9th Turn [Semi-accidental Video/Action]

[redjacketthief]

[His head hurt.

It was the first problem that Lupin noticed when he awoke in the woods that afternoon, clad only in the pale New Feather garb that all Lucetian’s are granted upon arrival. The sun was too bright and his head hurt, but it was nothing like all of those jobs where he faced everything from bullets to nuclear materials in crystalline form. Simple pain like this was something to be dealt with at a later time, when there was a moment to think and breathe. He had something more important to check on.

Or a group of someones. The thief sat up with the limber energy of a gymnast—and regretted it. The world seemed to shift without his consent and refused to stabilize despite his willing it to do so. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself up; it was just vertigo, probably from being still for too long…

Dealing with a little light headedness was nothing like his stint Cagliostro, both the first and the second time. At least he didn’t need to worry about Fujiko laughing at him. He took one step, two, digging his fingers into the rough bark of the trees for support as he fought against his vision hazing in and out with the vertigo. It was just from being out for too long. A few more steps and he’d--

--

--collapse into the earth’s embrace.

Lupin stared dumbfounded at the canopy for a breath. He burst into laughter when everything clicked into place.]

That’s right. I died.

[In the facility, with the others. Pops and Fujiko and Adele all told him that this could happen. Hell, he knew it from the outset during that midnight meeting in what should have been the Alps. It was a risk he willingly took, along with the moral implications and responsibilities. No regrets.

It just made life a great deal more complicated.

Death was cheap, however. He didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a satin-lined hardwood casket with white lilies piled on top for posterity. A little dizziness was an excellent trade off. Still choking back childish giggles at the absurdity of the situation, Lupin forces himself to sit up again and fight the rolling haze long enough to locate his journal. He gratefully collapsed back into the dirt once he had it in hand, and was doubly grateful when the realization struck that he was fine if he just stayed still. Any little motion sent his mind spinning, but he could think straight if he just stayed and stared up at the canopy.] 

[The feed was thrown on without a glance, suddenly treating the residents of the enclosure to a blindingly bright view of the forest from below. The thief himself was not aware if the feed was audio or video—nor did he care. No filters were added, lest he risk another wave of vertigo with just the act of sitting up. It was too much of a bother, especially when the sky was so blue.

Let other people worry about that for now.]

Hey, Lu-ce-ti~ [His tone was oddly humorous and light, with his suppressed laughter hiding just behind his words.] I’m back. [And alive.]

Can anyone around here spare a smoke? Not menthol and filtered, that’s all I want. Oh, and a light.

…who wants to go fishing?

((ooc: Nothing on this post is filtered and nothing will be filtered unless other characters put them up. Work under the assumption that everything said in this post via the journals is fully readable to everyone unless it is filtered, and threadjack away if you wish.

The actual act of picking Lupin up from the woods is locked to Luke Skywalker, though further action may take place around Community House 5 or the Battle Dome. For those with the lie-detect ability or something similar, you are thus warned that most things Lupin will say on non-filtered conversations is a complete lie.

With that noted, have at.))

Comments

/slides in here all belated like...

[endgames]

[What a cheerful sounding return that is. Secrecy then? Certain private things he can't hack - it's not that he can see, it's the absence of what he'd expect - make him think yes.

...fine. Makes no sense to him, but he'll respect it.

Rather than bother with the journals, though, he decides to wait in a tree outside CH5.]

It's cool :3

[redjacketthief]

[He's been to the Battle Dome, changed, and managed to sneak away from the gazes of Luke, Law, and anyone else for at least a short time. The concerns and questions that lingered unspoken with every word bothered him...

and he really did want a smoke.

Lupin only just makes it outside after painstakingly traversing the six levels downward with as much stealth as he could muster, leaning on walls and any other stable object for support as he made his way. The tree was a welcome sight.

He flopped onto the ground amidst the roots, giving up on standing and pretenses for the moment, and leans back against the trunk. The cigarette dangling from his lips is lit with a content smile--

God he needed that!]

[endgames]

Oh. So you did find one.

[Sorry, were you comfortable.]

[redjacketthief]

Shika-chan...

[He was, but he's not terribly surprised that the young ninja was lurking about. His reaction is the same as the one he had to Law's sudden appearance--being very impressed. Questions would be asked later, because the thief wants that level of stealth.

