275/Interview With The Vampire

Interview With The Vampire
Date of Scene:	21 August 2023
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Dark Laboratory
Synopsis:	Takashi welcomes Norie to Obsidian.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Norie Okana

---

Takashi Agera has posed:
It's hard to miss Obsidian Tower, even in a city as bulky and busy as Tokyo. Partially because it's massive - it's like a vertical city block. Partially because it's got the giant Obsidian logo on it, in neon that lights up at night. Partially because the windows are tinted darker black. The ground floor is a mix of black and white marble, and it's the ground floor where Takashi is standing - not as Riventon - to meet Norie, phone in hand, texting a few people.

    Inside, Obsidian Security sit behind a giant desk, mostly looking idly bored, and there's more security posted outside.

    So Takashi sticks out, not being in the black-with-blue-trim of Obsidian's Private Corporate Security group, but in a white lab coat, leaning against a giant black marble pillar. He texts out to Norie.

    >>Hey, by the way, I'm not waiting for you in Henshin, as Riventon. Just look for the guy in the lab coat. Should be hard to miss.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana arrives in henshin in an alleyway first, and then gets a text. She looks down at her phone and 'ohs'. She shifts a little- transforms back into 'Norie Okana', puts her phone into her pocket and walks along into Obsidian Tower's department store levels, into the elevator- to get to the first business floor' and ding. Inside is Norie Okana, who's never been this far as she turns to look behind her, and then turns back around to the guy who's waiting on a marble black pillar. She squints. Guy in a lab coat. Check. Hanging out on the level she's supposed to be on. Check.

"Uh." she isn't sure what name to use here. Is saying a name outloud like that proper? "Uhm."

"I thinnnk you're. The uh. Boy I'm here to meet?" she asks.

"Is uh. It polite to....?" she looks over at the guards and back to you. "--I mean."

"Don't want to use a wrong name." she admits, a bit sheepish. Worry. Anxiety. Things she can still feel and are currently forefront.

"N--"

"Norie Okana." she says. "My name." she says. Re-introducing herself first.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi smiles and nods. "I should have given you mine over text. Takashi Agera. Good to meet you, Okana-san." he says with a slight bow. He's very different than the glowing red eyed energy stealing character she remembered, and yet kind of the same. Tall, lab coat, long silver hair.

    "Civilians sometimes come up here by mistake and so we try not to be in henshin on this floor." he explains. "Also don't worry about the security, they're either fake..." he walks up to one and taps it, revealing it's just an eerily lifelike manakin "...or the other kind of fake where they're a youma. Someone I heard was working on robotics for them, but regardless, Obsidian Private Security is pretty much harmless to the magically inclined - at least, on these floors. Some floors above us are for the regular boring salaryman kind of business and some are for the interesting cool magic and dark energy business." He continues on. "The longer you're here the more you'll learn about that sort of thing but right now you can just stick with me." He adds. "We'll take the elevators for now, and go find us a seat in one of the conference rooms."

    "Part of the reason I can tell you so much is that I can kind of sense that this is where you belong." Takashi adds. "Based on the things you said and how we met n' all." He starts to walk her towards a set of elevators on one of the sides of the building, and their footsteps kind of echo on the marble.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana takes in that name. She 'ohs' a little, that little veil, smashing connection made in her head as she nods. "Agrea-san, then." she says. She relaxes. "Alright. So. Fake. or...Fake by...animate." she blinks a little. She gets a little closer to one. That's... unreal.

She doesn't like thinking about it too hard, otherwise. Not right now at least, as she follows along. "Ah." she says softly. She can hear the echoes. Towards the elevators.

"I think I agree?" stated more like a question. "-and I agree with what we've talked about. About people trying to... be friends with me." she says, a bit sadly. "That I'm just a shark in a tank and they're just trying to feed me to keep me from feeding on the rest of the fish." she says, thinking back to the two aquarium battles she'd witnessed.

-and staring into that shark tank for a bit.

She shifts a bit near the elevator.

Pause.

