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4:00 AM, Streets of London

Why was she in this alley? Why... why was it so foggy? Where was everyone? The girl looked around, frightened, her body quaking in fear. This... she had been where it was well-lit, and out with other people... sure it was late, but she was fine, right? She didn't remember turning into this alley... where had all the fog come from?! It was so thick... it had been so clear and cool, but now the air felt so choking and tight... she felt like there was even less room then it looked like as she stumbled through the fog, trying to find her way. Oh, this had been so stupid, going out like this so late at night...

She didn't notice the dark figure come up behind her. She only realized someone was there when she felt a hand on her back, and then heard whispering. A searing pain ripping through her abdomen, and the whole world swirled into blackness...

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2:00 PM, The Tower

"... They're calling him the 'Twenty-First Century Jack the Ripper', can you believe that?"

Eliza's eyes were firmly fixed on the photographs. She did not question how Louise came across them. The older woman was part of the Citadel Six's... handlers, so to speak. She was in charge of gathering information for them. The room was rather dark, less because of the lighting and more due to the dark colors of the room. The walls were black, the couches and tables dark blue. Really, it was not the most cheerful surroundings, to say the least. Neither, however, was the subject at hand. The pictures were grisly, to say the least. Each was of the remains of a girl. Her body, seemingly untouched, not even a single wound on her or a tear in her clothing... and then each organ, neatly arranged beside her. It was disgusting. The thought that a mage would reasonlessly prey upon those unaware, and what they were doing to these girls... Eliza's eyes narrowed.

"So, you can see why we need him stopped, right?" Louise turned her gaze to Eliza, and then to the room in general. Indeed, everyone would be there for the explanation. Eliza nodded. There was no question here. There was no doubt. This was the purpose of the Citadel Six. These rogue magi who the Enforcers were unable to deal with, like this 'Twenty-First Century Jack the Ripper'. These magi who would prey upon those who held no knowledge of the supernatural-it was not merely a threat to them, it was a threat to the supernatural community. There was no way such murders could occur without something beyond the 'possible'. It was only with magic that they could ever have been conducted.

"Killing these girls, so brazenly showing off his magic..." Louise stretched, her hands high over her head, "Jeez, he's really asking for it, isn't he? ... Anyway, I wanna get out of here. This room makes me feel so... tight, I have no idea how you hang out in here so much. Maybe it's an Unlucky Six thing, huh?"

Eliza's frown grew. 'Unlucky Six'. Louise knew that annoyed her. And what was wrong with their lounge? It was fine.

"... Such a sour look, Eliza," Louise smiled, "I bet you really wanna get this guy now... so, any questions before I go? We don't know much."

2:00 PM, The Tower

If there was one thing that Gideon Drake could be proud of, it was that he'd never had to see a family member or friend in one of Lousie's grisly photo sessions. Admittedly, that's because he'd never had much interaction outside of the Six. It made things easier. However... sometimes this meant that he knew them too well. It was no secret that the current Number One had a hatred for the rogue magi that populated their work. Even the relatively in the short time he'd known her(Compared to Mr. Lucas, or Lucille), there was only a few options that he hadn't taken to ease try that tension, and none of the remaining worked very well in the crowded and dark lounge. The only option, for the moment, was to wait it out.

Of course, Louise's casual insults didn't help the time he had to do said waiting out.

Gideon tugged at his neckline, swallowing nervously as he tiptoed around Eliza's fuming form. It wasn't that he was scared of her anger, or anything silly... like... .

He glanced again at the red-headed woman and her deepening frown.

...that. On second thought, he was definitely scared of the aristocratic Valstelt's anger. He'd have to find a way to cheer her up instead. After they finished with the mission, of course. Perhaps a cup of tea? Or perhaps-

His inner monologue was cut short by Louise's businesslike question.

Time to act like a professional, then.

The young Drake cleared his throat noisily, looking around awkwardly at his comrades as he put forth his own question:

"Are there any records of families that have this sort of affinity? Like, flesh or blood or something similar?"

He fumbled with his hands, focusing intently on making it seem like he had a purpose.

"You know, if you can find out."

2:00PM, The Tower

"Another option, aside from the blood affinity would be a teleporter. I shudder to think about what a pain in the ass that would be."

