@Kumbaris @ERode

"...?" Lucretia merely tilted her head slightly at Bunga's comment about her conduct, what was unproductive about it? In fact, she phrased her question with the express goal of being efficiently productive, no beating around the bush with unnecessary small talks. In relation to that, why would an efficient talk anger Sukoro? He's a fellow Technologist Polymath, and Technologists often adopted engineering philosophies into their craft. If Bunga defined "politely" as wasting time by beating around the bush first, then the Egoist clearly misunderstood the whole thing. However, she was both foreign and non-Technologist so Lucy chalked it up to her being unfamiliar, perhaps things were done differently in her homeland, that was certainly a distinct possibility.

Since Sukoro was apparently wholly focused on his work - something Lucretia could genuinely relate to - the white-haired girl took a step back first, not really caring about Bunga's inaccurate assessment of her motivations and behavior. Although, the fox-eared Egoist sure had an incredibly flowery way of speaking, and Lucy found it uncomfortably frustrating. Strangely however, she wasn't this excessively aureate back in the cafe, maybe because both her and Sukoro are Orientals? Something to muse about.

Perhaps much to Bunga's disbelief, Lucretia was content to wait for Sukoro to finish his painting, a far cry from her seemingly impatient attitude just now. The petite Polymath sat back down at Schwarzritter's left arm as she watched Sukoro's pencil strokes. Fascinating, he managed to create a monochromatic yet photorealistic sketch of the Rafflesia, a meticulous perfectionism that Lucy knew all too well. It seemed they were more alike than she thought.

His sweat-ridden body, parched throat, and strained voice reminded Lucy of an event not too long ago, just this early morning in fact. A part of her was amused that their experience was mutual, but there was one huge difference, he succeeded in his endeavors; no stray birds defecated on his canvas moments before completion. Now that he was done though, she listened to what he had to say.

Hmmmm... a curious, yet expected trade offer. Schwarzritter and Starsteel were each Polymath's magnum opus after all. "Knowledge and progress should never be hindered by irrational paranoia, therefore I consider this an equivalent exchange and will accept your offer. However, I must make sure that the chest will have an installed function to repair the Starsteel Formulization should I break it, for both of our conveniences obviously so I won’t have to bring the chest back to you each time I solve the puzzle." Lucy nodded, then if Sukoro confirmed that said chest would be inscribed by such function, she'd continue, "In exchange, you may take Schwarzritter under your care. I will register your voice so you may command him as I can."

---

How beneficial that the lady at the desk assumed Franz was the prosecution. Maintaining that assumption could help him gather more needed details. However, it was imperative not to explicitly state he was the prosection. Telling a blatant lie was sure to backfire and harm him in the long run.

“It is an unenviable position to be sure, defending someone whom common sense would dictate is guilty. To do such a thing requires great respect for the law. Even if every piece of information is screaming at guilt, you have to stand and give them a fair shot like everyone else. Like fighting a losing battle for someone you don’t believe in. It’s not for the sake of who you defend, but for the sake of the battle itself.” Realising that his eyes were trailing away in his self-aggrandising speech, Franz turned his sight back to eye contact. “I find such a thing to be strangely respectable. But here I am rambling myself as well.” Franz reciprocated a smile back.

“Nevertheless, I appreciate all your help. I imagine I will need it if I am to oppose Robespierre in an effective manner. Evening delivery to my dorm room would be excellent, having two or three copies of the records would be ideal. Thank you for your work.” Franz began leaving the desk but turned back for a final statement. “Who knows, maybe after all this is done the craziness will subside for a while. I’ll be sure to send you a bottle of wine or something celebratory in thanks should I be successful at the trial.”

How troublesome that people are so against the idea of defending Jeanne. It is to be expected given her reputation. But Franz will need to put in excessive work to win this trial once word got out that he was the defendant. He didn’t exactly need to win this case. But his ego would not allow him to lose either. He had his work cut out for him and it, unfortunately, would harm his time to study.

High risk, high reward. Something deep in Franz’ psyche liked that idea.

---

Once out of the building, Franz pulled out the clockwork sparrow. He spent little time admiring the intricacies of it because he wouldn’t be able to grasp the finer details without considerable time. From the looks of it though, it didn’t look as though Franz would be able to follow it effectively. So instead he settled on writing a letter to send back to Nazca and the group.

Dear Nazca,

I have acquired access to a registry of students in Bermuda, and I am expecting it to be delivered this evening. This should prove valuable in the investigation but will require time to read through. Inform the group that I wish to continue my studies for the rest of the day, but will rejoin you all once the documents have come in.

Regards,
Franz

With some awkward fiddling, Franz managed to get the small message onto the bird and send it into flight. Presumably, it would return to Nazca.

Franz began the walk back to the dorms. Hopefully, his pets were not too off-put by the smells of this morning, or the cleaning crew that, hopefully, came in and cleaned the place. He had a long day of study and note-taking ahead of him, a dirty room would disturb that.

---

@Izurich@ERode

The response from Sukoro Jinga didn't necessarily shock Bunga, the man seemed wholly dedicated to his work. His response seems very utilitarian and immediately focused on the meat and potatoes of the situation. Not necessarily a person that has the best social skills (or so she believed), but a person that can get some technologist work done should you have the specifications necessary for him to work on.

In short, his request for Lucy's mechanical assistant for the box with the Starsteel Formulization seemed to work out well enough, both Lucretia and Sukoro seemingly amicable with the trade offer both of them agreed upon. But once Sukoro turned towards herself. She was not at all surprised that Sukoro suggested the one Vietnamese person that is roughly from the same region as her. To be honest, the only other realms she has been on is Tawalisi, which is just Majapahit but a bit more northerly, and The Mughal Empire. She hasn't been on great journeys into Europe or the lands of Abya Yala, and she hasn't even been to countries such as Japan and Zhongguo.

And so, with great reluctance, and sighing for a lil bit, Bunga nodded at Sukoro's suggestion. "Yes, perhaps it is the most logical step in my journey for now. I'll keep in mind whenever I see someone in a very well dressed suit on my travels today." She responded. Before turning towards Lucretia, her interest in Starsteel Formulization now piqued. "Say, Lucy. Why are you interested in Starsteel Formulization anyway? I've always been a stickler for finding out Formulas that are hard to decipher, but Starsteel Formulization, at least from what I've heard with my fellow academics, is a pretty tough nut to crack. Are you perhaps focusing your studies in breaking such defensive formulization?"

"Well, either way. I am more than happy to let you tag along with me to find where this Mr Kieu is currently present at. Perhaps meeting more academics might mean more opportunities to learn about various study methods, and further your general knowledge base on Technologism would it not? I wouldn't force it to you though, since my priorities right now isn't necessarily academic in nature. At least not yet."

Once Lucy gets her box, Bunga will most likely set off, with or without Lucretia, to find Mr Kieu and perhaps socialize with him. She is trained in the art of Schmoozing, as is the case of growing up with merchant parents. And finding out where her countrymen are located in this artificial city would do wonders to lessen the massive culture shock she's been experiencing ever since she stepped out of that boat.

