's corporate
office looms before them,
polished black marble as smooth as Mitsuru's skin. Mitsuru leads him over to an elevator, pressing her finger to the up button. The doors open with a
'ding',
revealing lush red carpet and warm lighting. Elevator music plays as the pair ascends up the massive building, Mitsuru's face the model of patience. Not
that it's likely that he'd be looking at her face,
when so much cleavage and thigh is exposed - but it's only so much, just enough to tease and tantalize with false promises and wishes and dreams that
likely would never come true. She purses her lips
and frowns. "Are you ready?" She asks.
Smooth as Mitsuru's skin? That's blasphemy! He'd have to sort that out later. By breaking it. "Of course." He wasn't- really, but he
could damn well look like he was.
The doors open to a hallway, and Mitsuru leads him down to another pair of double-doors. She pushes them open...to reveal a massive party. A huge gathering.
People from the upper crust, clad in black suits and beautiful dresses.
The thing about being a Crim.Sci major, or studying anything that had to do with criminals is that you're great at looking like you're doing one thing
while in fact doing another. Such as looking quite proper and formal while simultaniously taking snapshots of your woman's best features and fawning over
them in the mi- But Mitsuru still stands out nonetheless, stands out like a jewel in the rough, and most of the eyes turn to the pair as they enter. She puts
on a gorgeous smile - it practically changes
the way her face looks - and leads them into the middle of the room.OHGODMITSURUSMILE.
Some of the men in the crowd practically pant, earning them smacks in the back of the head from their dates. Mitsuru nods to various people, saying "Yes,
yes. Hello. Lovely to see you, too." And so on. After a few moments, the band starts up again, and Mitsuru slides her hand into Thomas's metallic one,
pressing up against him. And oh dear sweet Christ how she presses. Mitsuru tucks her head under his chin, practically toe to forehead touched to his body. The
black dress is even more apparently slinky now, in this luxurious, dreamy position.
It was as if something was flicked 'on' inside his brain. And, damn nearly, in his pants. But no, come on, mental fortitude. He gently adjusts his
position as well, an arm about her body- for once, he was thankful he couldn't feel anything in those. Else he'd be on the floor by now. Likely with
Mitsuru.
Whether she would have agreed or not.
Mitsuru dances, and she dances divinely. Which one of them is leading and which is following is impossible to tell, but for a good half-hour - no, scratch
that, an amazing half-hour - the pair dances, the
center of nearly all activity. The band winds down to a close, and Mitsuru pulls herself away, her arms crossed beneath her bosom as her uncle takes the stage.
Noticeably, they're near an exit - the better for
Thomas to sneak away.
He'd never.
Ever.
Forget that thirty minutes.
Best. Thirty minutes.
EVER.
"Go," she hisses as her uncle taps the mic.
They'd play in his dreams, now and likely for the rest of- YES MISTRESS.
The exit opens behind him easily, sliding into a hallway. It closes once he's through, probably by Mitsuru's hand.
He looks about the hallway for any sign of patrols. Hopefully, they were all too concerned with the ball to bother with the halls... The map is retrieved from
his pocket, he unfurls it and begins to find his bearings.
It takes him a few minutes to locate his position - it's on the opposite side and two floors up from the personnel office.
A sigh. Looks like he has some walking to do.
Good thing his muscles don't feel pain- not his legs, anyway.
Time to go. Where is that quickest route?
The quickest route seems to be to the left - it'll cross him to the stairs, which may be guarded.
And the safest...
...is a long route around the right, circling the conference room to another set of emergency stairs.
Time was limited. Perhaps a combination of the two?
Straight ahead down the utility elevator.
That would have to do.
He pockets the map once again, and makes his way down the center of the hallway.
As he makes his way down....uh-oh. It seems the guard detail changed from Mitsuru's map, as a pair of guards round the corner.
"Hey!" One of the men cries.
'Hey' what? A reflexive signal pulses down his nervous system, into the command receptors in his legs...
Flight- but only if necessary, "Yes?"
