corneredbliss

Omega Station / Boop!

^{I N C O M I N G M E S S A G E}

- Captain and Benton are out. Gris and Davis next. Standby.

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Janetta didn't fail to notice his gesture, but didn't think any less of him for it, at all. In fact, it pushed her that much closer to shedding her own tears, though they seemed to just crowd up in her eyes and refuse to fall out. She blinked slowly to clear her vision, allowing them to slide down her cheeks freely as she reached over and placed a hand on his bicep. There was a squeeze of comfort before her hand returned to her side - all the while she kept her gaze ahead of her.

"It just doesn't make sense..." she practically whispered in response. But she didn't press the issue. If Ryobi didn't want to talk about it, or didn't want to know, she would keep her thoughts to herself for now. It wouldn't change anything, anyway. Why waste the breath?

Jan seemingly snapped out of her reverie at his request. She nodded, frustratedly wiping her face dry as she turned back towards the control panels. Kitt had wandered to the opposite side of the room and had been quiet, either waiting for further instruction or simply at a loss for words. "Yeah, easy as pie." She couldn't bring herself to mention that nothing would make this right at this point; even if they could tear those fuckers from limb to limb. The newly appointed Captain of the station sighed deeply, forcing her emotions off as she made her way back toward the bodies.

"I'll lock the ports and shut down the grids for the carts," she said as she stepped between her fallen comrades to take place at the controls. Her hands moved around the dials and the keypad while the screen above her matched her commands. "We'll need an elevator to get down the levels, so I'll cut power from all of them except for the one we have up here with us." She was pressing a few more keys, securing control of the sole elevator now available, when something caught her eye. There, at the top corner of the screen.

The security feed for the port to Home Bay. Burchill was probably watching before... it happened. "Ryobi... Look." On the screen, the figures of Carillo, the Sterling siblings, and Fukuda could be seen idling in the visitation lounge. They all seemed to be talking, though the feed didn't provide audio, so who knew what they were saying. It seemed apparent that they were trying to swipe an access card to open reception, but it wasn't working. "They must have already locked down the Bay," she said, squinting up at the video. Nothing would be getting through there short of an explosive, so the two would be rest assured that Home Bay was safe for now. "Thank god."

Beginner's DnD 5e Game - Group 2

The half-elf darted ahead of the men, eyes wide with a mixture of apprehension and adrenaline as she twisted and turned her lithe body to avoid the stream of passerby doing the same for her. Nimble footsteps were drowned out by thunderous ones in the narrow alleyway as the group came barreling through the general population. Araerys's hands clutched at the loose folds of her dress and hiked them up above her ankles as she ran, hair flying out behind her and pack making a ruckus against her back.

It was a strange - possibly worrying - sight, surely; this little maiden on the run from a bunch of brutish men, all seemingly intent on getting their hands on her for who knew what. If only they could catch sight of her eyes, in which there was something of a glint, as if some small part of her was enjoying the chase. Eh, not enjoying, per se. The idiots had really ruined a morning of sales to a fresh crowd at the tavern, but last night's mischief with these fools was something to be proud of. Maybe it was smugness that lived there in the green orbs of her eyes? Ah well, her gaze was there and gone in a rush of red fabric and black strands before anyone would be able to tell. Most would probably never assume that she wasn't so much the victim, anyway -

- Until that massive brute with the blue on his face called out again, pretty much explaining the situation to their audience. It almost, almost urged cheeky retaliation from the half-elf, who decided against it, quick to realize that any acknowledgement of her victory might work against whatever salvation she could scrounge up from any sympathetic allies in the crowd. Still, unable to keep her mouth shut properly, Araerys shot back over her shoulder in the most convincingly innocent tone she could muster at the time: "I swear - Honest mistake! Wrong bottle, lads! That's all!"