Lucas sat in his chair against the wall, turned mostly away from the front of the room to watch the assembled group. Elbows resting on his knees, he turned his head to watch the graphic slideshow. He leaned back until his head touched the wall, looking up now at the ceiling.

"They were alive when their insides were removed, maybe? I doubt someone capable of this would be concerned with how much having all of your organs removed would hurt. it's not like they could fight back."

2:01PM, the Tower

The oldest of the various assembled mages was doing a remarkable job of not being affected by the piles of organs, given what she'd been like when the briefing had started: curled up on the most worn of the couches and sleeping, until she'd been poked and made to actually pay attention. Yet, despite her grogginess, and despite having an arm wrapped around an enormous stuffed rabbit--the only concession to her general apparent age that the Unlucky Six were exposed to, and then because she'd been given it in the past.

By the previous First when he'd originally joined. It had seemed rude to not keep it, and it hadn't left the lounge since--though Lucille had stated that it would have been disposed off if it had't been a black rabbit in the first place. Couldn't ruin the décor, even for the sake of a present.

"I guess I should act as bait? It should be harder to kill me in that way.

2:01, the Tower

As Louise opened her mouth to respond, Eliza spoke first. She didn't want to given the green-haired girl the chance to give out more casual insults. She knew why their handler did it, it was specifically to get a reaction. She would not allow any more if she could help it, and so cutting her off was the logical action. And besides, there were some points she wanted to make here. As she spoke, her tone was rather short and direct.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's hardly any necessity for the killer to possess an affinity for flesh or blood," she began, arms folded tightly across her chest. She didn't even spare a glance at their Number Five as she made her rebuttal. He was a weak mage who relied on tricks to circumvent his own lack of magical quality. This wasn't exactly what she saw as improper, but at the same time it wasn't something to be celebrated in her opinion. "They could have learned outside of their affinity. Besides, if that were the case, they would have had to perfectly repair the victim's clothing and bodies, as well as removing any blood."

Louise paused for a moment, eyebrow raised. Then she smiled, and let out a small giggle. "My my my, Number One is feeling pretty aggressive right now. It's making me excited! Ah, if only we weren't all in this dreadful room..."

Eliza cast a glare at the older woman. What was she even saying?

"In any case, she's right," Louise continued, "On top of that, Lucas, you could have the right idea, it seems unlikely that they were already dead when their bodies aren't displaying any signs of injury."

The green-haired mage stretched again, the gave Lucille a sideways look. "At least you're cute, with your bunny... I don't know if you'd want to act as bait when we don't know his capabilities yet. I'm sure even someone like you would perish if your organs were all removed."

2:01 PM, The Tower

Eliza's snappy response caused the metal-based mage to sigh inwardly.

This was exactly the kind of thing that caused dangerous amounts of stress in the workplace.

With a barely noticeable shrug, Gideon instead turned his focus to the resident homunculus. Despite his misgivings about using someone who was so young outwardly, he knew that the most senior mage would be able to handle herself if the bodily excrement hit the fan.

Although...

"I do have a question about being bait as a whole. Does the killer specifically target young woman? That seems like the most apt reason as to why he inherited the moniker of the Ripper."

"So the perfectly precise, impossibly unmarked organ removals weren't a good enough reason for the nickname already?" Prospero Sin lay casually on one of the nearby couches, turned on his side to study the pictures and the meeting in general but otherwise seemed to project a very casual air about the whole thing, despite inwardly being rather disgusted by the situation. It wasn't that Number Six hadn't seen worse before, or that he'd seen so much gore that he'd become jaded enough to be aloof at the slaughter of an innocent girl. He just felt there was little point in getting outwardly tensed and worked up before their real work had even begun.

"All of the data gathered on victims so far has shown that the killer targets young females, unless there's information we haven't been given yet. Sure, it might not be their only type of prey, but if we are going to go the route of baiting a trap it's likely to be a fairly safe bet. On that note, how would we ensure that our trap succeeded? For all we know we could spend an entire night dangling out bait while the killer claims another victim elsewhere. For it to work flawlessly we'd need to ensure that our would-be victim was in the right place at the right time and fell within the killer's profile enough to be reliably designated the next target. Are there any patterns to the location of the killings or connections and similarities between the victims other than gender, age group and being the victims of magical organ removal?"

If they were going to do this, best to do it both quickly and accurately. If their trap failed and they wasted too much time with it, there would be even more victims.