"Did you sort things out with your friend?" she asks, curiously.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi sighs. "Kinda. For the time being, things are sorted. Things are never really fully sorted. One problem down, two more problems crop up. But you know..." he begins as the doors open to one of Obsidian's 'more interesting' floors "... it beats being bored." he admits, as they walk out of the elevator and a six-foot-tall wolf-man passes by them to take their spot in the elevator. This does not seem to phase Takashi, or the wolf-man, at all.

    Takashi continues down the hall and opens the door to a little meeting room with chairs that are actually quite nice. The Obsidian logo is engraved into the table in a purple crystal-like substance. They really like to put their logo everywhere. He leads her in and closes the door. "Now, Obsidian's slogan is something like 'Making a better world' or some nonsense like that." he says, waving his hand. "But that's not relevant, that's not why I'm here, and not why you're here." He adds. "I'm here to make the world a better place for me. And that'd be good for you by extension." he says, a smile on his face.

    "Really, not everybody here has some grand plan though. Some of them are just looking for a place they can be, a group that understands them, someone to back them up when the sparkleskirtsquad shows up." he notes. "But that means you'd also have to be there for others sometimes, as it's only fair, right? So, have you had to fight anything yet? I could sense your energy when you were out hunting with me, and you've had runins with the bright color girls, but I don't know if you've had to defend yourself yet."

Norie Okana has posed:
Noire Okana blinks at the wolf-man. She has to stop, turn, watch, but looks away quickly because staring like a loon is rude and looks back to Takashi. Who seems un-phased by it and catches up again as she blinks. She doesn't ask questions because she's listening.

"Oh." she says. "I'm sorry." she says as she listens. So. It's a front. The company is a front for.. whatever this actually is? That comes as surprising to Norie Okana. She shifts a bit again. She head tilts. "What is... your good world?" she asks curiously. She pauses a moment as she listens more.

"So. Quid-pro-quo. I figured something like that." she says, a little pessimistically. "I.."

"Well I fought Sailor V. But I ran away. And I missed my first shot. really badly. And there was others there and .. I can."

"Mostly. Energy throwing? Manipulation? I dunno what to call it. I can. Use words and the attacks get bigger. But it's------- embarassing!" she says, calling out attack names like...like some anime hero or villain.A

"Also I can. Drain energy. By touch uhm. I can't. Fully control that. So I try not to touch people." she admits. "-and don't touch me unless I know it's coming. Please?" she asks politely.

She kind of grips her necklace at this, squeezing the charm a little as she listens, biting her lipm= as she has a seat.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Well, it's not really a front, per se. There's a whole bunch of boring regular people doing boring regular work downstairs and across the world. We care about finances and brand recognition and all of those corporate buzzwords like any other company?" he begins. "But it... honestly, I'm not entirely sure how Obsidian went from a company to a Dark Energy Aware company on the whole. My mother might have been involved..." Takashi says, and then pauses. Large breath. "... not super important, anyways! Ignore that last bit." he says.

    "I'm still figuring out what my good world is. But it certainly doesn't involve taking everybody with Dark Energy and either purging it from them or purging them." he says, clenching a fist. "It doesn't involve... putting away one of our best tools for keeping the world safe overall because some people find it a little dangerous." He begins.

    "Yeah, calling out the attacks... it kind of is embarassing. I think a lot of us are just used to it. You learn to kinda roll with it after a while. It's like casting spells, it... focuses your emotions. Sometimes the specific words aren't as important as the way those words make you feel. Because magic, energy manipulation, is tied to emotions, strongly. To how you're feeling. When you're unsure of yourself, you're weaker than you are when you trust in yourself. That sort of thing."

    "Two of my very good friends-slash-coworkers have touch issues, actually. One of them wears gloves and one just keeps her hands to herself and wears long sleeves."

    "So, have you... always been connected to Dark Energy and to the hunger you feel, or is that a new thing?" Takashi asks. "I've been like this since birth but I understand that is... extraordinarily rare, for those of us who can think."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana listens. "Sounds like you all just like money then." she says with some pessimism, again. She notes when Takashi seems to pause when the concept of his mother is brought up. She frowns a little though, when the concept of how she became this way. "N--no. I used to be. No---" she shakes her head. She can't say it.