Valeriya Zhukova

In all honesty, Valeriya hadn't particularly cared which restaurant Hana picked. She'd get around to trying every cuisine she could eventually, considering the duration of their stay on Bermuda. Still, considering the food last night, Japanese certainly wasn't something she was opposed to.

What she was opposed to, however, was the fact that they'd somehow inadvertently run into the "Jeanne and her minders" crew also dining at the exact same restaurant. And that the maître d' had the actual audacity to seat both her and Hana right next to Jeanne and company's table. Fucking cyka.

"I'll have the sushi omakase, please. And the plum wine." Valeriya informed the waitress before turning back to her newfound lunch companion. After Hana ordered, Valeriya struck the conversation back up from where they'd left off.

"You work with the hospital, and with chemicals?" She raised a brow. Interesting. Off the top of her head, drug and chemical production wasn't particularly the domain of Technologism, unless someone was particularly creative. So more likely than not, the girl across the table from her was an Egoist. Not something of particular importance just yet, but it was a curiosity at the least.

"The pharmaceutical field, then? I confess, I have not heard much of your work." Valeriya smiled apologetically, managing to overhear the other group's conversation despite herself. Damn it. Oh, well. Might as well keep listening, just to keep a handle on what's going on. Far be it for her to get involved with any of that when she had her own mission to accomplish, but it would make an interesting tidbit to include somewhere in her report.

A gunman, eh? Jeanne wasn't the only one familiar with a firearm in the room, and...shit. Someone in that conversation would probably realize it sooner or later. Hopefully later, but more than likely sooner. Damn random chance for screwing her and dragging her into this nonsense!

---

Three to two. Good. Veeery good. Heheh. A pleased smile had appeared on Ryuuko's face as she took a tally of how many among the group disliked the natto versus how many looked like they enjoyed it. This was then followed by a contented sigh as she listened to the others chipping in on the discussion, finished by Jeanne revealing that she were able to pinpoint the location of where the gun wielding person had fired their shots during Jeanne's chase of the man-bat. Ryuuko tapped her carapace-covered fingers on the surface of the table as she mulled over all the information before then speaking up.

"Well then, it seems like we got our starting points established, hmm? Finding out about our mysterious paparazzi bat and our mysterious gun wielding pal. I still think that finding our bat would be the easier and more important task, but we can also find out about our gunner too... What do you all think? Should we split up later to pursue what lead we have on both, or...?"

After saying so, Ryuuko took the time to go over the information again more carefully this time. Bang's question were indeed a good one, although Jeanne's answer to the question was concerning. If they were to truly help defend Jeanne against the prosecution, they'll need better than 'I believed I was stalked, so I attacked first'. Then, there's the fact that nobody seemed to have spotted the man-bat during the travel to the island. A disguise as Nazca suggested, kept up for upward to a month? Or did the man-bat used another way to arrive? Or perhaps indeed he wasn't even a student at all as Inti suggested? Too many possibilities, not enough information, again. For now, this just gave rise to more questions instead... And then, there's also Nazca's drones. Ryuuko glanced at the white-haired girl as she continued her contemplation. Her unfortunate and most disappointing choice of cuisine aside, those devices of hers are likely to be very useful for our current endeavor...

As she were busy with her own inner thoughts, Ryuuko's gaze then happened to fall to the table next to them. She immediately recognized both of the table's occupants, and proceeded to wave at them as she called out, a friendly smile on her face. "Well now, look who we have here. Good day, Ms. Yun! What a coincidence, to meet you again so soon! And well met, Ms. Zhukova. Your reputation precedes you. Higashiakemi Ryuuko, pleasant to make your acquaintance! Why, we were just talking about a steampistol-wielding gunner among other things. Right in your field of expertise, no? Haha!"

Clockwork Autumn

“Perhaps,” replied Nazca, the sides of her mouth twitching upwards. “Ever since traveling on an airship, aerial photography has been a small pastime of mine.” She shrugged. It wasn’t that big of a deal, even if she did actually dabble in spy work on the side. She was far more interested in the radio device that Jeanne had activated, glancing out the window at the smoke signal that the arson-loving Frenchwoman had set off.

It was becoming apparent that her reputation was very well deserved.

It was at that moment that one of Nazca’s birds returned to her, fluttering in through the window before landing on her shoulder with a little peep and chirp. It was the small clockwork sparrow that she had left with the Austrian sham. As low of an opinion she had of him, he was still an extra body that could probably be at least relied upon to do some manner of investigation, and indeed, there was a small message rolled up in his claws that she quickly pulled out before repocketing the bird.

“Hmm…” Unrolling the message, she quickly read the paper. Well, if he obtained the student roster, that would be very useful indeed, not just for this investigation, but also for future endeavors. Once she was finished with it, she read it aloud for the benefit of her companions. Unlike some of the other messages she received, it was hardly secret, after all.

Finding that it would be good to keep in contact with this group, she offered to exchange contact information. “Since it appears we will be splitting soon, perhaps we should exchange our dorm addresses to remain in easy communication? I doubt you all have wireless sets, but I can supply some more messenger birds to facilitate.”

It was also about this time that the tanned Englishwoman was made aware of the seating of a nearby table. Curiously, it was one of her dormmates, as well as the Russian, Valeriya. Well, it seemed like they had a good sense of taste, too, to be dining here, although Nazca was quite sure that the latter was also familiar with the steam weapon that Jeanne had described. Ryuuko also seemed to notice and in fact pointed it out… quite confrontationally, in fact.

Letting out a light sigh, she gave the duo a greeting as well. “Valeriya, and Yun Hana, was it? I believe we are dormmates, hello.” Nazca then turned to Valeriya and gave her a nod. “We had a pleasant conversation last evening. That said, your expertise would be rather useful right now, as we are conducting an investigation into a very similar matter…”

"Hmmm, I'm not so sure..." No, Inti still thought it couldn't be a student. He didn't see how it was possible to disguise big Egoist features like that. He turned to Ryuuko, curious. "How easy do you think it would be to disguise your horns and tail?"

The story and discussion went on. Honestly Inti still couldn't understand Jeanne's motivation despite her trying to explain her actions. On a fundamental level he supposed it made sense... maybe. He couldn't even begin to imagine how he would act in a similar situation. He could count the amount of times he'd seen a gun, or even a photo of a gun, on one hand. And yet Jeanne seemed blasé to the experience of being shot at. Well, at least it meant she was calm enough to tell them all the details - including the approximate location. He waited for her to elaborate, but all she did was mention a vague "that point" and look out the window-- oh. A smoke signal. "Did... you blow something else up?"

He didn't really expect an answer. Instead he prepared to set off. Naturally that seemed like the next step for the group. They'd heard Jeanne's story, and now it was investigation time. Ah, Inti hoped it would be exciting. Franz was already ahead of them too, based on what Nazca told them when her bird flew back to her and alighted.