"What do you think you're doing in here?"
"I'm not sure. Is there a problem, officer?"
"Are you authorized to be here?" The man asks, walking forward.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here- I'd be in the ballroom.
"Can I see some ID?"
Had he gotten out of the way of the stairs...?
The man moves forward another step.
He would too. And another, and another, and another- at mind numbing speed. The guard would probably feel nothing but a swift breeze as Thomas sped past his
side, and for the 'fast' route...
The few potshots the guards manage to take are nothing compared to the speed Thomas is moving; he makes it down the stairs, but not before he hears -
"Intruder alert on the ballroom floor. All guards to laboratories 1-10."
Ballroom floor, eh?
A few minutes later, and Thomas is standing at the door to the Personnel Office - all guards have been diverted to Labs 1-10.
Well, he wasn't there, anymore... Time to move. Move as fast as he possibly could- to his destination.
Hopefully, that route hadn't changed since Mitsuru handed him the map.
The door appears to be locked, unfortunately.
Locked, huh...? Well, he had two choices...
Break the lock- not hard, what with his arms, or wait for and knock out a guard to steal his keys.
Now, which was worse: Assault, or Break-in-and-entry?
...Or he could just...
Mess with the lock.
But what to use as a pick?
No time. Forget it. He was already caught, anyway.
He'd twist his wrist about the door's handle, just needed to snap it, and...
Click, SNAP.
And the lock falls apart in his hands. At least they only had to replace the knob...
Now, to find the files.
Files, files, files- just like back in College, eh?
There are several file cabinets - they too, however, are probably locked.
There's a file laying on the desk entitled 'classifications' - but that probably has nothing to do with this case.
He glances about, time to go to work...
A few minutes of rifling and breaking open locks, and he's found the files. It details quite a bit about the man - birthday, position, so on - and on the
second page,
it's a bunch of indecipherable statistics, including one very mysterious one marked "R-2."
R-2? Well, that was certainly interesting...
Time to grab and dash. Dash, very, very quickly.
If he got caught with the files on his person- in his suit, actually, he'd be dead.
Well.
Not dead.
Just in a very, very bad way.
Back up, just to make sure...
His phone flips out of his pocket, taking quick snap shots of each of the files.
...Before shoving them all in his coat and getting the hell out of dodge.
It doesn't take long for him to return to the ballroom through the exit. Mitsuru is waiting for him, and the speech has wound down - something about a new
generation of biotechnology for the
city. Mitsuru leans back into his arms to whisper into his ear.
"Did you find it?"
He nods, adrenaline negating much of her- OHGODSHE'STOUCHINGME, "Y-yeah. Everything's here."
She reaches up to trail her hand down his cheek, giving an excellent performance and generally causing a few people to look away - the desired result, of
course.
"Excellent." She murmurs.
Aaaand causing the blood in his brain to vacate for greener, firmer pastures. At least it wasn't obvious.
Though that would also mean he'd probably be unable to stammer, or speak, much at all.
"Let's go," she murmurs, turning in his arms and opening the door. It's an extremely convincing show - several people roll their eyes at the
'young couple's
enthusiasm as she slides him out the door. As soon as it's closed, however, she extricates herself from his arms. "Come on. We need to leave."
Ah~! Such a passing night, but oh how he'd cherish it so. "R-right! After you."
She crosses her arms under her chest and starts walking for the elevator.
In mere minutes, they're outside in the limosine. Her legs are crossed, and she's extracted the files from his suit, and is now paging through them
curiously.
"So..." He sighs, content to even be breathing her air, "What do you think?"
"This second page is very interesting," she muses.
"You mean about that R-2 thing?'
"'R-2' corresponds to one of the classifications in this file."
She opens it, revealing a bunch of pictures of those horrible Requiem monsters, as well as a large number of, well, numbers and statistics.
"I would assume this means that VitaTech is conducting research into the Requiems."
"I see. I had figured that was the case..."
She flips through the pages before passing them back off to him.
"These'll come in handy, then."