"I used to be. Like. hu--" she can't say that either. There's some distress as she tries to figure out words. "I used to be like. The people out there." she says, pointing to the board room's windows. That's better, she relaxes some. "I bought. A necklace.." she says, squeezing that necklace a little harder- but it's not in possessiveness. It's like she's trying to hurt the necklace.

"It did this to me." she says. "I didn't ask for it. For the record. If I had a choice in the matter, I'd rather had not traded... whatever I did. For this!" she says quietly.

"But. I do my best. Whatever this is names you. So. 'La Crima.' For whatever reason." she sulks. She knows the reason. She just doesn't wanna say it right now.

"I assume you mean. Think. In that. We're people." she says quietly. "As opposed to. Some of the other creatures I've seen."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi leans back in the chair and looks at her. "I, personally, did not call you here to offer you a job in some corporate moneymaking machine, Okana-san. I only like money in so far as it can be used to advance goals. I don't see the point in making a number in some spreadsheet or digital account go up. I like more valuable things, like knowledge." he says. "I don't have to deal with budgets yet, really, and I'm not exactly looking forward to it. If it was money Obsidian was after they wouldn't employ me, or my coworkers, or... pretty much all of us on the fun floors. One way or another, Obsidian really, truly is out to change the world. There's just... a lot of competing ideas on how to accomplish that goal and what that looks like."

    "And yeah, I guess I mean people. Really, I mean 'people native to this dimension that can manipulate Dark Energy' but that's kind of a mouthful. It's unfair to say the Dusk Zone natives don't think, but a lot of them are not... rational thinkers. They're... closer to animals. Doesn't mean they need to necessarily be purged from existence." he continues. "If they're the dark energy monkeys, we're dark energy humans, though. Related but different."

    "Or at least, I am. Being a... normal person, and then coming into contact with Dark Energy, that's how it seems to happen for most people. I don't know anyone who's always had access to it like me." he admits. "But... your energy is different, your aura is different, than other's I've come across. So I figured it might be closer to mine?" he says, shrugging.

    And pauses and looks at Norie. "So, if I could undo whatever the necklace did to you, and make you like one of the... people out there, walking the streets, no power, oblivious to this whole world - would you want me to?" He asks her.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana listens. "So money is just a means to an end for you, then. Alright..." she says. She shifts. "---am I being paid?" she wonders out loud. Pause. "Sorry that was more to myself. Than you. I guess. Money doesn't interest me." she says, realizing she stole a whole basket of candy and snacks from the FAM-Mart on accident already. Oops.

Well it wasn't intentional!

"That's.." she shifts a bit. "You can't fix me." she says bluntly. "I don't even have a body technically. I'm like..." she says. "Mostly. Gross. Dark. Stuff." she admits.

"But..."

"If you're asking me in a hypothetical. I.. Uh. I'm not sure." she admits. "It's conflict. Part of me wants to stay this way. Part of me does not. To be honest. It's..."

"It's the loss of. Feelings? That's the suckiest thing about what I am. I don't smile. I can't bring myself to smile. I can't...laugh. or feel good things. Or..well."

"That's not true. I smile and laugh. At totally inappropriate moments. It's..."

"It's all messed up. In here." she says pointing to her head. "I'm sorry. I can't give you a definite answer. Do... do you need one..?" she asks quietly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi shakes his head. "I don't need an answer today, because it's kind of irrelevant - I can't offer it or anything. But maybe one day I could." Takashi says. "I don't know. Nobody does. Magic is... weird. Strange. I've always had a little bit of affinity from the shadows but since I found... notes... and started really looking into things? I have no idea the upper bounds of what's possible and what's not when you get enough Dark Energy together and when you know the right way to play with the rules of the world." he says.

    "Maybe one day I can get your feelings all sorted, maybe I can reverse the process, maybe not. But... if I don't know what you want, I don't know where to focus my efforts. If you're happy like this it doesn't make a lot of sense trying to change you, right?" he asks, smiling.

