1266/Eclipse Investigation: A&U

Eclipse Investigation: A&U
Date of Scene:	13 March 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Usagi plays distraction while Mercury tries to investigate the eclipse zones. While only a little bit of info is gathered, Mercury finds she can access parts of them... but, fortunately, Usagi manages to get out before things take a turn for the worse... and she has to *study*.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Usagi Tsukino, Ami Mizuno

---

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
It hadn't been too long since the Eclipse Zone had first gone off and, at almost all times, there were a few youma within the area. That was what made them so difficult. Normal people didn't even notice them. A person could spend all day in one and, while they would be exhausted, they wouldn't pass out.

But they always had guards. And all the time, the pillar in the center was draining energy. Bit. By. Bit. Every few hours a bit of the energy would disappear... Teleported off who knows where. And even if it would take time for the benefits of them to show, the fact people like Beryl were constantly getting small influxes of energy was NOT good.

The melody was playing, a song of Utau's, barely audible except for those with magical awareness.

Sunbreaker was tapping on the pillar in the center, mumbling dark, terrible things under her breath... Why?

Easter's lackeys had been touching things and she did NOT approve....

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
After the meeting with Bow, it had only seeemed natural to go ahead and check out the Eclipse Zones again - especially with Ami-chan, and especially given the conversation Usagi had had with Sunbreaker. When they arrive at the street, but before they turn the corner and get into sight, Usagi turns to Ami, grimacing, a terse explanation leaving her lips.

"Sunbreaker knows who I am, so if she sees you, she'll probably guess you're magic too. You could go in as Sailor Mercury, and probably be safe, or... I could try and go in with my disguise pen? But, the thing is, usually people can see through it if they know I'm Sailor Moon - or, oh, you could go in with the disguise pen? And then she won't know who you are anyway?"

Ami-chan, help!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno follows along beside Usagi, at least until she comes to a halt to deliver the news that Sunbreaker is there. A look of obvious concern flits over her face as she leans in to whisper harshly, "Usagi-chan! She knows who you are!? How? Are you okay with her knowing?" Maybe she would have to do something to make her not-know. Like an ice bullet to the---

No that probably wouldn't work.

The suggestions are taken in with lips pursed in a thoughtful scowl very similar to those she sometimes wore when trying to focus on studying and get the other girls to focus, too. "I don't particularly care if she knows my identity. I'm an only child, and my mother is usually away to begin with. You've got your whole family to think of, though!" A sigh is let out as her voice softens again. "We're near the towers so the energy drain we're already feeling would be worse if we transform. I can try to use the disguise pen but it may just do the same as if I were Sailor Mercury." But still... One or the other made the most sense.

With a stiff nod of finality she declares, "I'll just transform. Here, hold this." Her bag is thrust toward Usagi with the remark of, "Don't eat or drink those yet, it's for emergencies."

With a quick glance left, right, around, and even one glimpse upward in case of someone observing from above she takes out her Mercury pen to transform quickly. It's over in a flash and Sailor Mercury is standing beside Usagi looking... A little ill.

"Oh. Oh that's unpleasant."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker glanced towards one of the easter henchmen, before pushing the buttons and closing the menu. "There, see? Was that so hard? DON'T break all of my hard work!" she snapped. Sometimes she swore, where did they get these lackeys from?

All in all, though, she was unaware of what the sparklers were planning.

... Primarily since the sparklers weren't there yet. But, when they arrived? Ohhhh, she'd be ready. Probably.

None of the DG girls were there today...

But there was a red oni and a blue wolfman playing cards with... a very short woman in green. Who had fallen asleep at the table.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It was... an accident. I know who she is, and she knows who I am, and we're kind of agreeing to not tell anyone anything. I trust that she won't do anything with it - she'd rather beat me than go after my family..."

Though she's a little worried about how easily Ami disregards the danger... is this a Naru-chan type deal? Because if so, she'll just have to make sure Ami-chan comes to visit her family more often!

"Alright! I'll stay a civilian... I don't think it'd be a good idea if that thing got to snack on the Silver Crystal's energy,,," Especially since she's sure it's collecting that energy, sending it off to someone more than just Sunbreaker - probably some to Beryl, considering that crack about funding.

"We're just here to admire her hard work and learn more about it," Usagi says reassuringly, though probably more for herself than anyone. Maybe this will all be fine?