Whipping her head back to face ahead, whatever was left of her curious excitement drained away at the sight of the oncoming wall of bodies blocking her way. They were getting nearer and nearer, making clear that they weren't going to be moving aside as the rest of the passerby had been doing. "Excuse me, please!" she called out, and when they didn't oblige, Ary was forced to come to a stop before them, chest heaving and pulse racing. Unsure of who they were, or what they meant to do by preventing her from advancing, Ary's glance shot from creature to creature until finally they landed on the tiefling, immediately discerning that she might be the easiest to sway onto her side. Something needed to happen quickly, lest she be sandwiched between these strangers and the men who were more than a little bit angry with her.

"Please, mam!" With her Irish-like accent coming out fully in her distress, Araerys directed her attention towards the young woman, putting on whatever she could muster of a sympathy-inducing demeanor. She swallowed gulps of air and saliva between her words, the fatigue catching up with her as she spoke. "You must help me, please. They've - They're trying to - " The group of angry brutes were closing in, and the rest of the words seemed to just tumble from her pout, clearly distracted by the males' proximity. "These men - They were preying on innocent women like some uncivilized louts at the bar last night. I merely stepped in to help, that's all!"

The Things

Ary rolls an insight of 22, and is able to discern that Daisy would be the best choice for help.

Current Mood in One Gif

Omega Station / Boop!

It was all Janetta could do not to follow Ryobi away from the bodies, to give into her own grief and turn away for at least a moment. Everything about today should have been the stuff of nightmares, impossible once eyes were opened. She could not have known what was going through Ito's head, but if it was anywhere near the caliber of flashbacks trying to cripple her with the tainted image of a bloodied Burchill, she could imagine. Eventually she did rise from her place near the Captain so that Kitt could move in and see what she could see. Jan made her way to stand beside him at the window, arms folded defensively across her chest. The two stood there in silence, probably watching clips of interactions with the deceased play one after the other inside their minds' eyes, before the silence was broken by Kitt.

The bot, unsure really of how ballistics worked, bent down to scan as Ryobi had asked, taking note of the measurements of the holes in Burchill's temples before comparing them to the few bullets still snug in the pistol's clip. After a moment of calculation, and another for realization, Kitt's strangely downcast tone permeated the heavy air. "It's the same from what I can tell, sir. The bullet fired into Henry Burchill seems to have come from this gun."

Somewhere inside of her, Janetta already knew this. Her face remained stoic and she continued to gaze absentmindedly through the window, only vaguely aware of Ryobi beside her. Further proof of her theory sank in between them. Finally, a murmur: "What are you thinking?"

Omega Station / Boop!

It was almost as if Janetta could feel the image being singed into her psyche, something more terrible than watching a coffin lowered into the ground. She had followed Ryobi as far as the corner of the table in the middle of the room though couldn't bring herself to go any further. But like the day of her mother's funeral, Jan forced herself to keep her gaze forward at the scene, demanding herself to give the Captain and her officer the respect they deserved. Death did not excuse anyone from their responsibility, and now was not the time for her to shy away from the person Burchill needed her to be.

Still, it didn't lessen the pain that came with seeing two innocent lives taken away - and for what? The two were no closer to answering the question than when they started. Janetta lowered her gun and clenched her shaky jaw, allowing the surge of emotions to run their courses through her before she released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Burchill would tell her it was no time for grieving; she now had a whole ship to look after.

As if on cue, Ryobi spoke from behind her, officially giving life to her new title. He sounded quiet and detached, but that was to be expected, as he knew just as well as she did that there was still work to be done. Ah, yes - Dr. Widmher. He was right, she probably was the next target for whoever was running this horrible escapade. Janetta nodded in agreement, tucking the pistol back into the waistband of her jeans and clearing her throat.

"Right, but first, I want to take a closer look at these two. We might find something..." Looking over her shoulder for the receptionist, Janetta spoke as warmly as she could, knowing the poor bot must be nearly as freaked out as her human companions. "Kitt, could you... Could you please come and scan the gun for prints?"