"Oh, yes! Addresses." Despite all the excitement last night, he had made sure to memorize where his dorm was. Inti rattled the address off to Nazca with bright eyes and a brighter smile. "I'll gladly borrow one of your birds too! I'll just let Kalil know we'll have a little clockwork visitor."

He certainly hoped that Nazca would lend him one of her contraptions, they seemed so interesting and useful. If his roommate's name had any meaning for Nazca, Inti didn't notice. Instead he turned his attention to the next table, though not for very long.

"Good morning ladies," he greeted Hana and Valeriya. While the girls chatted, Inti stood up from the table. He glanced out of the window at the smoke that signaled his destination. To his fellow "Jeanne Defenders" he said, "If we're splitting up then I'll get a head start on the scene with the gunman. Let me know if you find anything about the bat-guy!"

With a polite wave to everyone he made his way to the door. 'One hundred and twenty two meters southwest of that point.'

---

Enrolment at the Academy had not made mention of any terms, so it wasn't a surprise that students were free to come and go as they pleased. Shou couldn't imagine that nations would willingly surrender some of their brightest if they were bound to the island, for all the talk of cooperation to a brighter tomorrow. Irregardless, he doubt it would be a concern for him in the immediate future. The Ministry had not stressed any particular urgency for his task, and the reasons he could be called back were few enough to be counted on a single hand.

Meaningful news aside, it seemed that the newspaper was more of an recruitment board if one judged it by the quanity of content. Some of them earned a chuckle or snort from Shou given the audacity of the requests, but he supposed that the island was filled with those willing to push boundaries. The healthy selection of clubs and societies already on the lookout for members was promising though. Between the strangeness of what laid underneath the island and his own efforts to improve his Egoism, he'd see plenty of benefit from the more martial/combat focused clubs and the exploration sorts. Finding the time to check out each of them would be a task in and of itself, and there were still the official lectures and activities held by the Academy to consider.

With nothing but free time on his hand though, he decided to go check out one of the socieities holding an event nearby. The Hollow Earth? Certainly nothing he had heard of before and a bit odd of an idea, but it could be hard to tell where the line between genius and nonsense was drawn. Without bothering to waste time sitting down for a meal, Shou picked up a sandwich from a nearby cafe and had his meal on the go.

_{@Yankee@banjoanjo@Psyker Landshark@Vega7285}
Ultimately, Valeriya did deign to come along after all, leaving the Japanese restaurant without having actually eaten her lunch, which made it at least somewhat awkward, when the ladies who invited her to come didn’t actually go in the same direction as her. Jeanne, speaking of her desire for a proper bath and bed after a night spent tied up beside a charcoal wreckage, had left with Ryuuko, and Nazca, citing the need to develop her nighttime photographs, had come along, leaving the Russian Technologist with just Bang, as Inti had already left ahead of the rest.

Curious coincidences, that...well, if Hana hadn't decided to come along as the third wheel.

Following the trail of smoke that continued to rise at a steady consistency, the trio came across what had actually caused the smoke signal to begin with: six small spider-droids stacked atop each other, sequentially burning each other down through some sort of Formulized charcoal. It must have been going on for a while now, and passers-by hardly cared for the curious little tower. Even in a world of steam and fog, gears and lightning, there was still a place for the furnace, after all, and the miniature furnaces themselves seemed content to smoulder and burn away. The trio continued, eventually meeting up with Inti at the place Jeanne’s instructions lead them to.

It was a common intersection, if not for the yellow-and-black tape that cordoned off an area twenty-six meters away. A man dressed in black with a half-dome helmet on his head and the monochrome rendition of the island’s crest pinned to his breast pocket stood in front of the cordon. His hands were placed behind his back, and the section that was cordoned looked…just the same as any other section of the street. Whatever hubbub that this may have generated looked to have died down around the morning; compared to Jeanne’s rampage, this was much less attention-grabbing. A shattered streetlamp, a couple holes in adjacent walls, and a policeman that looked just a little bit bored, standing guard at an incident that received little to no attention.

Certainly, it was the scene of a shooting. Certainly, there was no blood shed on either end of the barrel.

So, what was there to investigate?
_{@Click This@Medili}
The walk back to the apartments that both Jeanne and Nazca stayed in was uneventful, largely due to the triangle of general disdain that had formed: Ryuuko’s disdain towards Nazca’s restaurant choices, Nazca’s annoyance regarding having any involvement with Jeanne, and Jeanne’s general disinterest in speaking to plebians. Whispers and stolen gazes trailed the Frenchwoman as she strode through the streets, but none bothered to accost her for her actions, in part due to the presence of the chimeric Egoist. Protection, it appeared, went both ways. Reputation, though, was a one-way road, and by association alone, the three misfits’ standings began to meld into one another.

After all, an Abya Yalan immigrant, a Japanese expatriate, and an unrestrained witch of a Polymath had plenty of intersections to draw rumours and gossip from.

The consequences of association would take time germinate though, and the three made their way to the three-story Incan-style apartments that Jeanne resided in. A few students were already enjoying the gorgeously turquoise waters of the swimming pool, while the smell of cooked meats wafted down from the balconies. An Occidental student had taken full advantage of the spacious patio to enjoy the nubile beauties below while grilling himself some lunch. Someone else, unseen, went up and down the scales of a piano, their efforts leaking out through the windows. It looked as if for some Polymaths, the first day of Bermuda wasn’t spent studying, investigating, or even giving a shit at all about the debacle at the Inner Circle, but rather simply relaxing and enjoying a life free from government overseers or parent pressures. The vertigo of freedom could consume the limited time of one’s life, but perhaps a day or two wouldn’t hurt.

Jeanne’s eyes, as she glanced towards those vacuous buffoons wiling away their time to indulge in transient pleasures, spoke of a different mindset.

“Well,” she spoke once they entered the living room of her suite, “It’s reasonable for us to part ways now. May your endeavors in photography be useful, Miss Whitehall. And Ryuuko, though I understand this goes against our friend Mr. Robespierre’s edicts, I am accustomed to bathing alone. Do you mind?”

The Frenchwoman didn’t wait for an answer. She entered her bathroom without hesitation but without haste, and the shuffling of disrobed clothing sounded, followed soon after by the rushing of water. If Ryuuko deigned it appropriate though, a mere door was no deterrent to any Egoist.
_{@Izurich@Kumbaris}
Sukoro tilted his head to the side, then shook it.

“There is a misunderstanding, Miss Konigsmahne. My Starsteel Formulization does not disappear. Its function is to obscure and impede, rather than to lock away. If you would like to reset the pattern, however, that can be achieved handily by break and reconnecting the electrical loop.” The Japanese Technologist smiled. “This otherwise sounds agreeable, however. I will have a small chest delivered to your residence by this evening, and I wish you the best with regards to the competition.”

And with that, the young man turned his attention away from the two ladies, tearing down his study and starting anew. It was clear, anyhow, that their conversations had delved to topics unrelated to himself personally.

