473/Subsidiaries

Subsidiaries
Date of Scene:	20 September 2023
Location:	Plot Room 5
Synopsis:	CW: Horror, potat. Some of the scariest people on the planet visit someone who has chosen to cheat Obsidian. He has chosen... Poorly.
Cast of Characters:	Nephrite, Takashi Agera, Mamoru Chiba, Norie Okana, Hinoiri Kirara, Pyrite, Jadeite
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

---

Nephrite has posed:
    Sometimes, you have agents, representatives, or menials handle things for you in business; sometimes you need to make a point.

    This is one of the latter cases.

    A subsidiary of Obsidian who has received multiple contracts to develop industrial equipment for the parent company has failed to deliver. These contracts come from multiple departments, and affect not just Beryl Holdings and Tomoe LifeScience, but also the mega-corp's bottomline and the funding available to other large products across the board. That includes resources to offer freelancers, recruitment budget, equipment requisitions, and even the slush funds that are used for wining and dining clients and 'networking'.

    Basically, someone has fucked up tremendously, and several of the scariest people on the planet are being sent to make sure that whomever's responsible for said fuck is aware of how bad his situation is.

    Yanagisawa Heavy Industries, Nakajima Robotics, and the foreign Bezel Corp. are all tied into this mess. But only one of them, the first one, is getting a visit today, because that's where the snag in the delivery chain seems to be.

    The drive up is in a series of limousines. Though Yanagisawa Heavy Industries is set up in the mountains due to them doing a lot of drilling, mining, and testing of equipment for the same, the people in charge know how to get limousines up the treacherous terrain and dusty roads, and come out of it looking sleek, clean, and like they just pulled out of some kind of portal of darkness or something.

    The guards probably don't assume that last part, but that's how they got here so quickly.

    The men at the security gate have bugged out eyes as they rush to block the way, another dives for a security booth to get on the phone, and some rookies mill around looking uncertain of what they should do. This many guards right out front?

    They may not have known people 'from corporate' were going to show up right here and right now, but they must have known something was going to happen as a consequence of their failure.

    A clever person analyzing that might infer that this means the people in charge of YHI are knowingly reneging on their contracts. That's pretty bad.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon knew the Shitennou would be here. I mean, how could they not. Visual intimidation in a pack felt like it would be right up their alley. So the fact that one of the spaces in his limousines was occupied by Sunbreaker, Obsidian's current problem child, was while not the wisest course of action, probably prone to some amusement. But, not without purpose either. He had advised her it would be to her advantage to come along and see how professionals handle problems in Obsidian. And if he's right, the Shitennou will be professional yet annoyed about her presence, which is really just a bonus.

    Riventon has also brought Norie, since he figures Fate in a suit might not actually be terribly intimidating with her sad eyes, and Hotaru would just think being a suited thug was 'so cool' she'd lack intimidation as she giddy-danced around. A shame since the girl was currently nearly six feet tall. While Norie... He didn't really expect emotional outbursts out of the besuited vampy girl.

    Riventon himself has decided to reconfigure his henshin from a labcoat and suit to just a black suit with a purple tie. As the limousines pull up to the front and stop, Riventon gets out and sighs. Civilians, really? He reached up as he looked ahead at them, straightening his tie with his Device-gauntelted hand above, which thanks to the suit makes it somewhat look like he's got one metal hand and one flesh one.

    "They don't pay you enough to get in our way." Riventon says calmly.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
One of the two people in the front of the other limousine gets out, ignoring the guards, and comes around to the side of the first limousine to open the door. An aggressively handsome young man in a dark blue bespoke suit that probably cost about a half-year's pay of one of the guards is the first out; his black hair's tied back in a ponytail, and he's wearing a wonderfully pleasant smile on his face.

"You won't," he says mildly, "have jobs after lunchtime if I get too much dust on my shoes."

He's head and shoulders taller than some of them. He has altogether too much presence to have gotten out of the car yet. He's still smiling.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana went shopping for a suit and found one that had to be tailored, but it fit eventually. It was currently only buttoned once near the bottom and was overall open, displaying the lavender colored undershirt she'd chose with a black tie. She wore black slacks and had a pair of lavender dress shoes to complete the ensamble.

The tentacle beast, 'Mister Squiggles' as playing with Sunbreaker's familiar and this made her content. Indeed, there'd be no emotional outbursts from Norie. She didn't do emotion well anymore since. This whole vampire thing.

She peeked out the window when the car stopped and Riventon got out. She waited in the car and watched through the front window as the older boys did their thing. She figures if she was needed, they'd ask.

Besides, what could security guards do to her? She wasn't worried.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker was, originally, not going to come. Something something waste of her time, something something better things to do, something something ego trip as you do. Originally.

Buuuut... she may have, accidentally, through no fault of her own AT ALL, pissed off a lot of people in Obsidian. Well, some people.

And tartarus, it wasn't like the idea of 'dress up pretty so other people can know that they matter because the important people paid them a visit' was new to her. Sora did it alllll the time. Though she phrased it more politely.

But she wasn't going to wear some stupid dress. Instead, she was wearing a black, one piece suit. They weren't even there yet. Why in the world were they stopping?

And then... it didn't take her long to figure it out. She gave a light snort. They were... joking, right? Riventon got out, though, so she... at least... wasn't going to. Instead, she placed a finger on the window...

And a few of the security guards on the edge just... fainted. Perhaps in fear, perhaps anxiety. Perhaps they just had the right idea, when these intimidating figures were approaching. Just a few...

Meanwhile, Adajo was playing. It was almost cute, having two dusk eel creatures play fighting, phasing in and out of the shadows like that. Almost.

Pyrite has posed:
    A teenage girl looking to be around 13 or 14 years old is seated primly in the same car as the Danger Man just emerged from. She is wearing a tailored suit (it needs to be tailored, for her scrawny frame), and has one leg crossed over the other, and her fingers interlaced together with her hands resting in her lap. She has a scar on her left cheek that always seems to be fresh, and eyes that are unambiguously red. Like, bright red. Also they glow in the dark, and the limousine is not especially well-lit right now. So, it's fortunate she is staying right where she is and letting Darien handle it.
    Fortunate for the guards, that is.

    This is her first time doing something like this. If she's going to become an actual employee of Obsidian, she should probably learn the basics, right? This will be fine. It's all fine.

    She has a handgun in a concealed holster inside her suit, and a sheathed katana that only seems to exist when it's needed.

    Perfectly fine.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jason Dite is dressed appropriately for this engagement, and is wearing mirrored sunglasses as he leans his head back against his seat and takes a nap. He's sure he'll be made aware if he's needed. Until then, he is catching up on his rest.

Nephrite has posed:
    Maxwell Stanton was sharing a car with the other Shitennou, of course, and is dressed emaculately, of course, and is drinking, also of course. He glances over his shoulder through the tinted windows to see guards. Are they even armed? He isn't sure if it would be better or worse if the guards are armed. On the one hand, not being armed makes them laughable. On the other hand, being armed is going to put the person responsible for all this in even hotter water than they already are.