Kitt, who had been lingering near the doorway, unwilling to archive what she already knew to be true, padded forward slowly. "Of course, Captain Pryce." Lix, the medbot that had lost its arm and consequently powered down, was enough of a sad thing to see. But she wasn't going to avoid her own duty, especially if it would help solve the mystery of who killed the Captain in seemingly cold blood. She came forward and joined Janetta near the bodies, scanning the area and the gun specifically for clues. After a few moments, Jan, who had crouched down to examine Benton's beaten figure more closely, heard Kitt from behind her. "The gun has Henry Burchill's fingerprints all over it, Captain," she reported, "It seems that he was the last person to have control over this pistol."

Janetta's confusion colored her face as she straightened up from her position over Benton, glancing momentarily in Ryobi's direction before she lowered herself between the gun and Burchill's body. With newly determined eyes, she scanned the scene, gaze trailing from the gun, to the holes in the man's head. Then, an idea came to her. She gently picked up one of his hands and examined it carefully, taking a minute before doing the same to the other one.

"Ito, look... Burchill's knuckles are bruised and bloody," she said, her voice low and steady. "That could just be a coincidence, an act of self-defense if someone else did come in here to kill them. But... Only Burchill's prints are on the gun. If someone else had been in here, why would they have left it? And- And those scratch marks on his face and neck? It looks like a struggle... To get him off." Her voice trailed away as she turned her head in order to find the officer and lock him in a gaze that urged him to catch on and finish her surely impossible thoughts.

neotokyo ⋮⋮ ネオトウキョウ

Phoebe Akiyama

^{Phoebe's style is contemporary casual; loose fitting shirts and pants that make it seem like she put effort into her outfits.
a wolf in sheep's clothing.}

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ＰＨＯＥＢＥ ＡＫＩＹＡＭＡ

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name.

Phoebe Mei Akiyama.

aliases.

- Phoebs _{It's a shortened version of her first name. Obviously.}
- Eury _{Her "work name".}

sex.

Female

age.

25

occupations.

- Manager at Tokyo Arcade

---

height.

5’7”

weight.

134 lb.

body type.

Slim, feminine, but toned. Sarah makes her run in the mornings.

strengths.

- Technologically savvy ^{| Hacking prodigy.}
- Psychology nerd ^{| Knows how to win people over with verbal + body language.}
- Resourceful + Conniving ^{| Evil schemes abound against those who threaten her.}
- Level headed ^{| Calculating + calm under pressure. Puts Sarah at ease.}

weaknesses.

- Sarah Takumi + Kotori Akiyama ^{| The two most important people in her life.}
- Physically weak ^{| Phoebe is incapable of defending herself in hand-to-hand.}
- Heights ^{| Phoebe has a fear of unreasonable heights.}

skills.

- Video gaming ^{| It's in her blood.}
- Multilingual ^{| English, Japanese, Spanish}
- Walking thesaurus ^{| She knows a lot of words. It can get annoying.}
- Handguns ^{| Phoebs is a sub-par shooter, taught by Sarah.}

---

---

personality.

Phoebe possesses a quiet confidence, one that doesn't need a strong physical prowess to alert everyone of her presence in a room. She's sweet and charming, able to win people over with a silver tongue and a seemingly innocent demeanor. Phoebe plays nicely until she doesn't get her way; and then she becomes your enemy with a smile on her face.

backstory.

Phoebe Mei Akiyama was born in Europe to a Japanese mother and a Spanish father who didn't stick around after the deed was done. Her mother had been abroad on some search for herself, trying to find some peace of mind (or something), and instead got pregnant. After learning of her pregnancy, Kotori Akiyama returned to Japan to be under the care of her family in Tokyo. Nine months later, Phoebe entered existence with that same quiet confidence that she possessed today.

An only child, she was spoiled by her grandparents, taught that she could have whatever she wanted. This mentality, mixed with a certain hunger to prove herself anyway, resulted in an abundance of toys and gifts, as well as a library filled with books she requested. Phoebe may have been overindulged as a child, but at least she made something of it; countless hours spent buried in books resulted in honors throughout her schooling, an expansive knowledge of random and useful topics, and eventually, the top position at the University of Tokyo in technology and computer sciences.

