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[@Punished GN][@Atrophy][@FernStone][@Blizz][@AtomicEmperor][@NoriWasHere]@everyone
[hider=ambience][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5na0uy7KtzY[/youtube][/hider]
[code]Kari Wilson's House[/code]
[hr]

So, 8th Street were [i]squatting[/i] in a mansion? Compared to the abandoned factories, warehouses and run-down projects he'd clambered through in the northern half of the Rust Belt, that didn't sound too bad.

[i]Harder to miss,[/i] Clancy guessed.

Sloane denied any real knowledge of the book, but she'd mentioned the mansion. Before he could probe further on that point, Luca had mentioned contacting one of 8th Street - someone called Jacqueline, but he still wanted to know about the mansion.

[b]"Who says I can't?"[/b] Clancy asked, floating the question bluntly, [b]"You think this is the first time I've got into places they don't want people? How'd you think I got in [i]here?[/i] Be easier if someone could just tell me [i]where[/i] to go."[/b] His tone wasn't hostile; just direct as he thumbed back in Luca's direction. [b]"Y'know... just in case things don't work out."[/b] 

But it was too late for that, and she was already distracted with something else. The asian man - Ken - was trudging down the steps of the basement with them to show them what he'd known. The space was familiar, and held a dull warmth that he couldn't quite [i]feel[/i] anymore, but could've pictured someone else enjoying. It was the kind of place that he'd imagine his old man or his brother would've enjoyed, a long time ago.

He had no clue what the [i]Murasaki[/i] or their [i]Dark Drops[/i] were, but he could only guess it was another form of the magic [i]lux[/i] he'd slowly come to understand, probably with some Jap twist that his Uncle Gerry would've scrunched at with a queer suspicion. Purple Light projected characters of an alien language across the surface of the wall, scrolling like a holographic displauy.

And the space opened. A space that didn't seem as though it belonged to the wall, but was more like a window to somewhere else. It [i]felt[/i] different, fundamentally. 

An array of belongings. Boxes. Containing treasures or junk, depending on who you asked. They meant nothing to Clancy, but he suspected his sister might have appreciated them. She liked [i]colour[/i], and there was plenty of it here. In the feathers. In the stones - in those that glowed in a spectrum that he couldn't have plausibly believed if not for other things he already knew about the world. 

The man was crying. [i]Grieving[/i] might've been a better word for it, because tears were just the surface level pain - something he couldn't have shared in even if he wanted to. Clancy didn't judge Kenshiro for this one, considering what he was probably going through. He seemed to be one of the few members of Ashley's old friend circle that seemed to actually give a shit, and apply some measure of organisation and common sense. He could appreciate that, and with the news that the notebooks were missing, and the argument that followed around 8th street and whether or not they were involved, and [i]what[/i] they may or may not know, something came to mind.

[b]"I'm sorry about your friend."[/b] Clancy said, directing an outwardly cold -but [i]genuine[/i] - condolence to Kenshiro, [b]"It's [i]shitty[/i]. But-.. only Kari would've known how to unlock this thing, right? And you-"[/b] he shifted his gaze towards Britney, [b]"You said the one who died wasn't [i]your[/i] Kari."[/b]

He suspected this wouldn't make him popular, but he had to make the argument. It was so [i]obvious[/i] that he felt stupid for not giving it more consideration.

[b]"I'm not saying it's her. Your other friend - Lionel? At the graveyard, I heard him call Father Wolf a 'he'."[/b] He shot Britney and Adora another look, [b]"Yes, I [i]was[/i] there when [i]she[/i] told you where to go, too, but I don't care about that right now. So far, everyone who's been killed by this [i]asshole[/i] has been part of your old group. Unless you still have enemies that aren't dead or [i]gone[/i], that makes it possible that it could be someone who was [i]one of you.[/i] Or that [i]someone[/i] of you is caught up in this too. Is that Kari? I don't know. But she's part of this now, and if she isn't dead it's obvious she's hiding or [i]being[/i] hidden."[/b]

He shrugged. [b]"Back to my point. How many of you are left now? How many of you do you [i]know[/i] that are still alive? That isn't to say this rules out any one of you, either-... but I've heard about 8th Street, and Emily and her group of [i]assholes[/i] - they've come up too many times not to be involved, or have some part in this."[/b] 

This time, he pivoted fully to face Britney.

[b]"I don't know [i]what[/i] you did to people, to make them something they're [i]not[/i], but I know what it's like to be on the other side of [i]that[/i]."[/b] Cold condemnation sat in his gaze. [b]"If you had done that to [i]me[/i], you'd be dead already. But I'm not her. I don't know what's going through their heads."[/b]