@Kumbaris @ERode

Lucretia put a hand against her chin as she pondered Sukoro's clarification to her statement; an interesting misunderstanding indeed, if Starsteel didn't just disappear, then why did it do exactly that early morning today? Someone or something must've deactivated them at the source, cut off the electricity powering the Formulization, the tolling bell that happened in tandem was likely correlated. However, it was unsurprising that the Godhand's intention with Starsteel was to delay instead of truly locking something away, which aligned with Lucy's conclusion that to truly secure something, both formulization and mundane measures must be employed simultaneously; Starsteel by itself was designed to stall Technologists, it would accomplish little against an Egoist's brute strength.

"I see, induce a blackout of its power and the pattern will reset, understood," The petite polymath nodded, "Agreed, and I will send Schwarzritter your way by tomorrow at the latest." Although she tilted her head at the last bit, "What competition?" the question was spoken with every bit of genuine innocence the German girl could display, but her green eyes lit up merely a second later, A contest to see who can be most swift at navigating the Starsteel labyrinth perhaps? Intriguing... She'd definitely take a look at this competition for sure; she would be sullying the Konigsmahne name if she let herself be humbled by an Oriental at their own game. Apex Technologist prowess rightfully belongs to the Occident after all, particularly Germany.

With her business done, she turned away from Sukoro, walking together with the Nusantaran Egoist back where they came from, "Because it's a statement, a challenge, one that I must answer as a Konigsmahne Polymath," Lucretia answered, her voice calm as usual but there was an inkling of pride underneath, "Our House never settle for the average, we strive toward excellence in the pursuit of perfection, a 'tough nut' is no deterrence for us." Bunga could swear that Lucy puffed out her chest with that boast there, what little was there anyway.

Perhaps it should've been obvious, but both of them were complete strangers mere hours ago so it'd be justified for Bunga to not know that Lucretia wasn't the type to pursue something that she had no interest, nor obligation to. The answer to her offer was all but written on the wall, "Your happiness is unnecessary because I won't be tagging along with you, Miss Kurniawan." Lucy answered bluntly, yet with that same genuine honesty that she showed to Sukoro, there was no personal feelings attached, "I have other matters to attend, including but not limited to tuning Schwarzritter for Mr. Sukoro. Danke for assisting me in my search." With that she went on her separate ways, sitting on Schwarzritter's arm as the two left the Elysium Conservatory.

..........
.....
...

A little later, Lucretia found herself standing sitting before the smoldering ruins of the library. So this is why... This Jeanne du Bordeaux... truly a black sheep of the Occident, a sociopath who was somehow blessed with great intellect, something she clearly didn't deserve. So much knowledge, just... gone, and all for what? Was she making a statement against authority and institutions? Or was it something as shallow as satisfying her pyromania? Some individuals in this world truly boggled her mind, it's as if there was no rhyme or reason to their actions, and Lucy believed that it was literally that for a few, genuinely insane people. Was Jeanne one of them? If only she could've been there to prevent this. With a regretful sigh, Lucretia asked around for a bit, particularly the Bermuda staff stationed around the scene of the arson...

It didn't take long for her to receive her next destination, to meet Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore de Robespierre, Polymath, Enforcer, and Head of the Committee of Public Safety. His office should be in the City Administrative Center building, westward from here.

Thus, her loyal steel companion carried its mistress there, only putting her down once they have reached in front of the main entrance before furling into its compact form upon her command. Said mistress then entered the multi-story Brutalist-style structure before lining up to meet with the very same Swedish receptionist that a certain Universal Genius charmed a few hours ago.

"Guten Tag," Lucy greeted her native tongue before quickly switching to Latin, "I am Lucretia von Konigsmahne, I wish to arrange a meeting with Herr Robespierre regarding the matter of the library's destruction please. It is of utmost importance."

---

Soon after, the group decided that the time for lunch was over. To the misfortune of Valeriya and Hana, which ended up becoming involved with the entire thing. Ryuuko, on the other hand, was just happy that they've finally left the Japanese restaurant. As for her role in this mismatched group of Polymaths, she had decided to continue "escorting" Jeanne, leaving the investigation of the scene of the shooting and the identity of the Man-bat to the others for now. Along the way, she had noticed and had summarily ignored the whispers and gazes that were directed at Jeanne, Nazca, and herself. She's no stranger to having bad cred, considering most of Japan already saw her in a negative light. The thought brought a small smirk to her face. They'll all see who will have the last laugh.

Upon arrival to the Incan-style apartments where Jeanne and Nazca were assigned to, Ryuuko nodded in approval, while also feeling a little bit of envy about it. Would've been a way better place to be assigned to, this. Rather than a dang ryokan... Haaa... She let out a sigh and shook her head briefly. Oh well, at least my roommate's awesome. A saving grace, really. As for the swimming pool and the students currently making good use of it, Ryuuko deliberately paid little attention to them. She'd normally enjoy a good swim at a pool, but at the moment the swimming pool somehow reminded her of "seaweed" and "musty odor" due to what happened to her room back in the ryokan. She really didn't feel like thinking about it. At all.

Soon enough, they arrived to the living room of Jeanne's suite. Nazca will be returning to her own suite, and despite some brief hesitation, Ryuuko still managed a small smile and a "Good luck with the photos, Ms. Whitehall. See you around." She had also exchanged her contact info with Nazca (also with some brief hesitation) and the others earlier after Nazca suggested it back in the restaurant. As for Jeanne's mention of wanting to bath alone, Ryuuko replied with a simple "Oh yeah, sure thing. I'll wait here then. Enjoy your bath, Jeanne!" For a moment there, she amusingly misheard Jeanne's word. It almost sounded like "bathing along", which made Ryuuko had to suppress a surprised flinch. Haha, silly me. Of course that's not what she said! She then took a seat to wait until Jeanne finish her bathing.

... Sitting had lasted approximately a minute however, and she soon became quite bored. Thus, she started looking around nosily instead, walking all over the place to see what's in the living room.

---

Once Franz has gotten back to his dorm room, he was displeased to see the smell had not been cleaned up. No matter, he thought, the cleaning crew should be around any time now. It was best that he just thrust his mind into his studies and let them do their job.

Another issue that had presented itself was the lack of any acceptable desk. All the tables here were far too low to the ground for Franz’ comfort. He must remember to get a proper Occidental desk put in place at the earliest possible time. No matter, he could make do for now and just continue his study.

Franz went to his stored belongings and surveyed his spiders while feeding them. Which one would mark his first study in Bermuda? Thor the tarantula was the largest spider of the three and also the most lacking in mental capability, this made him the easiest to produce some results with. But that would be too easy. Freyja the black widow, a size smaller with a greater degree of intelligence posed a larger challenge. Franz’ only web spinner leaves at least some physical record once a study is concluded. But no, Franz wanted to start with Loki the fringed jumping spider. Widely regarded as the most intelligent spider breed he was also the smallest of the three. Any progress was hard to make and even harder to see visually. Loki was a tough nut to crack. But Franz welcomed the challenge and wanted to get to work with all the free time he had.