Phoebe had always been tech-savvy; it ran in her family. Her grandfather, also a technophile, owned an arcade near the University, and she was a magnet at his side whenever she wasn't in school or reading. As both she and her grandfather grew older, Phoebe began taking on more of the responsibilities of the arcade, and when he passed away, it was her turn to take care of his legacy. It was there that she met Sarah Takumi, the hot-headed and incredibly fascinating creature that she became taken with. She came out to her family, and while they disliked the idea of having a lesbian for their kin, they could never really say no to her. Much like Sarah, who - though originally opposed to the idea - agreed to marry her after a few years of living together.

Immediately following graduation from the University, someone had contacted Phoebe for her skills, offering money and security in exchange for embezzling money from banks or mixing the codes of some security in order to patch over a sketchy period of recording. Unable to say no to a challenge and opportunity like this, she signed on and began working for this mafia entity. Eventually Sarah found out about it, and signed on, as well.

Life was amazing for a while, with the two of them making plenty of money to live beyond comfortably. But a one-eighty could happen at any moment - something Phoebe took for granted - and it all went to shit after one job. A drunk client, sloppy and grotesquely unappealing, had called her in, which quickly turned into an attempted assault. Luckily, the asshole passed out from too much gin before he could do any real damage, but Phoebe's mind had been made from the minute he placed a dirty paw on her hip.

When she returned home to Sarah that night, tears were running down a face that had been stony just moments before she stepped through the doorway. Phoebe explained the incident and got Sarah nice and riled up, before gently proposing the plan she'd been brewing since she left the client's home. The next time she received a call from the scumbag, Phoebe came with a pleasant smile and offered him poisoned tea, courtesy of her wife. It worked; he was dead within a minute, and Phoebe had gotten her revenge. But karma was a bitch, and fucked with the hacking she had done to cover their trails through the camera systems. She could only guess that something had alerted security to an intruder in the systems, even though the cameras had gone offline.

Now she and her wife were on the run, and while there was a small voice inside of Phoebe that felt badly for ruining the life they'd had, the one shouting that it was worth it was much louder.

extra.

- Theme
- Although she can hide and survive well enough on her own, Phoebe is dependent on Sarah when it comes to their physical defense. The two are attached at the hip, and Phoebe wouldn't want it (or couldn't have it) any other way.
- She drinks a lot of tea and doesn't drive too often. Shocker.

Omega Station / Boop!

"If they're gone or incapacitated, that puts you in charge of this station, Jan."

Yet another fact that was not fully realized until Ryobi spoke it into existence. He was right, of course. If the Captain really was gone, she would assume his position and responsibilities. It just seemed silly to be thinking about distinctions in positions at a time like this, when her commanding officer could really be a lifeless body just a few feet away from her. She and the Captain were familiar in that weird way that happens when you work together as closely for as long as they have; they might have been able to pass for father and daughter to strangers. Janetta, not having had experience with one before, was reluctant to the relationship, but Burchill was persistent in his warmth, and eventually she simply allowed him to assume the roll of a sort-of step-dad.

A soft scoff pushed its way from her throat at his quip on the paperwork, before her expression slid back into concern. Steeling herself, Jan followed behind Ito out of the elevator, with Kitt just behind her. As they neared the corner, Ryobi and the warden pressed their backs against the wall, a general precaution to not knowing what would be around it. The sound had gotten louder the closer they got to the office, and its constant thudding seemed to be a slow interpretation of Janetta's current heart rate. The two looked at each other and shared a brief nod signaling green lights, before they took a breath and stepped out of cover, pistols snapping up at the ready.

Finally, the source of the sound revealed itself; ahead, in the doorway to the office, lay a dismembered robotic arm that was preventing the door from closing properly. Shhhhhrt, thud. Shhhhhrt, thud. Janetta's brow pulled itself forward into a furrow, and with her arms outstretched and pistol aimed at the white metal who's hand was facing them, glanced up at Ryobi. "What the hell...?"