    It was hot up here in the sun, even though the days are cooling as the season progresses into autumn. But things seem to be much, much colder all of a sudden as Darien and Riventon get out to confront the gaggle of men. Surprisingly, many of them are foreigners, probably hired for their larger and more intimidating appearance or perhaps prior military or law enforcement experience abroad. They may be from an American army base or the navy. Whatever they're doing here, they -- compared to the newbies who are literally passing out -- seem more experienced and to have stronger wills than most of the others.

    That does not, however, make them a match for basically anyone coming to meet them. A more grizzled security guard, maybe a lieutenant or something, barked out in gruff, cut-off, simple Japanese, "No admittance. No visitors without appointment. I.D. or turn around." He is, in fact, armed. The guy on the phone is relaying what's happening to someone further inside the large, walled compound that can be seen higher up the mountain. On either side of the road are rocky slopes, leading down into exploratory excavation sites and drilling wells. Drilling for oil? In Japan? Well, hope springs eternal, or so they say.

    Maxwell rolls down his window with the button at his fingertips and calls out in English to the lead guard, "We are here on business, as part of an inquiry into undelivered product. We have an appointment." Then he tacks on with a shark-like smile, "We are from Corporate."

    Between Darien and Riventon looking like yakuza or something, and apparently three other cars full of mafia-like individuals, and the mention of being 'from Corporate' (there is only one 'Corporate' when one works for Obsidian, and it means something entirely different than it does in other companies. It means hatchetmen and troubleshooting women who expedite things by any means necessary).

    Given the rumors about Corporate, especially the horror stories about HQ, even the experienced guard looks nervous as he backs down in front of Darien and Riventon. "Wait while we confirm your appointment." he mutters. Then he turns and snaps to his crew, "Get those idiots out of the road!" And then gestures at the collapsed newbies while repeating for those who only speak Japanese, "Move baka, bakame! Move! Isogi!"

    The call that comes back should be 'for no reason should you allow these people through'. That's what's said on the other end. But a Shadow whispers in the caller's ear, replaces the words with different words, and he nods his head, wide-eyed and pale, at the man in charge. They have an appointment.

    Some muttered curses, and the security arm and the guards who blocked the way are both quickly moved aside. The journey up should hopefully be faster now, with fewer people getting anywhere near them. The guards are looking at the two men like Darien or Riventon might shoot them in the back just for the sake of it.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon's not nearly angry enough to shoot anybody in the back. Though, pointing a gun at him would instantly elevate someone from 'civilian' to 'participant' and that would be bad for them. "Thank you for your cooperation." Riventon notes. The intimidation factor of looking like Yakuza is entirely intentional and the reason he's wearing a suit which he finds drastically less comfortable than the lab coat. But one must dress for the occasion (or overdress, if you're taking lessons from Mamoru Chiba.)

    He'll stand out there and get his shoes dirty even if Mamoru doesn't want to. But he doesn't even have to hold anybody by their lapels or collar, because the disruption is almost not even enough to be temporary. So he returns to the car and closes the door. He looks at Sunbreaker. "See? Fear will get you things, but sometimes the right kind of fear is subtle, it's confident. It's not angry and quick reacting. It's making them feel like you have all the cards and they have none." He says, as though she doesn't know this.

    With a nod to Norie and Lana, he leans back in the seat. "Probably won't even need to do more than property damage today."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien Shields is... not even remotely intimidated by the blowhards with guns, which means either something is very wrong or something is very wrong in a different direction. But Nephrite, of course, has it; he should have left that part to Nephrite. He'll do better inside where it counts. He will.

None of the regret shows on his face -- it's just his smile widening as well, before he gets back in the limo and has the door closed for him.

When he's back inside, behind the tinted windows, it's a different story. He slides down in his seat and looks out the window, uncaring of whether it wrinkles the back of his suit. He can fix it.

"I swear to god," he says, "if anyone pisses me off today I am going to end them."

They know that means he might damage them maybe.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana seems glad this doesn't escalate into a fight. She'd hate to get her new suit messy. She's liking it. It makes her feel important. She's taking mental notes about this encounter for later. This is a learning experience. "I see." she says softly. She listens as she looks to the creatures playing together in the shadows of the limousine. She looks content again at this as she looks back to Sunbreaker and watches as one of the guards faint. She becomes jealous. She can't drain energy through the air. From a distance. She has to touch.

"I'll learn that trick. Eventually." she says with a hrmph. Looking away again as she closes her eyes and sighs. "We'll be moving again soon right?" she asks, opening her eyes as she looks out the window.

"Hopefully this can be resolved with intimidation, too."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker let out a sigh. Finally. They were MOVING. About time. She glanced to Riventon and narrowed her eyes. "I'm aware of what fear can do," she snapped. Ohhhh, someone was testy. But... he wasn't necessarily wrong. She waaaaas maybe a little bit kind of pissed some people off possibly. And there was some things to learn here, like it or not.

She glanced to Norie before snapping her fingers. "Teaching that might take a little bit, but... there is something you should be able to do well enough." Her familiar came to her hand and she stroked a finger down its side. "Focus your magic like this, and make it blend in better with the shadows, keeping your familiar as an extension of your will..." she said gently. The familiar then disappeared, melding in entirely to the shadows. "Then unleash it, let it snatch the energy for you. Not quite ranged... but close enough," she said firmly. Laying the ground work for what would totally not be something other's regretted later. Certainly.

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko waits patiently. When Darien gets back into the car, expressing violently discontent, she unfolds her hands and pat-pats him on the shoulder. "You did a good job, Onii-san. You were very intimidating and professional." She is trying to switch to 'san' since she is the older of the two ten-year olds, and she thinks she should thus be the more mature. Even if she's the same person. Being a ghost is complicated.

    Through her touch, and through their souls, she gives a message without words.

    If he does not wish to stain his soul with the deaths of others, she can do it for him. She is already drenched in blood. There is no reason for both of them to be murderers.

Jadeite has posed:
    When the car starts moving again, Jason moves a bit in his seat, and rolls his head to the side to look out the window that Nephrite has opened. "It's hot and dusty. Close the damn window already." True, no reason to leave it open now that they are on their way again! He also feels around for his bottle of 'Sailor Orange'-flavored Fanda soda. He isn't about to add drinking to his list of problems.

    After taking a swig and letting out a refreshed 'aaahh' from his chilled drink, he sits up a bit. "These people are off to a bad start, I can tell you that much. They may not have known we were coming today or that we would be here so quickly, but they already had a bunch of Hired Goons out front." Does that mean they know they messed up and they're scared? Or is it that...

    He turns to look out the rear window, and lifts up his sunglasses. "Were they expecting a different V.I.P. today, but we showed up first?"

Nephrite has posed:
    Maxwell turns his head and stares flatly at Jadeite as he pushes the button to roll up the window, and keeps staring until it's closed. He lets the bossing around pass as he directs his attention to the hypothetical proposed of there being someone else expected to arrive today. Based off of the potential candidates that come to mind, the wavy-haired businessman says, "That would be very bad for them." That goes double because what was ordered would be hyper-destructive to his plans if it left the country.