Franz placed Loki on one of the low lying excuses for a table and went to grab his violin. The smell hit him again but he tried to put it out of his mind. The staff would take care of it after all. Raising the bow to the strings, Franz prepared to play. But another whiff of the room invaded his senses. No, Franz concluded, he could not wait for the staff to arrive and sort this out. It wasn’t just him either. Franz thought he could see that Loki was put off by the smell also. If the spider were to exhibit abnormal behaviour from outside sources during his study, it would ruin his notes. He got up and left the room to ask about getting cleaning supplies.

Franz proceeded to spend the next several hours cleaning the room. He was particularly thorough to remove any slight scent of last night’s mistake.

---

Bunga was a bit disappointed by Lucretia's decision to not go with her, but well, she still has a mission to do. But, considering Lucretia's decision to not go, and now that she remembers it, she also has a bunch of books that she just bought. Better go and pack her things before things get super inconvenient for Bunga.

The dorms where she arrived in actually look pretty drab in comparison with the other dorms, just some gray plaster walls accented with wood, and also some light tiling on the roofs. It reminds her of the traditional houses of the occident that she sees a lot in illustrations and such, but the moment she entered the inside. Everything suddenly changed.

The interior is completely unlike the exterior of the building. Inside of it, she smells spices, lemongrass, and the smell of cooking as students from the Mughal Empire, Oman, and Persia greeted her. And she did exactly the same. She immediately welcomed the pleasant smell of spices and other nice stuff. In a weird way it reminds her of home, sure the arrangement of the smells feels different, but it's familiar enough to make her feel comfortable. Not wanting to waste any time though, she beelined for her room, and quickly dropped her books once she entered it. Her room consists of some traditional Nusantaran furniture, the typical medley of wooden chairs and tables, the gold accents lining practically everything (even the bed!), and the variety of artwork from the Middle East, India and China. All in all, a small reminder of her familial estate in Palembang.

She wonders how did the powers that be in Bermuda managed to replicate the houses from a variety of cultures (she's been in the dorm rooms of some of her Persian dorm-mates, and it looks stereotypically Persian as well) so well, it feels a bit suspicious, the amount of effort put into everything here. But she's not here to wonder at the amount of effort the organizers of this island put into designing everything here. She has a Vietnamese man to possibly catch up to, and at that point, after a couple minutes of relaxation in her room. She decided to set off to the city once again, sun setting, and the gas lamps lighting up, in search for this mysterious Vietnamese polymath by the name of Le Bang Kieu.

"I wonder what he looks like." Bunga wondered, walking around seemingly aimlessly throughout the city. Since she has no idea who the man is and how he's dressed, her search for this Vietnamese man will take a much more leisurely pace than the rapid speed during her and Lucretia's search for Sukoro Jinga. The fox girl does love the sight of Bermuda as the sun is setting though, the whole city was being painted a warm orange hue as the sun starts going down, her goat eyesight and fox sense of smell reveling in the smell of the ocean and seeing the wonderful sight. Ah. If only she has one of those camera photography devices from the Occident, just what would she do to get one of those things right now...

She needs to talk to some technologist in order to borrow a camera or something, some moments feel too beautiful to not be photographed.

Valeriya Zhukova

Oh for the love of-

Of course she'd been roped into this. The one thing she hadn't wanted out of this little lunch trip. And to top it all off, they didn't even give her the courtesy of eating said lunch. Valeriya hadn't eaten today outside of a light breakfast, damn it! Bastards. And then most of the group had ditched anyways, leaving the Russian with both her equally unfortunate lunch partner and the Vietnamese boy she'd danced with last night.

Well, better to get this done with. After all, the only reason she went along with any of this nonsense was to have favors owed to herself in the future. A service rendered now would prove useful if she'd needed something that she couldn't do or acquire herself later on.

Thus, when they arrived at the scene of the crime, Valeriya wasted no time in getting to work. First off, that policeman would have to be diverted if she wanted to take any serious look at the area.

"Hana, Bang, I don't suppose either of you can distract that poor guard over there? Or lure him away from this area? I won't be able to do much investigating with him breathing down my neck, saying students aren't permitted here. That, and I'd rather not draw any undue attention from the administration just yet." Valeriya murmured quietly to her companions, hoping that one of them had a solution so that she wouldn't have to demonstrate some of her training in public. Because while she could handle this situation herself, it'd look somewhat suspicious for an engineer to be performing some of the feats she was trained to.

LÊ BẰNG KIỀU

---

Sweat down his temple.

Bang didn’t wipe at it as the trio made their way to the smoke pillar. He didn’t wipe at it. This was how it usually went but for this occasion there was even more reason to avoid displaying signs of weakness. What a strange case of fortune that he ended up with these two companions.

“Ah, Yun Hana,” he smiled cordially. The walk over seemed long without some idle conversation. “Would you happen to be familiar with a James Porter? We’re staying in the same dorm and he seemed to have some interest in the three of us working together to conduct some research. I think we’d be able to achieve some exceptional results with our combined skills.”

Usually his smile wouldn’t come with much effort but this journey was an outlier. He scratched at his nose. Once, twice. Once more.

Oh dear, this girl was pungent.

Some combination of stale chemicals and flowery scents. His sense of smell was something he could keep enhanced without much notice because it was rarely a detriment until today. Perhaps there was some strange trend among the female population. First Jeanne with the smell of saltwater coating her entire body. A slight whiff of it on Ryuuko. And…

The trio stopped outside the cordoned area. Bang narrowed his eyes.

That same scent on the French and Japanese girls was coming from behind that tape.

“I… believe I would also be of assistance with the investigation. I’m not sure I’d be much help luring him away. Miss Yun, would you be able to do the honours?”

Hardly into the restaurant before they had to leave again,though on a far more interesting venture. Hana could go hungry for a while without much difficulty, but no use worrying about it too much. She did at least ask if they could deliver the food to her room, so it wouldn't go to waste.

The conversation on the way over surprised her, a bit. "Why yes, I think I did make the acquaintance of a Mr. Porter last night," she answered Bang's question. "I'm certainly not averse to any collaborations, as I think that's the point of being here in the first place, no? Please let him know I'd be happy to meet with him and discuss research." She did her best to curb her enthusiasm at such a stroke of luck, but even without her own reasons, there was no point to turn down invitations to collaborate.

"Hm," Hana briefly considered the situation. "I'm sure I can do something about the officer, if we need to. Though, if this is connected with the whole affair from last night, one could also try a claim of official business." She paused to consider how one might prove it. "Provided, of course, you have some official deputization or the like."

She probably was the best choice for the job, not that her companions would know it. She had a few ways to be subtle about disabling or otherwise manipulating someone, after all. Though, the less she'd have to do, the better. "Just in case, I'll see if my feminine wiles will be enough to see things through."

Hana waited a bit to see if her suggestion of just claiming an investigation bore fruit, before going ahead with her own plan to be a diversion. As she approached, she quickly worked herself up into quite a flustered state. "Excuse me! Officer," she called out, once she was in sight and the others were, hopefully out of it. "I was hoping I could find someone, you see, I need help. My wallet's gone missing, could you help me look for it?"