And with that cheerful thought, Usagi rounds the corner and walks straight for the Eclipse Zone. "We won't stay long," she promises Sailor Mercury. "This place really should not get too much of your energy... also, the wolfman is back. Maybe we'll figure out his name this time!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury gives Usagi a *look* none the less. One of concern, worry, and more than a little bit of protectiveness at mention of it being an accident. "A stalemate, then. You both know one another's secret so revealing it would be detrimental to you both." Sigh. "At least that's something." Something that she could live with for now (and so could Sunbreaker)

When Usagi starts forward she does as well. One hand raises to touch to her earring summoning the shimmer of her Mercury Visor over her eyes. If she can get more readings that would be fantastic. What Bow had given her was excellent but she did rather prefer using her own equipment as well.

"Wolfman?" She asks, thoroughly distracted.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker handed over a small flier to a passing person advertising Utau's upcoming concert! Easter, the company that cares and sets up... strange... tower... things. With speakers. Yup. Definitely nothing here suspicious.

At least, to the mundanes. To the magical, though, it was likely--

"Ah buck it..." Sunbreaker said the moment her eyes fell on Usagi.

The sparkle-less girl didn't even draw an eye when she walked in, aside from the Red Oni glancing up for a moment.... only to get the wrong card. "Dang it!" he objected.

"Ha ha!" the wolfman said.

Sunbreaker, however, was already walking towards Usagi, adjusting her tuxedo as she went. An annoyed look on her face...

Ami, meanwhile... was finding she'd need to get closer to the towers to try and access them. All the dark energy made any kind of signal awful.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Sitting in the Zone," Usagi mutters, and then smiles brightly when she sees Sunbreaker heading her way, putting her shoulders back and holding her head high.

"Sunbreaker-chan! How are you today? Have you been well? Everything feels as pins and needles as last time around here!"

Everything's normal and there's nothing to see here. Just a regular old girl just casually peeping around. Pay no attention to Mercurian Senshi peeping about.

"What's Mr. Wolfman's name, by the way? Also, is Mr. Wolfman your minion? What happened to the suna-ckies?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
While Usagi acts as the distraction to hopefully draw the attention of guards and Sunbreaker alike away, Mercury sticks as much to the shadows as she can. There's only so much a girl in blue and white wearing clothes completely inappropriate for the weather of the current season could do to stay out of sight. So she's slow and cautious while trying to get a good scan of the tower.

Trying, and failing, as apparently she wasn't close enough.

"This is going to get dangerous," she mumbles quietly to herself. Again her head tips upward to regard the roofs of nearby buildings. It wasn't quite suitable for getting closer though. Instead she looks around further for some way to disguise her approach.

A short while later there was a poor abandoned cardboard box someone threw out slowly. SLOWLY. Inching closer to the tower while the guards were distracted.

She would never live this down if it failed.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker just glared at her, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. "Do you have *any* idea how much danger you're in right now?" she hissed. "You know if I wanted, I could end your miserable existence, right? It wouldn't even be hard. Bam. One blast. You're gone. For good. None of them would stop me, you know. Nobody *could* stop me." Her hands were hot, very, very lightly starting to burn the girl's wrist...

"And that's Wolfrun, he's a publisher or something. And Red Oni and Majorina. The sunackies aren't here today, there's some kindabads running about, but they're really about the same."

"So what do you *want*, Usagi? Why are you *here*?"

RIGHT ON TIME! A group of kindabads came meandering on by... Ami's box. They paused, looking at it... rubbing their chins... suspicious...

Very suspicious...

... Then one of them pulled out a black marker and doodled on the box! MWA HA HA HA! Vandalism! This kindabad was a rebel, a real villain's dream of a villain. He laughed and ran off, the others following after him, to hide from any reprecussions of their dastardly deed!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Ow," Usagi says earnestly, shaking her wrist a little, "I know you could do that, you're very powerful and scary."

And yet, does she look scared? Not particularly!

"I wanted to see more about this place. It's your big plan, yeah? Well, the easiest way to get people to stop coming is for us to learn more about what's going on here, you know?"

Tug, tugging at her wrist, to try and get it back. That's starting to sting.

"Wolfrun?" Should Bunny on the Moon be judging? "Wait, publishing in general, or for Obsidian? What kind of stuff does Wolfrun-san publish? Wolfrun-san! What do you publish?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The box that was surely blown there by the wind remains very, very still and unmoving as the Kindabads approach. Mercury peeks from the little handle-hole that was in the side worrying as they do. At least until she hears the little scritch-scratch of a marker and smells the all-too-familiar scent of alcohol ink. Sharpies. She knew Sharpies.