    The remaining drive up is free of further incidents, and the heavy-duty industrial main gates set in the high concrete walls that make this drill site look like a prison or fortress are opened for them without hesitation. One, two, three, all the cars are inside the compound. They're on actual tarmac at least, and the dust and dirt is minimal. There are people everywhere, scrambling to get work done, noticing the limos and being nervous but not stopping what they're doing to gawk. There are an awful lot of armed guards around, and now they have a positional advantage from atop the walls.

    The cars have stopped, and Maxwell doesn't wait for anyone to open his door for him. They can do that for Darien, he's important enough. Maxwell, however, decides it'd be better to get out there sooner rather than later. He stands well above the roof of the car in height, and has his hands in his solid white coat and pants, with a partially unbuttoned blue undershirt beneath that. His shoes are black, though, he isn't walking around a mining site in white shoes. Not that it would matter with a forceshield up.

    Some representative of the company comes scurrying up with his crew of sycophants and more guards who look like ex-mercenaries or soldiers. They have a different way they carry themselves, clearly have combat experience, and maintain their composure while simultaneously giving off the impression they are very sketched out by the current situation.

    Max waits with his hands in his pockets for them to cross the expansive tarmac and get to them. He is taking in everything around him, and his mood is growing darker by the second. This a lot of high-grade equipment, a lot of materials used to make this petty fortress, all of these guards working like a private army, and--Is that a heli-pad? They have the time and money to fly a helicopter in and out, but not to deliver what they are contractually obligated to.

    This is bad, bad news for the man in charge.

    By the time the representative gets over, everyone should have had a chance to get out if they want and perform their own visual inspection, and likely come to the same conclusion.

    That being, 'The guy who decided to use up all the funds on this vanity project has FUBAR'd, very, very badly.'

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon is the first one out of his car again. On the way out, he notes. "Show of force on our end, join me if you would?" very politely. He gets out and joins Maxwell Stanton in standing, looking around, and being highly annoyed. "I can't get them to finance a proper lab and yet this joker thinks he can do all of this." Riventon asks, his hands clenching in anger. He's not talking loud enough for anyone to hear him but the assembled intimidation team. It takes him a moment to retain control and not have Dark Energy leaking out of his gauntlet - it's so easy to let anger run things when he's in henshin. Maybe a mundane suit would have been better.

    He finally runs his fingers through his long hair behind him and lets it go. For now. "I kinda hope somebody tries something." he admits, but key is that he admits it before Sunbreaker and Norie are out and near him.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien tilts his head a little and gives Himeko a lopsided little smile when she pats his shoulder. If, his heart tells her, he should ask her to kill on his behalf, it is still on his behalf, and therefore on his hands.

There was a loophole in that once upon a time.

He eyes Jadeite and covers his mouth and clears his throat, hiding the shape of his smile when Nephrite staaaares at Jadeite. He says, "Be interesting to see if someone shows up after us," is his only comment out loud.

Then they arrive, and once he's basically handed out of the car again, Hematite's eyebrows are up. He starts looking more and more relaxed at everything they see, and moreso at the approaching rep and his small army of flunkies and... army.

He's standing close enough to hear Riventon and he glances over and gives the other young man the look he always used to, the 'I can't wink but boy do I agree and I think the odds are good' look.

He smiles at the representative; his body language is almost lazy. He says nothing aloud.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana nods when the car stops and gets out, finally. She flexes her hands and looks back over to Riventon as she joins over to him, not hearing the last bit, but hearing the rest. She never knew the size of the lab was a sticking point to Riventon. She makes a note somewhere in the back of her head. She doesn't have as a personal investment in this, but she's following along. Learning.

Men. Large men. Ex-soldiers? This doesn't bother her so much. Once again, what are they going to do. Shoot her? Better hope they're shooting silver bullets. What are they going to do. Detain her? Good luck, she thinks.

Mister Squiggles hides in the shadows of the limo, the creature not moving as she looks back to the shadows and back over to Sunbreaker. She looks sad a moment. Maybe something insinuated in those statements made her sad as she looks back up.Hers
She just settles near Riventon and looks up at him and back to the men.

"That's. a lot of..nrm. People." she says lowly.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave a soft sigh when she stepped out and then paused to glance around. "Ah... good to know that the money sent to get things done... was instead used to over compensate for an inability to get the most basic of jobs finished," she muttered.

This is what happens, it seems. You get paid, you don't do the job. Theres a fairly sizeable issue at that point. One that leads to her learning how Obsidian does things when it comes to these matters.

Well, at least her research on such matters will be more beneficial than this entire building likely was. So maybe it wouldn't be a complete waste of Obsidian's resources. Not that she cared.

However, the arrival of guards made her actually smirk, just a little bit, before she regained control of her features. Oh. That was positively precious. Like the royal guard back home. 'Oh nooooo. Surely these normal guards will protect the borderline goddess they're protecting who could turn them to ash with narry a thought'. Intimidating looking... and that was about it.

As they started to group up, she'd pause for a moment to glance at the others and... "I don't believe we've met. Sunbreaker, the pleasure is all yours," she said dismissively. WELP. THIS WOULD GO WELL.

Her familiar, however, disappeared back into its gem. It was, more or less, a part of her. She wasn't gonna leave it behind.

Pyrite has posed:
    In her own ghostly heart, Himeko acknowledges that point. She won't force it then. She doesn't want to hurt her big brother anymore. When it seems everyone is getting out of their cars, Himeko is right behind Darien. Like, right behind him. She doesn't climb out of the car so much as just exists at his back now, keeping red eyes out for any sign of trouble from the rear. She looks young, but she moves like a professional.
    A professional what? Himeko doesn't know, she just memorized stuff from shows and movies, and because she doesn't see much difference between those and reality they became actual skills (in the 'mad skillz' sense of the term) that have no real affect on her efficacy but certainly make her look cooler (she is convinced of this and will hear no argument to the contrary).
    Anyway, there's some girl behind all the tall people and she is glaring around at people and they'll all just assume she's lost or something.
    Sunbreaker introduces herself, and the scar-cheeked, red-eyed girl tilts her head slightly. Does she know that name from anywhere? Any major event she was recently involved in? Something important, and perhaps action-packed? Is it something that affected her, her friend group, or anyone she knows?
    ...Nothing comes to mind!
    "Himeko Soryuu." she introduces herself quietly in return. She does look a bit older in the suit, maybe she could pass for 16/17 with youthful features. Either way she is not very intimidating, 'professional' or not, but takes her job very srsly.
    "Aa... Why are we here again?" she asks with a hand alongside her mouth as she leans towards Norie.

Jadeite has posed:
    This was supposed to be them coming to ask questions and apply pressure to a degree that ordinary envoys could not. Jason sees why. Whoever is in charge here has styled himself as some sort of local military dictator. A dictator of some holes in the ground. Right. Jason is in finance, he is calculating all the resources gone to waste here on-sight, and is scowling. He flips his shades back down to block out the afternoon sun. The armed men all around them are just Yen signs in Jason's eyes.

    In answer to Himeko's question, which she asked at normal volume, not even a stage-whisper, he says, "I believe that today we will likely be hurting someone." He gives a sidelong glance at Riventon, as if to ask, 'How many labs do you think you could have had built and fully equipped if all of this was turned into budget for Research and Development?' He expects at least annoyance, if not anger, from his companions.