It wasn't much of a head start, maybe a few minutes at most made just a little longer by Bang and the girls' more casual pace. During that few minutes Inti surveyed the scene. It looked almost disappointingly normal. He didn't know what he expected, considering they knew what had happened already: a man shot into the fog and missed every one. Now, there was a section of street wrapped in a little bit of tape watched over by a single officer. Inti smiled at the man, waved even, but it garnered no reaction. Must be very dedicated to his job.

Yup, everything in the area looked pretty combed over already. It was definitely the right place, he'd found that burning pile and followed Jeanne's direction from there. "Hm."

He wondered what kind of information they could find here. Perhaps the mysterious gunman would return, that was something people said, wasn't it? The guilty return to the scene of the crime, or something like that. As Inti stood pondering the situation, probably agitating the guard, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look, he found that the magnetic fields a ways off were... fluctuating a little. That was unusual.

His brows furrowed, and Inti looked between the small distortion and the roped off area. It was pretty far, so it couldn't be related. Or... maybe he should check it out, just in case. After all, if it was a clue and someone missed it, then it might be of help.

Just before Inti planned to move on again, Bang arrived - with those two girls from the restaurant, noticeably not Ryuuko or Nazca. That was alright, they'd planned to split up anyway. Inti quickly regrouped with them, offering a quick introduction before finding that they were talking about distracting the guard. He peeked at the man, who looked about the same as he did a few minutes ago.

"Good luck with your plan," Inti said, seeing Hana off as she made for the guard. As for the other two, Inti waved for their attention.

"I saw something over there - " he pointed away from the cordoned off area. "But I wasn't sure if it was related or not. I don't even know what it is, yet, just that there's some unusual waves. But I'm going to go see." He left them with a grin, the expression quickly becoming a trademark. "Who knows, maybe it will be a clue!"

Once again Inti split off from his fellow students. It was a little further than he'd first though, but after about fifty or so meters he made it to the "weird distortion." He crouched down, head titled curiously, and reached out to take the object in his hand. Before even getting close to it he could tell it was small and metallic. Now, raising it between to fingers and eyeing it closely he could tell exactly what it was.

A bullet. Just one, so far from the scene of the shooting. Was that... normal? Could a missed shot have flown so far? Inti had no idea. Hopefully once he got back to the others they might have some ideas.

Clockwork Autumn

It seemed the rag-tag luncheon group dissipated as quickly as it had formed, though no small part of it had been due to Jeanne’s desire to return to the dorms for a bath. That put a dampener on some plans, but Nazca didn’t have any particular problem with it. She still had film to develop, and despite the day’s commotion, she still had to fully unpack and set up her clockwork laboratory. Together with Jeanne and Ryuuko, they left for the dorms, but not before exchanging contact information with the Vietnamese, the Russian, and the Incan. The Korean girl, Hana lived in the same dorms as her, so there was no need to personally probe the girl for such information, though she was sure the others would be more interested.

Once at the dorms, she bid the Frenchwoman and the rather friendly Japanese girl a temporary farewell. “Thank you. Hopefully I will find something useful,” she responded, dipping her head slightly in acknowledgement. “If you need anything, just knock on my door,” she offered, before disappearing behind said wooden panel.

To her surprise, one of her birds was at the window, waiting patiently with a sealed telegram tied to its realistic mechanical claws. Frowning lightly, she strode over and claimed the letter, not expecting another communique so soon.

My, it seemed there were some very interesting individuals on this island.

The paper was soon burned away at an oil lamp by her desk, removing any traces of its existence.

Nazca then got to work unpacking. Splitting boxes and unclasping leather suitcases, she began to arrange equipment and sundry all about her suite. Despite the magnificent size of these dorm rooms, the sheer mass of equipment and materials that she required made the entire effort difficult to keep organized. She had heard of students that set up workshops in buildings independent of their dorms and living spaces, and decided that perhaps she should look into a similar arrangement.

For now, she continued at her efforts, stopping only when she fully unpacked her film developing equipment. Without a dedicated room in the suite, the bathroom would unfortunately have to do, but it wasn’t long before she had her reel-to-reel film projector rigged up to read the roll of tape her spying hawk had captured. Projecting onto the bare wall, she sat down to run through the footage.

Most of it was rather mundane and boring, as had been expected. As the sun descended, most of the footage simply contained the simple movements of students finding their dorms and exploring the island. It was good aerial reconnaissance, though, and would do well to provide her with a rather accurate map of the city once she developed a frame as a still, but this was useless for her current purposes. She wound the reel forward.

Things got more interesting once curfew hit. The fog rolled in as quickly as she had remembered. Problematic for the camera, though, was the sheer luminescence the fully lit streets provided, making for a high contrast image. Nonetheless, she could see that the fog rose about twenty meters in height, covering most of the buildings in the city.

Then, she saw something that made her pause. In a brief frame, a strange black shape jutted out of the fog before disappearing once again. She quickly rewound, pausing the film there, studying it closely. If she was right, it was between Ryuuko’s ryokan and the inner circle of the city. Perhaps right in Jeanne’s ‘action’ zone that night? It was certainly a strange shape, one of a diamond, and larger than a human.

What was it? And where did it go? Was it truly so fast as to only appear in a single frame, or was there something else afoot?
She continued on. She would develop that frame and share it with Jeanne and the others later. Soon after, she could see the distinct miasma of smoke rising from the inner circle, where the library was. She made a mental note of the time—about 11PM.

The tape ran for a while longer, but aside from the burning building, there was not much else until the film ran out.

Well then, she thought.

It was time to share this with the others.

The officer started at Hana’s sudden approach. Up close, it became apparent that most of the aura of authority that emanated from him was due solely to his outfit. With short, curly hair poking out from beneath his helmet and olive skin with an oily sheen, he must have been from the Mediterranean region of the Occident, a rookie officer who struggled with the restlessness of adolescence and the exhaustion of adulthood. Certainly, this appeared to be a low priority enough area that no senior officers were available to see that he was doing his job properly, but going by how he had tucked his pant legs into his boots (in this climate, even!), perhaps he was the type to be oddly strict with himself.

“Oh, uh,” he said, voice cracking slightly as he fumbled for his radio device. “I can’t really leave my post, Miss, but I could call for someone else to help if you’d like?”

“There’s no time for that,” Hana snapped back, keeping up her momentum with a relentless verbal assault. “What if someone finds it and takes it? This is my first day here and I already lost my ID and money and what if I can’t even get back into my dorm? What if I didn’t misplace it and it was that person who bumped into me earlier…” She chattered on, making her most persuasive case that she needed attention right now.

The officer pursed his lips as Hana brought up a barrage of relatively logical concerns. He wasn’t too certain of Bermuda’s procedures and wait times for making new IDs for students, but the presence of a possible thief wasn’t something that he could ignore either. He cast another look at the relatively emptied-out area that he was standing before, and then let out a sigh. Drawing out his notepad and pen from his breastpocket, the young man nodded.