While the run off she just remains there a moment longer watching after the naughty Kindabads. That was bad but. She was safe. The box inches forward.

Another few feet and she tries another scan hoping that now she's close enough. All the while she's becoming more concerned hearing Usagi call out to Wolfrun--That must be the wolfman she mentioned.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Children's fairy tales!" Wolfrun yelled over, not even looking up from his card game. "With proper endings!"

Sunbreaker face palmed, not letting the wrist go. "You little... I... I don't know. I just know he works for a publishing department. It might just be a cover or... apparently not. Wait, really?" Sunbreaker asked, letting Usagi's hand go finally.

"Yeah, BAD ends!" the wolfman said before bursting into laughter.

Sunbreaker blinked and rolled her eyes. "Of course. Usagi... Why are you actually here? You can't expect me to believe you've come to *study*. I've seen how you study and since I haven't lined the local area with cupcakes, I'd say that's certainly not it."

Mercury found.... while the signal was weak, she WAS getting a reading! While the tower itself wasn't, the device it was connected to was... accessible. Albeit, encrypted. But it was a more modern, if magical, encryption...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, really?! Like those like, really grim ones from those brothers?" The Grimm Brothers, Usagi, please, you are so close. She swivels a little, looking to Wolfrun with immense satisfaction, "Can you share some of your titles?"

She is being distracting - and Sunbreaker isn't really buying it -

"Um, actually, you should know very well that I'll do just about anything to put off studying, especially taking a walk in an Eclispe Zone to do 'valuable research' instead of prepping for my biology final." She puts her hands on her hips (after inspecting her reddened wrist with a wince). "Come on. You can't make me go back and study biology! I'm tired of learning about the powerhouse of the cell!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Good enough! Mercury, hunkered down on hands and knees, shifts just enough to get a better scan. Just enough to sweep up more data on the tower and get at least an identifier on the encryption. It was *so tempting* to hack it right now but that would just be a bad idea. It would warn them that there was someone capable of it... But for now it gave her a foot in the door.

Satisfied with what she's gathered the little cardboard box turns and scoot-scoot-scoots back away. Just far enough to hit the shadows of the alley where she pushes it off over head and takes off with a quick thumbs-up thrown in Usagi's direction.

Retreat!

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker sighed and shook her head. "He's a publisher, not a--"

And then Wolfrun did list off some titles, drawing another look from Sunbreaker. What? Just because he was a wolfman and a fairy tale monster didn't mean he didn't take his job seriously, sheesh. Rude.

Sunbreaker then sighed. Finally... she smiled to Usagi. "Very well, you can stay. Here. I was *actually* about to start doing a cram session," she said, flipping her wrist and the exam study guide appeared in her hand. "Care to join me?"

Oh dear heavens. The cruelty.

Meanwhile, Mercury's short stint would allow her to learn... yes, accessing the secondary console was possible. The ones the workers of Easter used. However, it seemed to be connecting to the primary control gem and that, unfortunately, she wasn't able to tap into. Its hardware was just... too foreign for her device. It tended to operate one 1's and 0's. In comparison, this thing operated off colors and spectrums of light. It was, in summation... just weird. But, feasibly... the protections weren't too strong and if she tried, she might be able to access more information from the part of the tower she COULD connect with.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, oh let me jot those down," Usagi says, and then she does jot them down, typing all the titles into her phone, "Thank you, Wolfrun-san!"

When she catches Sunbreaker's look, she shrugs, and whispers, "My little brother is into spooky and creepy things right now. My mama says it's normal, but I was never into scary things."

And then - treachery. Cruelty. Betrayal.

"You - you want me to study?! For finals?! Sunbreakerrrrrrr..."

She peeps and catches sight of Sailor Mercury in retreat and she immediately holds up her hands, defensively.

"I will study! I promise! I'll even study with you! But not here - I'm just gonna get sleepy and take a nap, and then I'll have a nightmare and someone will make fun of me."

This seems very likely and also is true.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave a small sigh before shaking her head. She gave Usagi a light shove. "Go, then. You'd probably just hold me back, anyway. I'm going to need to bring my A-game if I'm going to crush that Mizuno girl."

... And that would likely be a clue to Usagi.

... Sunbreaker still hadn't let that go. She was still driving herself to 'beat' Ami... And when she turned to walk away, she didn't remove the book she'd summoned. In fact, she started reading it... unaware that her project had just been tampered with.