    Jason is a recovering angry person and leaves that up to them. He'll focus on figuring out what to do if some complete and utter fucking idiots orders the guards to fire upon them or something.

    Okay, he's also allowing himself to be annoyed.

    'Sunbreaker?' Does he know that name? ...Doesn't ring any bells, but he was almost dead until recently, maybe it'll come to him later.

    "Jason Dite," he replies in a mutter as his eyes focus on the welcome party now within conversational range. "Charmed, I'm sure."

Nephrite has posed:
    Sunbreaker? The one from that thing with Naru? Well, Naru's back now, and unharmed, so that's basically water under the bridge as far as Dark General Nephrite is concerned. Max is busy right now, and doesn't speak until the weasel-looking guy with a thin pencil moustache and a suit that looks like it's worth more than the person wearing is gets close enough and opens his mouth.

    "Good afternoon. Simon Stone, right? We spoke on the phone earlier." He's using his deep, clear, baritone voice he uses to impress others, and smiling pleasantly like Darien as he does so. Control the conversation, apply pressure, mold expectations, defuse tension. If diplomacy can get them what they want, then use it.

    The weasely man pauses in shock, and then nervously licks his dry lips before answering, "Yes, yes. Mister Stanton, correct? Wonderful. I was, err, we weren't expecting you--"

    Maxwell's eyebrows come a bit closer together as he almost sort of kind of looks like he's going to furrow his brow, or possibly even frown.

    "--uhh, so early, I mean! We weren't expecting your arrival so early, or with, uh, so many..." His eyes pass over everyone visible from his side of the line of cars. "...Companions. Mister Yanagisawa is out right now, unfortunately, prior arrangements. Could I, uh, ask that you..." He looks like he's despairing already at the answer before he even asks the question as he squints and painfully gets out the words, "...Come back... Another time?"

    Maxwell's smile brightens at the end of the request. "Oh, no need. Our schedules are completely clear today. We can wait for the CEO to arrive."

    Simon Stone blinks his beady eyes repeatedly for a moment, just trying to adjust to the response he got. It wasn't what he was expecting, nor was it what he was desperately hoping for. "Ah... He might not be back any--"

    Maxwell interrupts again. "No, no, it's fine. I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later. We'd like to take a look around anyway. Perhaps we could be shown to your lounge for lunch?" He looks over his shoulder as if to ask if anyone wants lunch.

    Stone's mouth is opening and closing as he sputters in distress. The men around him look half amused and half annoyed by the situation. They must not like Mister Stone very much.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
sUnBrEaKeR.

Anyone currently doing background scans of magical energy fluctuations Takashi or otherwise aware of controlled blooms of dark energy will, in fact, detect a pretty impressive one in Darien Shields; his sheer presence is hard to ignore for a moment, and he looks-- he looks--

--like his temper, and something considerably worse, are kept barely in check. For a moment.

And then he looks directly at Sunbreaker and doesn't introduce himself, and his voice is a mockery of pleasantry as he tells her, "I've heard some pretty disappointing things about your work."

Then he leans down toward Himeko and whispers something to her while looking at Sunbreaker, and indicating Sunbreaker with a quick tilt of his head, and he straightens up.

That seems to be the end of it, as his riled-up black hole of attention settles down somewhat to avoid detracting from Nephrite's negotiations. He smiles at Stone.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon's never met the Mister Stone - must have gotten the short end of the mineral nicknames for sure - but he doesn't like him already, either. Partly for dragging him out here. Mostly for having seemingly gotten such a cache of resources as to build himself a little banana-republic looking base in the middle of nowhere without oversight. He doesn't just want this clown, he wants this clown's superior's head on a plate too. Maybe do some gravity research experiments from the windows of Obsidian Tower. Of course once he's not angry and in henshin he'll probably think differently, but right now, he's got his own internal Dark Energy whispers to hold back from.

    "Does this man not have a cell phone?" Riventon asks - he's the less calm one. He can let Nephrite play the Almost Good Cop, and he'll play the Impatient Angry one, since that's what he is. "Is this technology somehow foreign to you? It has existed for decades. Surely, you can inform him that his presence is needed. Perhaps he can take a helicopter back." This is Riventon -being- polite and calm. Maybe he's not great at it. But he's at least kind of professional. If... angry professional.

    On the positive side, he can feel Mamoru's frustration at Sunbreaker. and in a way, it's good. Dark emotions well up in his brother, so Dark Energy natively does too, and that's what Takashi wants to see, since he hasn't been consulted or agreed to any kind of getting-outting of anybody. He's come around to Mamoru not joining Obsidian from his own choices, but not so much to him choosing to get out. He's satisfied that the test went through just fine.

    "I doubt they have anything I want to eat in their lounge. Maybe with all the funding they're throwing around they have a soda machine at least." Riventon adds, to the lounge suggestion. He turns to Norie. "It's not enough people. Not nearly." he says. Loud enough to be heard by more than her.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana watches the exchange go on as she looks to the others...Oh. They're. Introducing themselves...

"Norie Okana..." she says softly.

She looks over to Himeko and says. "To be intimidating. I think." she says. "But only act if they say so." she motions to Riventon and Darien and---

Woah that's a flare up of dark energy. She can sense it. It's right there. Coming from Darien. That's a scary amount. She blinks and looks to Riventon questioningly before looking back down and listening to Darien's reply. This must be. About the Naru thing. She feigns ignorance.

She gives a little nod to Riventon's words before looking over to Jason Dite and blinks a little. Oh no. He might be cute. She isn't sure. "Charmed." she says flatly, like a Vulcan because it's the most upbeat emotion she can manage right now... She realizes it comes off as sarcastic. "..a..aah-sorry." she says, immediately. Apologizing for the nothing.

"They look like dorks." she intones, back at Riventon, about the men. "I bet they don't even have good donuts."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker eyed Stone. She... was not impressed. She knew a lackey when she saw them. She looked him up... and down... and then was about to say something. WHEN SUDDENLY DARIEN?! She glanced to him for a moment, cocking an eye. That was... uhhhh... Weird. "That's the danger of listening to rumors, I suppose," she said. "You're bound to only hear the barest pieces of what's there."

She did give Jason a small nod, though. He apparently was in the... large man's entourage.

Unaware of juuuust how dangerous he was, she glanced back towards Stone. Oh, this poor man. He's so utterly screwed. She could, at least, smile at him. Not a nice smile. But it was a smile. "Pebble... was it?" she asked. "Let's be real here for a moment. The fact you're out here to try and... delay us means that your boss has already decided that you're disposable. Us, on the other hand, have only just met you. Now would be a very good time for you to try and show just how indispensable you can be. So why don't you show us some real 'can-do-attitude' and scamper off to find that number?"

Of course, once again, she found her eyes turning to Darien after a minute. Stone wasn't something that worried her. Something about... that man... did...

... Huh. Maybe that was it. She wondered if they would qualify... as hot? Perhaps more things to add to her research for later. They did SEEM mostly symmetrical.