“Alright, deep breaths, Miss. When did you notice that you’ve lost your wallet? And do you remember any details of the person who bumped into you?”

She had his attention, but getting him to budge might be more trouble. Hana did do her best to subtly move away, pulling the officer that much further from his post, as she made her effort to calm down. “I noticed it was missing maybe fifteen minutes ago,” she began, still distraught. “I’ve been walking for hours, so it could be anywhere.” Making up details for a person would be harder, but she could at least avoid implicating someone among her immediate group. “I don’t remember much. I think they were about my age. A young man with light hair?” Any uncertainty and thoughtfulness on her part weren’t from trying to remember, but it wouldn’t be out of place, anyway.

“That’s not much to go off of,” the officer said, looking at how sparse his notes were. Weren’t Polymaths supposed to either be geniuses or superninjas? Well, there was no point in dwelling upon it. Now that he was committed, backing out would be naught but a stain upon his badge. “But that’s still doable. For now, let’s backtrack. Could you show me what path you took to get here? Were there any shops or restaurants that you’ve patronized?”

“That sounds good.” Hana begins walking, leading the officer back the way she came. “I was doing some shopping around here, and I did stop for lunch somewhere earlier.” She could even describe the place. No point in lying there. Regardless, the coast would hopefully be clear for the others to proceed.

---

Bang wrinkled his nose as the two left, taking the opportunity to clear his nose with a coarse exhale. He lifted the tape for Valeriya to move under. “After you.”

Well, that was impressive. Valeriya noted that she’d have to genuinely thank Hana for doing so well later. Of course, that was with the mental note that the girl was a good actor and a liar, it seemed. Regardless, she ducked under the tape with a nod to Bang and began to look over the crime scene, going for the gunshot areas first.

Really, this wasn’t exactly her area of expertise, but knowing the properties of firearms as well as basic physics would get her far enough. Probably.

Her examination of the marks that the bullets made in the surrounding area made a few things clear enough for Valeriya. It was likely that the steampistol used a self-contained compression device rather than a larger exterior one. For self-defense purposes, such a weapon may be good for warding off thugs, but it certainly wouldn’t be ideal for killing a target. With some simple arithmetic as well, she could ascertain the direction from which the shots were fired, an issue made easier in part to how each of the five marks she found appeared to fan out in ways that almost seemed impractical.

Under the presumption that they were aiming to hit someone running on the road, it seemed unlikely that they would opt to aim for a shot angled high enough to strike a lamp, or low enough to strike the street.

Bang remained a few steps behind her, inhaling deeply in search of any further trace of that seawater scent. “Any luck, Miss Valeriya?”

“The pistol used an internal compression system. Compact, but it wouldn’t kill. Not easily, at least. The shot groupings seem…random. Whatever this was, it certainly wasn’t a serious attempt to kill someone. A frame job, perhaps.” Valeriya frowned, having become deeper entwined into this mess than she wanted to be.

“Pushing her away from a location? Or luring her towards?”

“Likely towards, supposing that our Frenchwoman didn’t actually burn down the library. Which I’m unfortunately starting to suspect is looking more and more likely.”

Another sniff, now pointing towards a trail. It would be simple to just follow it but Bang had to keep his company in mind.

“Is there, ah, any chance of narrowing down the shooter’s location from the trajectories?”

“There is, yes.” Valeriya nodded, starting to do the mental math necessary. Based on the angles of the gunshot impacts…hm.

“The shooter fired from the side of the street over there.” She pointed. Really, this was like some sort of botched back-alley hit job in some shithole like Kiev. “Will this be all that you need from me? I’d gather you could relay all this back to the others easily, and I still owe Hana a meal.”

Bang raised a surprised eyebrow. “Oh? I didn’t think your curiosity would have such limits. Well, if there’s somewhere else you must be.” He bowed his head lightly. “Thank you for your assistance, Miss Valeriya. I hope we can meet again soon.”

“Of course, of course.” Valeriya nodded insincerely, wanting nothing more than to wash her hands of this nonsense and get the hell out of here. The mad Frenchwoman could burn, for all she cared. She had her own mission to get back to. “I hope you’ll repay the favor someday. But for now, we should both be making ourselves scarce before the policeman returns. Until next time, Sir Bang.”

Valeriya smiled and turned to leave, walking off in the direction Hana had gone in with the policeman. Time to bail her out.

The Egoist watched her leave before tossing another glance at the points of impact. Favor? Rather presumptuous of the girl. Given enough time he would have come to the exact same conclusion. Faster even, with what his senses were telling him. Ah well, it helped to have others confirm his suspicions. Bang made his way to where Valeriya was indicating - the same place the scent trail was leading.

Here, the scent that he followed seemed to have settled, intensifying in the stench of the ocean’s depths. The heat of the afternoon sun had evaporated any shadow of last night’s fog, but the persistence of the smell was still curious. After all that movement, it had stalled here, of all places. And more curiously, what did this smell even belong to, so potent that it existed as a trail, where even Jeanne herself only had a small whiff of it in her hair despite having spent the entire night outside.

If any passersby were to see Bang, they’d assume he’d fallen asleep on his feet. He scrunched his eyes harder, hoping for any mote of concentration that would lead him further down the trail. It was no good. The scent stopped here. With one sense used to its limit, he exercised another one, looking around the area and prodding with his cane for any sort of clue the shooter may have left behind.

If any passerby saw Bang, and they most likely would, considering how fetching the young idol of Vietnam was, they were more likely to be puzzled as to why he was past the cordon to begin with. Was he more rebellious than imagined? A surprisingly bad boy side to someone who was otherwise a paragon of courtesy and etiquette? Well, it matter not what they saw, but rather, what he saw. In the absence of any new evolutionary traits, Bang’s natural human senses had only continued to sharpen and expand, allowing him to pick up the minute differences in the coloration of the cement that sealed together the blocks of stone that formed the sidewalk. Months of fog and humidity had darkened the sealant, and though what physical evidence had been swept up already by the investigative force, the Vietnamese Egoist could envision the shape that had once been there.

It was just a suggestion, extrapolated by lighter lines, but combined with what he already knew, Bang could forward a simple enough hypothesis. The gunman may have been standing when they shot their bullets, but they were lying down for most of the night, their body shielding this patch of the ground from the salty fog.

Even more questions were being raised here. He examined it a little longer, trying to narrow down the physical build of whoever laid there. After that, he crouched down where the patch was. The idea was to match the shooter’s perspective that night, what exactly they had in their line of sights and, if possible, what their visual priorities may have been.

The physical build was hard to make out, beyond the obvious statements of how they appeared neither incredibly large, nor incredibly small. The finer details could not be made out, especially if Bang began to take into account the clothing that they may have worn. As he dropped closer however, the outline that the Egoist had examined looked odder and odder. The four limbs were splayed out in four directions, while the lumpy extension that must have been the head was positioned the furthest away from where the bullets had been coming from.