"That said...according to this information...they're only studying them."
She purses her lips. "The Requiem phenomenon is unrelated to VitaTech."
"You've done very well," she says as the limo pulls to a stop. The door opens on his side to reveal the Detective Agency.
He slides the files back into his coat, "Even if this lead is dead, the research they put into classifying these things will come in handy..."
"Thanks, and uh..."
Mitsuru leans over, favoring him with an excellent view, and a tender kiss on the cheek.
"Now get out. And tell Yukari I said hello."
"Thanks for having me along. I-"
He didn't get out.
He fell out.
The door closes, the driver returns to the driver's seat, and the limo pulls off.
Thomas is left lying in the middle of the misty, foggy night.
A perfect end to a perfect night.
The door swings open, with Yukari peeking down at him. "I heard the limo pull up. So how'd it go?"
"It was..."
"Perfect."
Her kiss may have left a mark on his cheek- if that was any indication.
"...so the plan went off without a hint?"
*hitch
"It went better than I could ever have expected."
"Well. You sound cheery. But you should get up - Boss wants a word with you."
"Just... a few seconds longer."
"Better hurry. I bet it's bad news."
"Nng..."
He pushes himself onto his feet, even Headphones couldn't possibly break his spirits- grin wide on his face, "Mitsuru said hello."
"Glad to hear it, Tommygun," Yukari chirps as she closes the door behind them.
Inside, the Skull Man is leaning against the interior office, arms crossed. Minato is sitting predictably at his desk.
"Thomas." Skull Man says after a moment, tilting his head to face him.
Thomas nods back to 'Boss,' "Hey there, Bossman. What's going on?"
"Minato and I returned about ten minutes ago." He says calmly. "Listen to this."
He reaches forward, tuning an old radio.
'4461 - All officers are advised to keep watch for a cyborg guilty of breaking and entering VitaTech laboratories. Male, multiple cybernetic limbs."
"Huh? What is i- Oh."
"That."
Skull Man turns the radio off.
"What happened, exactly?"
"Yeah. That was my bad."
He retrieves the mass of files from his coat...
Skull Man tilts his head to look at them. Minato simply stares.
And sets them onto the desk before Minato, "Mitsuru had me grab all the information I could from their archive."
Skull Man snags them off the desk, flipping them open.
"Looks like VitaTech's been doing their homework."
"..."
"Hn."
"This is worthless," he says after a moment, "Classifications of features that never manifest the same way."
"I'll take another look at it. There might actually be a pattern to these things."
"Do it. Hand it off to Fuuka."
"Not just Classification, but in terms of if there's any relation to their victims. Roger."
"You two can go over it together."
"I also found the files on our suspect."
"Did you?"
"It looks like he's one of them."
"A Requiem? Impossible."
"Yeah," Another set of files is retrieved from his coat.
"Not according to VitaTech's research team."
"Neither Minato nor I detected any disturbances."
"Maybe that's his 'Feature.'"
"Escaping our senses?"
"Possibly." Skull Man considers it.
"Or perhaps they have a means of detecting their identity before the Requiem's emergence."
"That...that would be even more interesting, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, yes it would."
Skull Man taps the side of his helmet.
"If we could determine that, and get a hold of it, it would be an invaluable tool."
"...good work." He says after a moment. "You deserve a rest. Head upstairs and enjoy your sleep."
"Thanks, Boss. I'll just drop this stuff down with Fuuka quick."
"Sleep well."
The door closes behind Thomas as he leaves.
"Well..."
"Good news? Bad news?" Yukari asks.
"Both."
"I'm apparantly being looked for by the police... BUT!"
"...but?"
"We have a lead on the suspect!"
She claps her hands together. "Great!"
"Also, more files to review."
"Alright...want me to take them?"
"I was going to head downstairs and drop them off with Fuuka, a few more minutes of not-sleep won't hurt me."
"If you say so."
"I appreciate the offer, though!"
The files are run down to Fuuka, the papers are handed off, and she gives a smile as he heads back up the stairs.