Pyrite has posed:
    The big flare of Dark Energy would have been comforting to the old Himeko. This one has a body made of psychoplasm, and she is even more sensitive to Darien's emotional state than before. Right after being cautioned that to kill on the order of her brother would still place the blame on him for ordering it, he gives instructions on stabbing (not killing, specifically, but stabbing) Sunbreaker-san if he loses his temper. It's troubling. Though she nods in affirmative while Dark Energy crackles around the edges of her physical medium, in her heart again she sings out little warning noises like a lost whale searching for her pod. She's making sure he knows that he is her anchor, and it is her duty to protect him.
    Even if it means protecting him from himself.
    'Don't you become lost too. Then neither of us would find our way home.'
    That being said, if intimidation is what is desired, as Norie-san says, then Himeko will provide it upon demand. One can be scary without hurting anyone.
    She clears her throat authoritatively as she steps forward to stand at Darien's side. She scowls as best a teenage girl can, and says to Stone-san, "Do you have... Potato?"
    What? Lunch was mentioned. Now it's on her mind.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jason smiles pleasantly back at Norie. He doesn't appear to have taken it as sarcastic. His green eyes are fixed on Darien, watching that outburst that has set his hair on end and has his fingers digging into the metal of the car roof that he was leaning on moments prior. He was scanning for threats, not necessarily magical ones because why would he, so that flare caught him by surprise.

    Sunbreaker's attempt to play tough unicorn, combined with Darien's reaction, and Sunbreaker appearing to know why Darien is upset finally clicks some things into place in his head. Oh. Right. That Sunbreaker. No infighting in front of the peasants though, that's the rule. The mission takes priority.

    "I believe what my associate means is that it is of the utmost priority that Mister Yanagisawa be notified of our arrival, as we have urgent matters to discuss which will affect the future of our business relationship and our mutual growth in the market. You are not responsible for your employer's actions or inactions, so don't worry. You have no personal liability in this matter." He smiles politely as he releases the hood of the car, where he has left the imprint of his fingers in steel. He walks around the car over to where the Darien, Himeko, Maxwell, Norie, and so on are standing, hands behind his back, and leans forwards slightly. "Jason Dite, of Dite Enterprises. I believe our respective CEOs are acquainted already. Your cooperation would be very appreciated, and could result in you being seen favorably if there were to be a reorganization sometime soon." Others are using pressure, diplomacy, or threats. Jason is trying to make a deal by appealing both to self-serving survival instincts and greed. Build a rapport with the client.

    "You have some very impressive security measures in place, and I think these men would also like to be fairly compensated for their work thus far...?" he says leadingly while looking at the guards. Maybe outright bribery won't be as effective here, but if he buys out their contracts, that's a different matter. No reason to work for someone who isn't paying them, and it would be cheaper to just transfer them directly under Obsidian than the early termination fees, and so forth.

Nephrite has posed:
    Stone is rather flustered at first by Maxwell just steamrolling through. He is extremely nervous, clearly, and doesn't actually have any authority to speak of to make decisions about who can and cannot be here. He's wringing his hands and everything. He looks so much like a human weasel it's not even funny. Okay, it's actually pretty funny, but maybe not under these circumstances.

    The sudden chill that goes down his spine from seemingly no visible source just adds to his discomfiture. Darien and one of the women seem to be having some sort of side-discussion. In response to Riventon, he says, "I, uh, I can try to call him. I'm just not certain if he has any reception right now--" He isn't about to start listing off the contents of vending machines no matter how rude or threatening these people are being. In fact, the longer this goes on, the more he is regaining his composure and becoming emboldened by being backed with a half-dozen very large men with very large guns.

    Once Sunbreaker starts openly threatening them, he starts to get angry! Yakuza or not, these intruders are heavily outnumbered. "L-listen, you have no appointment, I checked, and we can't have people coming in here and disrupting operations. If the site supervisor has to come down here, he--!" he trails off as the teenage girl approaches, glowering at him, and asks him about potatoes. The head of steam he was building up seeps out of him as he seems to deflate into confusion and uncertainty again. "I... What?"

    Then the blonde-haired young man swoops in to unruffle feathers and do damage control. Simon isn't stupid, and he recognizes what's happening. It's the same sort of placating he does for clients as the assistant manager of the head office for Yanagisawa Heavy Industries. He scoffs a bit, and huffs and puffs dramatically, looking around for support from his 'crew', without actually giving a yes or no. "We'll just contact the CEO and see what he thinks about it." he finally declares. Because he really has no authority except over some office workers.

    Maxwell Stanton turns to look back at everyone, and gives a smile that eloquently suggests that they handle the situation carefully. It's a very complicated message that he sends with that smile, but it's okay, he's fluent in smiles, it's fine.

    Maxwell Stanton does turn back to Stone and says, "I agree. Please let's have him decide. That would be best for all involved. We can have lunch while we wait. What do you have for drinks?" Then he starts walking towards whatever part of the mining base looks like it has a sophisticated enough place to have lunch and air conditioning. A glance back at Norie and Himeko. "Oh, and do you have potatoes? You know how girls their age are. Eating nothing but potatoes, it seems like. Mashed, baked, roasted, chips of course... I knew this one girl back in middle-school who would eat them raw." he continues talking while walking away. The guards look like they're about to do something to stop him, but Stone just frustratedly hurries to catch up. He has to go make a phone call anyway, and he doesn't want these yakuza out here making a spectacle that the workers will start asking questions about.

    Nephrite's shadow stays on the tarmac behind him after he has already moved on towards the shade of a central complex or something. The shadow opens its fiery eyes and speaks silently to the assembled Obsidian personnel. Something is wrong here. Spread out and search or speak to personnel. You can join me for lunch on their dime if you prefer, so I can keep an eye on Stone. He's a mid-level functionary. I don't trust him, but he has no power himself. Someone else is above him, not just the CEO. That is who we need to talk to.

    So saying, the Shadow resumes being a shadow and slips across the ground to reconnect to the person who cast it.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon actually has a distinct advantage in this circumstance. He's a Device user. In henshin. Which means he's already got tools to deal with these sorts of searches. Alright, he thinks to himself. There's a big tool that probably utilizes negative energy missing. He doesn't know it does, but he figures the squad isn't here to go get a giant regular drill. So question one. Where's the drill. Sadly, none of the rest of them are Device Users and can be yelled at in their minds via such a connection. And he has no sticky shadow of such a nature (though it's a neat trick, he admits).

    Riventon nods. At the first moment, he taps Norie on the shoulder, and slips away from the group, slowly moving like he's inspecting things, but mostly he's just trying to get out of line of sight. He might not have a talking shadow-self. But he can talk to his device mentally. And he adapted something from the salvage run he saw another Devicer using. 'Axion. Area Search. Low Power.' He figures if this is going to go as poorly as it almost did, it's not a huge deal if some guards report seeing will-o-wisps floating around. Assuming they even decide to report in about some minor visual disturbances.. And if they are understood for what they are, well, that's kind of an excuse to go slap people around anyways.

    Riventon collects small balls of energy in his gauntlet and lets them out, a series of small, hard to see spheres flying high above the place, looking for energy. Dark energy, but he'll accept any energy that's out of place. He figures this won't tell anyone who is magic anything they don't already know since he's been in henshin the whole time, anyways.