    "I wouldn't want to be normal." he admits, standing up from the chair and going to the window. "Being like one of those people out there with a whole world, a whole set of rules I can't even participate in, under threat from things that I can't even fully process. No way." he says. "But I never got the choice. There was no curse for me. No pact with an eldritch entity, no magic locket. This is who I am. I will never be normal. I don't know what it's like." he adds, putting his hands behind his back. "I know how to pretend, how to fake it. I learned that early on, because almost everybody else would find it weird if I showed them, if I talked about it. They couldn't even understand what they were seeing either. So I know what normal is supposed to be? But that's not me. And I'm glad. I hate being bored, and all of that down there? Boring. Shooting dark energy lasers from my device I built from technology from another planet? Not boring. Pretty awesome, in fact."

    "But the question is what you want, because I would like to help you. Nobody helps out people like us. The people out there - the sparkleskirts - they want us to either stop being what we are, or just stop being. The people in here..." and he turns and gestures to the symbol on the desk "... see us as valuable tools, which is a little better but only slightly." he admits. "But me? I'm made of it, I'm a mix between both worlds. My best friend? Dark Energy. The girl I love like a little sister? Dark Energy. What I want to do is understand Dark Energy, to figure out how to best manipulate and harness it and command it."

    "You help me, I help you. It's not a quid-pro-quo so much as it is... an alliance. I need more hands, more help, and to be blunt... I need allies, people I can count on, people who will help and fight alongside me. You can't kick over a rock - or try to hunt a snack - in this town without having an entire crayola box of bright shiny girls and boys get in your business. I'm sure you've noticed. And that makes it really hard for me to get what I need to do research, to learn about this thing that makes me who I am, and makes you who you now are. So whether you want to be rid of it or to change it, the closer I get to my goal, the more I can help you with whatever you want. So that... that is why I asked what you wanted, Okana-san."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana listens and walks to the window after Takashi and presses her hands against it. She doesn't leave prints. She just looks down to the world below, and can see cars moving about in the city. She frowns. "I guess it would be kind of hard going back to ... to ..." normal. But she doesn't say it. She just lets herself trail off as she listens.

"...Device?" she asks. That he built? OH. Right. He's. In a labcoat. Come to think of it. "Oh are you... are you a researcher? A scientist? I.. uhm. Sorry. I guess. The labcoat. Is kinda. conspicuous and I didn't really connect it earlier to anything." she says as she rubs the back of her head. "S-s-sorry." she rubs the back of her head. "Device. Do you mean. The thing you had on your hand. When we met?..."

"I'll help you." she says. "If anything, it's because you've been nice to me. In a genuine way. And aren't try to..." she says. "Fix me? I mean. You're the first to ask if I wanted to be fixed, at least. The others..."

"I guwss you call them sparkleskirts?... all seem to just jump and go 'I'm going to fix you' and they don't even ask and then they weirdly offer me energy and it's weird." she says.

"You drain energy. Right? Is it...because you need it?" she asks quietly. "Or- well. I guess it isn't important. Have any of them ever offered you energy. Or spouted that they're going to 'Fix' what you are?" she asks quietly.

"Or is it all punching and threats from Sailor V because they say you should 'ask first'?" she rolls her eyes.

She looks back towards the table. "I admit." she says. "I wanna explore... that place. The Dusk Zone. But. Has it all been done? I mean. I can just... read things, too." she says sheepishly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi turns to look at her and smiles. "Yeah, the labcoat isn't only a fashion statement, it's functional. Tons of pockets." he says, smiling. And, after a moment, in a flicker-flash of magic, Takashi's gauntlet is on his hand. Not the whole henshin, but enough to demonstrate it coming together. "Yeah. This is my Device. Long story but it's technology from another world that I figured out how to use to control and direct my Dark Energy. My other associate has one, too. She is more like you... more troubled by her Dark Energy, finds it harder to control. So with what I learned from this, I helped her...mostly... keep it in check." he explains. He doesn't mention the whole 'except that time she lost control and then she choked me and I had to save both of us from drowning'. It's not the sort of story you share when you're trying to show someone you can help them.