Lupin glances up, ignoring the nagging sensation of dizziness, and blows a plume of smoke.]

I had a pack in my room. Can you come down here?

[endgames]

[He'll answer by dropping himself down, into an easy crouch.

He can guess the reasons to why Lupin requested that - he watched him come out of the building.]

And I snagged a pack for nothing.

[redjacketthief]

Light one up for yourself then.

[No matter how young Shikamaru likely was, he was carrying a pack of cigarettes. He could smoke them if he had them, and Lupin was never a big one for rules. He tosses over the lighter--and cringes at his aim. He would need to work on that too, along with everything else.]

...You're here about last week--two weeks ago--right? I'm not mad.

[endgames]

[He'll catch it, but hand it back with a shake of his head. He only smokes under special circumstances. Truth be told, he hates the taste and the smell of them.]

It wasn't something we could've prevented, but still.

[redjacketthief]

[He tucked it back into his pocket with a lazy smile and a nod.]

Don't beat yourself up about it. I've faced Death many times before, and this time I just got unlucky.

[endgames]

[You and a small percentage of Luceti.]

You're surprisingly upbeat about it.

[redjacketthief]

[He doesn't know the full extent of the damage yet, or else he would be a little more serious.]

It's better than being depressed about it. I walked in with full knowledge of my odds, so I have no doubts or regrets.

[endgames]

I can respect that.

[It's the kind of response he'd expect from a shinobi, so.

But he still won't forget so easily. He swore to never let that happen as a leader again. If this had been anywhere else, he'd be dead for good.]

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin smiled. That was good enough.]

...What all happened back there afterword? I thought they were gonna take out all of us, but that obviously didn't happen.

[endgames]

[He holds up a finger, the classic "wait" gesture.] Before we skip ahead to that - you were at the door longer than us. What else did you hear?

[redjacketthief]

[He laughs.] Should have known you'd go straight for business! [It was only momentary. Lupin takes a deep breath and drops the jokes.]

...The niece told them everything that they wanted to know,and the 'Luceti Operation' hasn't been a complete waste. They're transferring her out of the city, Shikamaru.

No names were given, but I think we can take a few guesses.

[endgames]

[It only takes him a moment to make the connections. The "neice" could be any woman, but in relation to Luceti. In relation to Bil...]

Molly.

[redjacketthief]

Probably. [He considered that possibility himself.] It's just speculation at this point, though. Damn good speculation, but still speculation.

[endgames]

If this is the rogue faction, I'd be willing to bet on it.

[But she was taken months ago... if it's her, did she really take so long to crack?

If it was her, she was there. He wishes they'd found her.]

[redjacketthief]

And it's a good bet.

[Even though there was no way to differentiate between the factions during regular contacts that he was aware of. They were there, and they didn't intend them any kindness.

That was all he needed to know.]

...there's really nothing we can do from this side right now, unfortunately. We can't get out, and if we did? We have no idea where that city even is.

[endgames]

The crux of it is that to take her to another, their faction is not limited to a small group. This is the second such base we've heard of, but that statement indicates there is at least a third.

[redjacketthief]

At least. There's probably a few other cities too, and none of us have a clear idea of what all is on this planet. We know there's other enclosures, so their faction likely has a wider presence than we realize.

[endgames]

That's what I'm thinking. How they've kept it hidden for so long right under their nose...

[He sighs.] Well, that's another question for another time. You wanted to know what happened after that guard.

[redjacketthief]

Yeah. They also gave the order to kill us in the facility, so I was concerned. Law helped on that end..

But what all happened? I was told that the Shifts on the buildings are offline.

[endgames]

I've noticed things starting to repair themselves earlier, but yeah. They were out for the week.

Might've been our fault. After you went down we had to act fast, so we made our way to the basement to shut off the power and take the droids offline. I hear that's the same time things stopping repairing here, so I suspect it was connected.

[redjacketthief]

Yeah, that sounds like it's connected. At least it's back.

...how did shutting off the power affect those things? They're...[He pauses, remembering the glimpse of the lab that they caught. Twisted comes to mind, along with unethical and inhumane...]

...they're disturbing.

[endgames]

It didn't. [He folds his arms.] The power outage took out the older model, but the new droids could still function. They caught us eventually.