    He'll let the Shitennou work in the places that are more comfortable for them. Politics, Economics, Diplomacy, Threats. Their different paths to attempt success are actually impressive in their own rights, the subtelty, the experience with interacting with other humans. He's just working in his own field of expertise. Magic. Now. Where's that drill hiding...

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's great, Takashi is gonna have to answer some questions later.

"Mm," Darien makes a noncommittal noise at Sunbreaker's continued BeInG wRoNg, and sticks his hands in his pockets-- once more, though, he looks down at Himeko and his anger abates just a little, the roiling fury only kind of threatening to boil over into being wildly noticeable again. He nods to her as if she said something, acquiescing to something silent.

He bites his lip at what she actually says, and closes his eyes for a second.

Then Darien's heavy attention is on Jason, and he listens to the rhythm of what Jadeite's saying instead of the words, and it's a familiar thing; Jadeite and Nephrite, let them do the talking in a situation like this, on home ground (home ground, why does that feel recently correct and long-term catastrophically incorrect?) -- his attention shifts to Norie, and he judges how close she seems to be to Sunbreaker.

Too close.

There are things they need to do here today, the drill really actually is important, but he thinks of the fight he couldn't even participage in, the fight it turned out this Sunbreaker fled from before the wards even finished falling. He thinks of Naru the next morning, walking like the way she must have after the hands around her neck the first morning Kazuo met her; he thinks of her endless fascinated questions and how Usagi loves her; the dark energy rises and makes this so easy to plan, so easy to plot, it doesn't have to be fighting in front of the subsidary's employees. We're from corporate.

He puts his hand lightly on Himeko's back and turns her toward Sunbreaker, then smiles pleasantly at the fire-haired girl. "If the rumors are so false," he says, "then why don't you tell me a little more about what you do? So I can hear it from the source. We'll just have a look around. Himeko-chan, you'll come with us? Let's go this way, it looks very interesting."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana gives a yawn. She's getting tired. Which is bad. Because it means she's hungry and there's big dumb men here and she wants to drain energy now and she isn't about to ask Riventon out loud for energy. When Nephrite's shadow stays behind and explains she looks over to this and raises a brow. She looks down at her own shadow which she narrows her eyes at. It remains a shadow. She looks back to Maxwell as he speaks about. Potatoes. She wants. Donuts. and Energy now, which is a bad thing for the vampire to be right now.

Riventon taps her on the shoulder and she follows along, gently flexing her hands again as she frowns. "If we encounter someone, I can make them go away." she says quietly to him as she shadows the boy. Then realizes what she just said. "I mean. Walk away. Forget." she says quieter, as if fixing a mistake she made. She watches Riventon do his area search and she just can't float upwards to look down over the area right now. Well she could. Just there would be more questions than answers right now.

"I wonder who F****ed up." she finally says outloud, in her Vulcan tone. Where did that come from?

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker had a lot of things she could have said. Or come up with. Or done. So many things.

Except potato. Himeko's sudden appearance and words had thrown her for such a loop that she was just... how... did you even... what could she... how... What?

"What?" she asked, staring at the girl before just... looking... to Riventon. She was doubly confused. Because that was weird. The second reason was she didn't know if this was NORMAL. Was this a human thing? Did... did humans do that? Were they.... known... for such wants? Did they... did they normally... potato? Was that a thing?

Aaaaand then Darien looked to her and was directing the little girl towards her. "Hm?" she asked. "Oh, yeah, sure," she said. Potato. Why potato? Was that code for something? Why would the girl want a potato? Why would ANYONE just want a potato? Fries, maybe? Fries were good. She liked fries, who didn't like fries? Why wouldn't someone... right. Magic thing. Something was going on. Magic. That was her thing. "Yeah... let's go," she said, letting Darien lead her on. When they passed a shadow, though, he might notice something... shadowy... disappear out of her sleeve, disappearing into the shadows. Sending her familiar out to search for magic. Other magic. If there was one thing she was good for... it was magic. Sure, she was utterly useless at tech...

Or realizing that maybe going with the weird, tall guy in a suit, with the weird potato child was a bad idea.

Seriously. Potato. WHY? POTATO?!

"You know, you never gave me your name," she said to Darien, glancing towards him as they walked. "I'm not entirely sure on the customs of this world yet, but I'm fairly sure it's considered rude to not at least introduce yourself." The kid, at least, had. Potatoko. Err. Himeko.

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko is not the toddling little shorty shortkins that her younger self is/was, but she's still relatively easy to maneuver around. She doesn't even attempt to resist being turned around. She notices the thing being dumped into the shadows. She used to be able to do that too! Going into shadows that is. Technically, her other self, the one made of Dark Energy, can still do that. Also when they are just ghosts without bodies, it works then too, but it's hard to become a ghost on her own now since she's trying to refamiliarize herself with what it's like to be 'alive'.
    Maxwell-san is asking about potatoes on her behalf, so she assumes at first they are following after him to go have lunch. The fact they are not doesn't click for a little while, and by then she is so busy thinking about shadows and potatoes that she doesn't even know where she is or what she was doing.
    Is she going somewhere? Is this place somewhere one goes? It's too big. Too many people, too much space. Old anxieties and agoraphobia bubble in the back of her consciousness, but they can just percolate back there, that's fine, as long as they don't boil over. "Yum. I can't wait for potato." she says. After a pause. "...Where are we going again?"
    The message imparted by Nephrite's Shadow is vaguely floating around in her head too, but as far as she knows they are here to scare people. She reasons, then, that she is to haunt this place, and in return she will receive lunch.
    This is a logical conclusion, and she commits to it with Determination on her face, and psychic energy at her fingertips.
    She will scare them all so good, guys, you'll see.

Jadeite has posed:
    The tension of the situation is reduced, thankfully. Maybe Stone didn't bite on the attempt to subvert his loyalties, but he was also in front of an audience. Accepting a deal would be better done in private, and with a better appreciation for just how bad the situation is that he's in. Honestly, Jason had anticipated that someone would freak out and order them all fired upon right there in the open. But this isn't America, so probably they at least have enough common sense not to try to solve all of their problems with guns.

    Foolish really. So many more problems can be solved with mind control than with guns. Speaking of which, while not mind control, there is a use for telepathy in this situation.

    Jason connects all willing participants together telepathically, so they can check in with each other. No one has to use it, even if they opt in to connecting to it, but it's there if needed. He makes this clear with a quick message.

    <<Hello, this is telepathy. I cannot read your mind, nor can anyone else. This is just silent communication to coordinate our forces. If you don't want or need it, you don't have to use it, and you can choose not to receive messages. If you are captured and lowered into a vat of acid slowly while someone explains their evil plan to you, just chime in and someone will be right over.>>

    Jason looks around. Maxwell is going off with Stone. Norie is going off with Riventon. Sunbreaker is going off with Himeko and Darien. He could accompany Max as back-up, but honestly he'd much rather go back to his soda and air-conditioning and make sure no one fucks with the cars. Coming back and driving away and then getting blown up by a car bomb would be annoying. These limos aren't free, you know.

