voice, un: endsoftheearth

[earthy]

[It takes Terra a little while to report to the network. He knows he needs to — he can't just keep this information to himself — but he's not really eager to talk about what happened.

He finally just forces himself to sit down and turn on the device.]

... Hello. I'm Terra. I've never put up one of these messages before. If I do something wrong, let me know.

[With a deep, steadying breath, he gets on with it.]

I tracked down another one of the... 'M' people. She told me a couple things that I think might be important.

Uh... For starters, this 'M' group is apparently pretty big. She claimed my catching her wasn't going to stop anything, that there are too many of them... out there somewhere, I guess, carrying on doing whatever it is they're trying to do. Maybe she was just bluffing. Or maybe we're going to be dealing with these people for a while...

Anyway, then she went on to mention their leader. 'The guy at the top of all this.' I thought it was that Shady Man... S-8, but no, it's someone else. She didn't know his name. Said he's really into birds, though? And that he looks like a... normal person.

She told me that this leader has a hideout but that it moves around a lot. Moves around constantly... is what she said. It was in the Theatre District here in Olympia last, but she was sure it had already been moved again...

[He trails off at that and keeps quiet a moment.]

That's about it. All she would tell me.

[Another pause, this one a bit longer than the last.]

Her name was Gnome.

Comments

[earthy]

No... No, I caught her. I was trying to take her to Ashti and the Guard. She... started to panic when I told her I was turning her in. Then she... ended her own life.

[hannya]

[He scoffs.]

Coward's way, huh? That makes two of 'em, if the other guy is tellin' the truth. Sounds pretty cultish.

[earthy]

[Something about deeming their actions cowardly bothers him, but he can't really argue it, either. He has no idea what might have motivated them to do what they did. Or if they even had the same motivation.]

I don't know... The way she was acting... If she just wanted to deny Olympia justice or information, I wouldn't have expected her to be so worried and afraid... so upset.

Do you happen to know anything about the Royal Guard? Or... Ashti specifically?

[hannya]

Not anythin' unusual. Guards who come through my bar are pretty tight lipped.

[The correlation, though, is troubling.]

Gonna guess she wasn't a fan.

[earthy]

I've noticed some locals seem to get kind of... restless, when Ashti's name comes up. I've never heard them say anything, either, though. And Gnome didn't say anything.

Maybe it's nothing. Maybe she had some other reason to be scared. She mentioned a... May? Said someone named May was calling for her.

[hannya]

If a place has royalty, they ain't gonna stay royal long if they don't have good enforcers. Crime's low in Olympia for a reason.

[earthy]

What do you mean by that...?

[hannya]

[Majima scoffs.]

It ain't obvious? The Guard scares the piss outta people. They must do somethin' to earn that reputation. Especially if someone who had the guts to bomb the marketplace offed herself just thinkin' about 'em.

[earthy]

You're saying you think they've been cruel to people? Ashti and the Guard.

[hannya]

Haven't seen it, barely heard it. But people's actions speak a lot louder.

[earthy]

[That's such an unsettling notion. But it makes sense. It fits everything he's seen.]

... You're right. They do.

[He's suddenly very glad he decided to wait on trying to join the Guard.]

So, now what?

[hannya]

Hell if I know. I'm more worried about the assholes tryin' to blow us up.

...You sayin' you caught her and you didn't have a plan?

[earthy]

I had a plan, but that plan was to take her to Ashti, like I said. What am I supposed to do if I run into another member of that group, if I can't turn them in to the Guard?

[hannya]

Well, if you know how they off themselves, keep 'em from doin' it, I guess.

[He's so helpful.]

[earthy]

[The most helpful.]

She bit off her tongue?

[hannya]

[Majima grimaces to himself.]

That's a shit way to go. Guess they're dedicated. Or they haven't discovered cyanide here yet.

[earthy]

Cyanide?

[Someone has definitely never heard of it before.]

[hannya]

Oh, uh.

[Guess this kid's not from Earth. He still isn't used to not assuming that.]

Poison. Acts quick, and you can hide it pretty easy. Doubt it's a cozier death, but it ain't as much effort.

[earthy]

Poison.

[Okay, that word he knows.]

Actually, I talked to Claire... ah, one of the healers working at the Sanctuary... and she said that poison might have been involved in Gnome's... passing. Because her life left her so quickly after...

[You know, the tongue thing.]

And the healing spell I tried did nothing. My magic heals wounds, but it has no effect on poison.

[hannya]

Huh. Guess she was bein' thorough.

[Again, cultish devotion comes to mind.]

Do we know what these people want, exactly? They gotta have something against somebody.

[earthy]

I don't think we do. I agree with you, though. It feels like a... vengeful sort of attack. Something personal.