    "I haven't been punched by Sailor V yet." He says. Yet. Even he expects it. "But plenty of others think they know better than me, and try to stop me. All they're really doing is extending out the difficulty in the world - who knows, maybe I could have had everything solved if I had all of the tools I need." he says. "But nobody has ever offered me anything. It would probably feel awkward, though." he nods. "I think it's funny now, considering that they offered to fix you but not me. Seems biased." Takashi notes. "Then again, I have the scary mask and the evil laugh thing down. You probably look a lot more save-able than I do." he guesses.

    "Most everybody, every divison, in Obsidian takes energy in some way. Energy is kind of a universal currency for us. A lot of us can convert it into power, gorge on dark energy and then blast it out. But it's also used to power processes, it's just... needed everywhere. So while I don't usually need to feed unless I really blow through my energy reserves - which I try not to do - I don't need to drain energy to survive. But Obsidian does. So by bringing energy here I can get access to some of the resources and tools I need. It's a cycle."

    "You know, if you can stay in the Dusk Zone for long periods of time, you might just be my new expeiditon buddy. It tends to eat at most people who aren't... native creatures. Eventually they start not feeling like themselves. But I've been able to stay there for a long while. I used to sleep there, when I was smaller." he adds. "So there's not a whole lot written, no. It's all weird, in there. We can explore it together sometime, if you like. Watch each other's backs?" he offered.

    "Oh, and because you asked earlier, yeah, you'd be paid too. I'd set you up as an employee and you'd help me gain energy for Obsidian and get paid, and then you'd always have a place to come and *get* energy if you had bad luck or bad run-ins with the magical folks when you went to feed, too."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana snorts a little. "I need to eat, or I turn into something and hurt people. I tell people this and it's true. I don't try to starve. But I don't like feeding either." she says as she shifts. "I try to make sure people don't... fall down wrong or hit their heads at least." she says.

"But people don't care. It's always. 'Drain me, not them!' and like what if I need energy and they can't help me, what then? Huh?" she asks.

"I should be able to drain who I want. It's not like.. I eat people fully. I just take energy and people wake up tired." she says.

"I have a way of storing energy." she motions to her pendant. "It's like a lunchbox. I guess." she says. "Since it isn't holding anything but right now." she says.

"I can! Like I said. I'm nothing but. dark goop. I'm pretty sure I'm closer to those things in there than--- um." she says looking away a moment, back to the window. "Those out there." she says motioning. "S..sorry. I don't like. Comparing myself to... no---" she shakes her head. "No--normal and..huhuhuhu---human." she says softly.

It takes her time to get that out. She looks away, down. Like that took all the wind out of her to say.

"I'd like that." she says. "I wanna learn too. I like these creatures. I don't like seeing them hurt." she admits sheepishly. "It's why I was upset about the jellyfish and... giant crab." she admits. "Because they feed like I do and.. and no offer to get them back 'home' it's just. Kill them..." she says quietly.

"...I like draining energy from the source when possible. People." she admits and sighs again.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Ah, but here's the difference between them and me, between my offer and theirs. I want you to be able to drain from the source, and am offering you a backup for if you are troubled. Because I care about your well-being, I'm not prioritizing someone else's right to wake up less tired, than your right to exist." Takashi says, wagging a finger quite literally. "I think... there are good and bad things about your situation, surely. The emotional things you told me are troubling. But, like me, you're probably much stronger and faster than an average... normal... human. You've got attacks, you can probably learn other uses of Dark Energy too.

    Takashi turns back to look at the people below. "I mean. There's very clearly a heirarchy. And it puts people like you and me on top. There are whole other worlds out there - more than just the Dusk Zone, though we can't visit them yet - it's apparently easier to get to our world than to leave it. But we have a few coworkers from elsewhere, and the technology in my device is from another world... and it'll take us magic to get there. And the Dusk Zone itself, so much to see, explore. Colors you can't see on this side, even. I think it changes on its own." he adds, kind of nostalgic for the strange place that feels like a second home.