    So, he stays with the drivers and assistants, as well as the occupants of the third car. The one in which several very pretty and very dangerous ladies in business attire wait for 'Lord Jadeite's command. Being able to make your own youma is very useful.

Nephrite has posed:
    Time passes as people invite themselves on a tour around the facility. For some reason, even though no permission has been given, the armed guards, workers, and other personnel are doing nothing to stop them. It isn't just intimidation factor. Maybe one of them is putting out vibes, or mind control, or something. But no one interferes. At least not yet.

    This whole place is just weird. Yes, it's equipped with modern technology, and a lot of luxury features like air conditioning, vending machines, water fountains, actual restrooms and not just port-a-potties, and the interiors of the main facilities look more like fancy executive offices, marble floors, and sleek black walls with in-set lights along horizontal bars, giving it an almost futuristic feel.

    A lot of money has gone into aesthetics and creature comforts, is the takeaway. But the actual industrial parts are very compact by comparison, packed into less space than is normal in order to make up for the wasted room elsewhere. There are places, however, that are off-limits. There are elevators that go up to a third floor, where a large office with a sunken floor, leather couches, coffee tables, plants, a big expensive desk, a bunch of wall monitors, a big screen TV, and a window that looks out upon the work site below lies. That is where those who decide they want lunch or to have a private conversation wind up.

    But there's a fourth floor, and someone needs an electronic keycard, a code, and two physical keys for two different locks, in an elevator that only goes between the third and fourth floors, to get up there. Those kind of security measures are pretty paranoid for a mining operati--Well, maybe not for this makeshift fortress thing, but a normal mining operation.

    There are cameras everywhere, showing that there were likely security personnel watching long before the limos made it up the winding, dusty, sheer cliff-flanked road to the gates. There are several rooms with keycard access only, no labels on the doors (unlike every other room in this place, even the elevators and storage closets), and magic of some kind on the other side. It feels like Dark Energy.

    Not just one source of it, but several.

    After seeing what the first drill could do... Did the idiot in charge decide to make more drills?

    It doesn't take a genius to conclude someone drilled into the Dusk Zone while making an unauthorized test of the equipment, and may have been suffused with Dark Energy that is warping their mind, or gotten possessed by something from the other side. It explains a lot about the weird behavior.

    It also explains why no one is necessarily surprised about 'yakuza' being here, so much as them being here now. Untoward dealings might have already been planned. Identifying themselves as 'Corporate' shook them up more than the prospect of organized crime. Because they know they've likely been caught, and that they are screwed, but they don't know how screwed yet, which is why they are waiting to find out while they try to get orders from someone with the authority togrant it.

    It's all perfectly logical.

    Maxwell watches Simon make a frantic, whispering call to his boss, encouraged by glowing blue eyes and a Shadow that seemed to move independently of its owner. The sound of a helicopter might already be audible in the distance.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon is connected to the group party line by Jason Dite - and this means that finally he's able to share what's going on with everybody else. His little orbs do a good job of returning with information, at least from insecure areas. Which he's keen to share in real-time with the rest of the group.

    <<Well, good news. I found our drill. Multiple of our drill. Or at least relevant energy signatures. Also there's a lot of shenanigans going on here and I think the bozos with guns are just here to deter mundane people. There's a room with way too much security to be not important in one of these buildings, and therefore I think that's where Norie and I are about to go. Oh, and just so you know, we're gonna drain our way there so don't be surprised if things heat up. But I suspect they were gonna with the helicopter I hear, anyways and therefore I would rather be the one turning up the heat.>>

    Riventon looks down to Norie and smiles. "I was getting hungry anyways." he says. "They're keeping some kinda goodies on the fourth floor, there. I say we snack on everybody between here and there. Any excess energy we can always put to use later." he says, looking down at his gauntleted hand and flexing it. "Once we're out of the field here, all-you-can-eat." he says, heading towards the building in question to inspect it. Meaning making an energy draining line between the first floor and the door to the fourth, only stopping if they meet relevant resistance. And hey, it'll solve Norie's hunger issues too.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
<<Yay telepathy!>> comes Darien's mental voice over the link, but probably thankfully for everyone's nerves, that's all the current Prince of Dark Energy says before falling silent.

It honestly doesn't take long before he and Sunbreaker and Himeko are just out of sight of the main area, and only in view of security cameras. Definitely not long enough to be weird in the length of time it takes Darien to answer Sunbreaker with an introduction. He holds up a finger to her, though, and he turns to tell Himeko, "Cameras first, and then go make this place as haunted as you like."

Then he turns and grins at Sunbreaker. "I'm Hematite."

There's a flash of green and black and the sickly-sweet scent of a rose beginning to decay, and abruptly there's a thorny black rose thrown with enough swift force and sleekly impossible aerodynamics to stab through Sunbreaker's hand, like a straw into a treetrunk in a hurricane. If she happens to be close to the wall, she might even be pinned there.

His smile widens, and the blue of his eyes is dark, darker than it should be, dark; there's a fierce pleasure in revenge, as small as this is.

"Naru Osaka's friend. Don't make another embarrassing spectacle."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana eyes widen when Riventon speaks and finds what he's looking for. Also. Drills? << It was nice of them to make more than one of them for us. >>. He mental reply having the same strange neutral cadence as the rest of her talking. She then drains along the way, following Riventon.

She starts to drain along the way, lashing out with tendrils to touch and drain through the whole way as she stops kind of pretending and hovers along after him, a few inches off the ground, leaning forward a little.

"Do they think doors are going to stop us?" she asks curiously.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker walked with him, glancing towards the little girl when she was mentioned. Haunted? Cameras? Was she an expert at such things? Fascinating. But the word choice. 'Haunting'? Did she know spirit magic? A shaman of some sort? She was distracted, slightly, by this... but then glanced to him when he mentioned his name. "Hematite? As in the mineral?" she asked.

The flash, the scent. Her eyes widened and she was on the defensive. By the time the rose was flung, she was already forming a barrier. She'd been wondering when this would happen. Obsidian definitely gave her 'You've outlived your usefulness' vibes.

What she didn't expect was for the thing he threw to pierce and shatter her barrier before she'd even gotten it fully up. For a moment, there wasn't even pain. Just... shock. Naru? This was about Naru? What? Who in the... why would he... It... It... it hurt. It hurt. Ithurtithurtithurtithurt.

She stared at her hand, unsure of how to even... what would she... how... Panic, anger, pain all bled in together. She tried to pull it out, but the thorns lodged it in, sending more pain through it. Her... her hand. How... how? And finally she screamed! Her left hand lifted up, an orb of fire forming in it a moment later before she slammed it *down*.

Setting it off like an explosive in the hall, unlikely to do much damage to him, but well. Likely taking out a wall or two. At least now they'd have a distraction or two...

She, meanwhile, took this opportunity to disappear, dusk porting away. Well, she'd certainly learned one thing from this.

How Obsidian did business.