Crouched, Bang had a good view of the intersection, especially the portion where Jeanne would have been coming from. But that view was still distant, and if the mysterious gunman wasn’t an Egoist (likely, for no Egoist would deign to use a gun when a blade would suffice), how could they have even known of Jeanne’s approach beforehand? And that was before he could even continue to consider the ‘final’ position that the gunman ended in. Jeanne had said she had not pursued them, so why was this posture the one that was marked upon the lines of cement?

Indeed, could her testimony even be trusted?

Bang’s expression of concentration was replaced with outright befuddlement. He turned to look in the direction opposite of where Jeanne would have been, sniffing for traces outside of the seawater now. Blood, perhaps.

Nothing to be gathered. With all the information he could collect, and more and more passersby likely to start speculation of him sniffing around a crime scene, Bang decided to concede and finish his investigation for now.

It was going to be one hell of a debriefing for the rest of the team.

_{@Medili@Click This@Yankee@banjoanjo@Jumbus}
Jeanne’s apartment suite was large. Thankfully, it was large enough that even having five others in her dining room made for a feasible arrangement. After the disaster that was the traditional Japanese breakfast, the Frenchwoman had taken onto herself to order a dinner for six. Perhaps a bath had improved her mental state; certainly there was the possibility that she would’ve only ordered food for herself and left the others to figure out their own meals.

Regardless, the Abya Yalan-style dining room smelled of wine and umami-filled sauces, cooked meats and fresh bread. Escargot bubbled on cast iron pans, while slices of foie gras laid in duck juice. There were samplers of cheeses as well, accompanied by nuts, dried fruits, and wild honey, and of course, a roast duck sat in the center of the table, skin crackling gently. The delivery and presentation of the chefs were, in Jeanne’s eyes, adequate for their standing, though a bit uninspired. One could only expect so much out of ‘free’ food, after all.

Still, she partook in the meal with surgical gusto, content on focusing upon her meal.

A meal alone, however, was not the reason behind this “dinner party”.

Against the wall stood a standing blackboard and a set of chalk, summarizing and detailing what had been uncovered during the days investigations. Nazca’s photographs were pinned there with lodestones. Franz’s special delivery laid on the shelf, already skimmed through. Bang’s diagram of what he had discerned from the gunman’s positioning was drawn with a somewhat shaky hand. And Inti found a bullet. It was round!

Ryuuko, on the other hand, had discovered that Jeanne’s room was devoid of any sign of Jeanne. What possessions she had brought with her to Bermuda island must either be few in number and small in size, stored elsewhere, or so well hidden that they evaded the gaze of even a snooping Egoist. Perhaps it said something about the firestarter’s character, or perhaps she was overthinking it. After all, even devoid of any of Jeanne’s personal touches, the room was well-furnished and pleasing to the eye.

And regardless, they were here to build a defense case for someone who did not care to defend herself.

Dinner began.

_@Zombehs
Was the Earth not flat? The curvature and roundness espoused by ancient stargazers was founded upon a false understanding of the concepts of day and time, after all. The truth, illuminated through international communications, was that the sun and moon fell at the same time around the world, rendering the very ‘planet’ they inhabited into some more akin to the maps drawn by cartographers. And yet, what laid beneath? Was a God who had abandoned the Heavens cruel enough to still allow Hell to be inhabited?

Nay, if Heaven is empty, Hell is too. From whence did volcanoes spew their flames? From where do springs draw their waters? From what do trees generate their might? The oceans were fathomless and unwelcoming, the foremost frontier for adventurers and daredevils, but those buffoons knew not the value of the very ground they trampled. After all, so long as the stars were conceptual, perhaps there laid Divine Calculus in the depths of the planet as well, the underworld forsaken by the Omnipotent. And unlike stars, nothing more but fragments that shed weak motes of light, the flames and the waters, the life-granting dirt, could offer greater breakthroughs than ever before.

Perhaps, by plunging into the hollows of the Earth, the secret behind ‘generation’ could be obtained. And perhaps, by delving into those dark depths, one could challenge Hell itself and set the rumors of religion to rest.

That, at least, was what the night’s keynote speaker, the affably maniac Lucy Atkinson, pitched to her audience…moments before she cheekily desired able hands and extra funding to make such expeditions possible. And of course, even for those who didn’t wish to shake hands with the Englishwoman, there was an evening’s worth of diverse entertainments, from a photo gallery of her prior trips to foreign lands to an indoor shooting obstacle course, devised by Miss Atkinson herself. Child’s play for any Egoist in attendance, of course, but for humans, it was certainly a fun diversion, especially when one considered that such an event had been set up less than a full day after arriving at the island.

The mania of adolescence was certainly impressive.

Still, delving into the Earth was at odds with Shou’s own adaptations. Unless the star of the night sparked his interest, there was no real reason to remain at the venue for much longer. Perhaps heading back to his tavern-apartment would be better instead.

_{@Psyker Landshark}
The tavern was quiet, despite its trappings of an Irish pub. A mug of ale sat before Valeriya on the counter, too weak to get her drunk but flavorful enough to distract from the tedium. How long had she spent here by now, waiting for her point of interest to leave? She was running out of time.

Warm lights flickered about. A wholly needless fireplace crackled, and a trio of students sat at another corner, rattling a cup full of dice. Gambling, or a board game? Either way, they were too focused to remember her, and the clock was drawing closer to curfew than she would’ve liked. The target never left tavern. Or perhaps that was simply because they were never inside to begin with.
One could not trust instruments to handle the senses of the inhuman.

The clocks hand drew closer. The longer she waited now, the more likely it became that the latter hypothesis was correct and they returned instead. The more days that passed though, the more likely Kiran would have noticed what she had left on him, the more likely his suspicions would cause troublesome actions.

Seconds ticked.

The Ministry demanded careful thought and swift action. Now, her training will be put to the test.

_@Izurich
“Good evening, Mademoiselle Konigsmahne. I have heard much of your family’s achievements.”

It had been an invitation from her, but he was the one that set the terms, and now, Lucretia was seated opposite of the unkind Head of Bermuda’s Committee of Public Safety, in a private dining room at an undisclosed restaurant. A single pale light illuminated the white cloth of the table, bathing the avant-garde presentation of roast duck in a light that shone like the Moon. The walls were soundproofed, and the waiter required permission from the guests to enter.

It was, indeed, a place meant for clandestine conversations.

Maximilien Robespierre himself was dressed well for the occasion, though still less formal than the outfit that he had adorned himself with during Jeanne’s examination. His natural hair was black, resting in genteel curls that boyishly framed his face, while he settled for an embroidered dress shirt and tight pants for the dinner, his dark green coat folded upon a coat rack by the door. In the shadow of the room, his dark eyes glinted from the reflection of the silverware he used. Cutting, pulling, dissecting, deconstruction. Stripping meat from bone until the skeleton of a bird in flight remained.

“To what,” he spoke, steady and measured, “Do I owe the pleasure?”