    "So... look. Obsidian isn't perfect, either. I am trying to work within it to make that... possible. But... it's a lot better than being out there waiting to be grabbed. To have friends you can call on. To have a place that's safe from those girls. To have hope for a future? And you have to be careful now, Okana-san. Because Dark Energy *is* dangerous, and it will feed on your bad emotions and amplify them. So... be careful about... despair, self-loathing. They're what's dangerous to you now. That's what turns Dark Energy against its wielder."

    "Just remember that now there's a whole new world for you to explore. A new life. New friends. New powers. I think you should try to enjoy it - I know you said you find things hard to enjoy, now, and that's a concern for me, more than the other stuff. But just remember, it doesn't matter what they think. They aren't you. You are special. Maybe you decide later to go back to being 'just Norie' or maybe you decide to embrace yourself as you are now, or maybe you grow and change. I won't force you to pick an end to your story now, or ever. All I would like is the chance to keep an eye on you for research, and have you join my little team."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana listens as she looks down at her hands. "I mean. I guess..." she says quietly. "The uh. teleporting is fun. I mean. Going to the dusk zone and appearing somewhere else. Also. People can't follow me there. So far." she says as she listens.

"Whole. Other worlds?" she asks. She shakes her head a little and blinks. She tries to imagine this, but. Well there's a Dusk Zone. Right? Is it. Like that? Are there places beyond that? She doesn't know.

Instead, her internal thoughts on this, which are quiet, are interrupted by Takashi mentioning what's dangerous to her. That's... that's a toughie. "That's... I guess it's going to take practice to not feel those things. Uh. What emotions. Are good for me? I mean. Ones that I can. Feel." she asks thoughtfully as she taps her bottom lip and frowns.

She blinks. "Of course you can keep an eye on me. I trust you more than... I never got her name. She said she hunts. Witches." she says. "Alright..." she says. "I'll try to. Explore. and make friends. And I'll help you. Of course." she says. She pauses.

"Who's on your team again?" she asks curiously. "You mentioned someone. Like a sister? People with...gloves?" she asks.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi smiles. "Yeah, we're not related, but it's hard not to think of her as my little sister." he admits. "The one in gloves, is pretty much my brother. He doesn't work on my team, but we've known each other... a very long time." He says. "But my little sister, I'd say she's about your age. She has Dark Energy within her too, but it hasn't affected her as severely. She, like you, didn't start out that way, but became that way. I think you could learn a lot from each other." He says. Not that Norie could be taught, but that the two of them could help each other.

    "Then she has... a doll. Possibly a girl's spirit that is being held by a doll. Or maybe a very smart Dusk Zone Native. I'm not... sure, yet." he admits. "It's an ongoing process. I'm thinking that all of you together can give me insights I wouldn't have alone, since each of you is connected to Dark Energy and the Dusk Zone in different ways. Firefly doesn't like going there if it can be avoided, but you seem to find it as pleasant as I do, for example."

    "There are others that I work with, but Firefly-chan and Yochu-chan are my direct reports. And soon, Lacrima-chan." he says with a smile. "If you like, anyways. If so, we can head out of this stuffy board room and grab a pizza and meet them? Can you still taste pizza? If not... have you tried a Duskfruit to see if you can taste it, yet?" he asks. "Either way... we have a lot to talk about, and there's so much work left to be done."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is taking mental notes. She isn't gonna take notes on her phone. That's dumb. She doesn't need her family finding weird things on her phone. "Ah." she right. "Can I get...a...a ... 'company phone'? My dad has one with his company! I should have one too!" she says in a manner that's more like a demand than a request. "Besides. Dummies ask me for my number all the time but I can't like. Give them my home phone. You know?...." But she doesn't stick on the topic.

"So. Another dark energy user, like me, and a dollgirl that.. may or may not actually be a girl..." she trails off. "Okay." she says. She nods. Her eyes light up.

"Pizza's okay. I can still taste things. Eating is fun. But I dunno what purpose it serves besides 'fun'..." she says quietly. "I guess that's another thing for you to figure out." she says with a shrug. "But yes. Pizza. And yes. I will help. But now you said Pizza and now I want pizza. And I'll. Tell you a bunch of dumb boring stuff about myself." she says daintly.