Pyrite has posed:
    All of the cameras in the facility malfunction at once. Some of them are showing static, others looping images, and several are showing disconcerting or outright terrifying things. A faint, human-shaped blur or distortion, like an 'imprint' on the air, barely visible at all, slowly walks down one hallway. An elevator appears to open on one floor, and blood starts flowing out onto into the hallway. Another camera's view shows only an eyeball pressed right up against the lens, darting around wildly as if trying to find whomever's looking at it. In short, there's no visual on anything or anyone that is actually taking place right now.
    This happens the moment that Darien orders it. Even if Himeko is using psychic abilities instead of Dark Energy now (or her older self is at least), she's still a ghost, and interfering with electronics has long been something that ghosts have been known to do. She hasn't left the hall where she, Darien, and Sunbreaker are yet, and she is able to do all of that.
    She has gotten so strong.
    When she smiles and disappears to haunt the place, assuming her big brother and Sunbreaker-san will handle the rest on their own, the chaos she has started in the security room is almost negligible compared to the absolute Bedlam that follows.
    She hasn't been allowed cut loose and use her 'ghost' powers in almost four months.
    Now, people other than Hematite get to see what that looks like: what Himeko Soryuu is capable of when her intent is to haunt with all her might, not even do harm.
    The sun is covered up by black and green clouds that flow in from somewhere, turning the fortress and surrounding area into a spectral soup of fog, strange noises, sudden movements felt but not seen, and other minor scares. That's nothing. That's just set-up.
    Guards on the walls see those walls suddenly stretching up, distorting, climbing higher and higher and higher, while the walkways they stand upon narrow and narrow until they are barely standing on a precipice. Indoors, visible through a long window in a hallway, the on-site medical clinic has gone completely dark. Those lingering nearby are suddenly startled as one of their own can be seen sweeping his rifle-mounted flashlight around the area, searching for something. Then something grabs him from behind and the suppressed echo of gunfire spraying wildly into the ceiling and the flash of the muzzle turn the scene into a strobing tableau of violence, writhing limbs, and unseen violence.
    As guards attempt to get inside to help, or to get out of the hallway they're in only to find the security doors engaged and the locks unresponsive, their man on the inside slams up against the reinforced window from the other side, looking bloody and wounded, begging for them to help him, right up until tendrils of slippery, intestine-like flesh wrap around him and pull him screaming back into the dark.

Pyrite has posed:
    This and many more horrible sights, sounds, and sensations plague the personnel of this place. In one office, an executive barricaded himself in with some guards and his secretary while other office workers and technicians pound on the door, begging to be let in. When they go silent, the door bursts open, and the workers, now zombies right out of a horror movie, come piling into the room, tanking gunshots from the screamin mercenaries, and burying the selfish people in mangled bodies.
    The ground actually just opens up and swallows one person running for the front gates in an attempt to escape. Like an actual mouth, with sharp teeth, in black, rotten gums, opens up, allows the poor soul to drop inside, and then clamps shut again.
    No one gets in, no one gets out.
    And almost all of this is bad dreams brought forth into the real world, illusions forged of empathy and telepathy and spiritual energy, hallucinations that are only happening in the victims' own head, or the fear taking over and them inventing their own nightmares to fight against.
    Ghosts get stronger the older they are.
    This is what that phenomenon looks like.
    Himeko, still in her fine tailored suit, hums to herself as she steps onto that restricted elevator, puts her arm through the control panel, and makes it start heading up to the fourth floor because she whispered to the machine that it should. Time to find out what's up there!

Jadeite has posed:
    Right, well, this is a thing that is happening. Jason has no doubt that some of this could be made actually tangible to some degree through the use of psychoplasm, it would also be taxing for Himeko as she is now. And as long as she is separated from her other half (not that half, the other other half. The half of the currently halved half), she doesn't have the full use of her ghostly powers.

    And she can still do all of this.

    Jason can't see everything that everyone else is experiencing, but in order to keep the cars from getting shot full of holes or something stupid like that, he sighs and sends out a message to the crew in the third car. <<Ladies, make sure our way out of here stays intact.>>

    Simultaneously, the doors open on both sides of the third limousine, and six women in business attire step out. "Yes, Lord Jadeite!" they yell out, somewhat to Jason's annoyance. Secret identities, people, come on. They turn into various stereotypical demon/monster women, some a bit weirder than the others with multi-eyes, extra limbs, a snake lower body, one is some horrible moth person, and so on, but they use their powers to put up barriers around the cars and deal with anyone who gets too close by draining them into unconsciousness.

    Jason, meanwhile, peers out through the 'spectral soup', as it was described, from the comfort of his limousine, where he has been reading The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. He has moved on to Sailor Cherry-flavored Fanda, and he wants to get back to it soon. He can hear the helicopter as it gets closer, over the sound of screams, gunfire, and people losing their actual minds. Well, time to go have a chat with CEO dumbass.

    He bends reality around himself to create a hole that tunnels through space-time until he has a visual on the helicopter. The man that was called here has finally made an appearance. Jason stands up in the warped space inside the car, adjusts his tie and cuffs, and teleports into the chopper.

    "Good evening," he says as he appears in the midst of those inside. "One moment." He disappears again. He reappears with the pilot and co-pilot, as he begins to drain them of lifeforce, making them collapse to the floor of the now unpiloted helicopter. "I'd like to have a talk about a drill."

Nephrite has posed:
    The only real damage to this facility is the explosion that Sunbreaker sets off, tearing a hallway down the middle, and knocking out the server room, so no computers are working, and also the power might kind of be down and now things are running on emergency batteries. Thankfully no one was nearby to get hurt. Other than Hematite, but, you know.

    Things go pretty predictably from there.

    The creature in charge, manipulating the mortal CEO, had multiple drills with Black Crystal tips built, so he could bring forth allies to possess more humans. The CEO's memories are meddled with, so there's a lot that is unrecoverable, even by Jadeite and his telepathy, but there's enough to justify a 'hostile takeover' of the assets of Yanagisawa Heavy Indutries as collateral for undelivered goods and services. The Vice President is a clever woman who immediately saw the opportunity presented and accepted the chance to become the new President of the company. CEO position can remain unfilled for now.

    Miss Yuuki Sakigawa isn't asking unhealthy questions, spilled the beans on what an idiot the CEO was and all the screw-ups she advised against and was ignored on (no surprise, he was being mind controlled), and the official paperwork will be handled later. In the mean time, she apparently has several piloting licenses, including for this model of helicopter, and took over so that Jason wouldn't need to crash it into something and waste an asset.

    Yanagisawa and the pilot and co-pilot can be brought back, unconscious or not, and dealt with later.

    The multiple drills are being guarded by bound evil spirits, but Norie can eat those easily, and drain the frantic guards running around, and the technical data on the drills and everything else that was being pursued here can be gotten directly from the computers with Riventon's Device without any need for passwords or even a power supply.

    Himeko makes it up to the fourth floor, and finds a very fancy, very expensive looking office, with its own security monitor bank set up, and all sorts of luxuries. It is also empty.

    The possessed human has fled. Probably very early on, when he realized he had terrifying Dark Energy users coming for him.

    Well, this just means he's on the run now, and won't likely mess with Obsidian again in the near future.

    All in all, a productive day in the mountains. All of the assets here, in addition to the company's, are now Obsidian property, because they say so that's why.

    Also, there's tunnels with potential Dusk Zone breaches already drilled for them to use for a different project.

    Isn't it great when a plan comes together?