Kitt, peeking out from behind them, put her hands over her mouth at the sight. "That's from a medbot," she stated as the two officers moved forward cautiously.

After realizing it really was dismembered and therefore rendered harmless for the time being, Janetta shared another knowing look with her officer as she moved toward the touch pad for print recognition to get the door open. Another nod, and Jan spread her fingers out onto the flat surface of the lock while Ryobi held his gun pointed into the room. The door opened and the thudding finally ceased, leaving them in silence to enter the office.

Whatever the two were expecting to find within the office, it wasn't this: The room was relatively dark, save for the flickering lights of monitors that seemed to have been smashed in. Books, tablets, papers, and other debris littered the floor, a mess that would not have stood if the Captain had been able to do something about it. There, off to the left, lay the rest of the medbot that might have been attached to the lonely arm in the doorway.

Further into the office, near the control center, were the two bodies - it didn't take too much inspection to realize that Kitt was right. Officer Benton's body was to their right; his leg looked bloodied and bandaged, but that could be assumed as the patchwork of the medbot from earlier. The rest of him, however, had been mauled and punched to a pulp - they two would have only recognized him from the name tag on his uniform. To their left, not too far from Benton, lay the Captain's body. He too looked beaten, with scratches on his face and neck. But the defining blow was a hole that went straight through his right temple and out of the other side. A pool of blood had formed around his head, and the gun that was probably used for the act lay somewhere between the two men.

Manor of Mysterious Puzzles and Assorted Doodads: An Escape the Mansion RP

Will marinate on a character tonight and post an app sometime tomorrow.

Omega Station / Boop!

"He's just not answering?" Janetta shook her head no, turning the device off and slipping it into her left back pocket. It wasn't a service problem. The call went through; there was simply no answer. This was definitely a red flag - Burchill never ignored a call, especially from what was technically his second-in-command when it came to the Prison Bay. And in a time like this, where he should be expecting contact at any moment, he would normally be responsive. It was just in his character to be on top of all responsibilities, and for him not to be spoke volumes as to the possible state of his being.

Suddenly, the tone in her officer's voice changed. Jan brought her attention to his face to see that it had darkened, almost as if it weren't really Ryobi anymore. It was strange, seeing her inner thoughts reflected there, as if he had been reading her mind. She had been so certain that she needed to keep composure to assure him that she was alright about all of this, but it was as if his enthusiasm about justice (as per what they probably both told themselves to conceal their true motivations) was giving her permission to express what she was in denial about. It probably wasn't the proper way to go about all of this, but Janetta embraced it anyway.

"Hell yeah, I'm coming. Let's get those fuckers."

The two of them took off in the direction towards Central, the spine of the station that held the Captain's Office. Kitt, having picked up on the change in their demeanors, followed along behind them with concern. If the Captain wasn't answering his comms device, it definitely wasn't a good sign. As she followed behind them, she tried her own radio system, but as it was on the same network as Ryobi's, it didn't work. Dutifully, she kept her scanners on, making sure to keep the two of her companions in sight as they moved.

The trio, careful to navigate their way towards the elevators, made their way there safely and without interruption. The two officers - very hyperaware and cautious - made sure to cover the camera system with a layer of the pepper spray, blurring their images in case anyone was actually watching the feeds. It was highly unlikely, but they couldn't be too sure. Two flights up, the doors of the elevator opened, and the party froze.

They couldn't see what was causing it, but it was immediately brought to their attention that the entire floor was silent but for a singular noise coming from around the corner. It was a repeated sound; a mechanical whir and then a thudding. It sounded like metal on metal, but they couldn't really be sure.

Kitt, already aware of what they needed of her, moved her attention beyond the corner, where the Captain's office was located. "Captain Burchill and Officer Benton are inside," she spoke lowly, and with a frowning intonation, "They're both on the floor, at the far end of the room. They don't appear to be moving, and their vitals are... They're dead. The Captain and Officer Benton appear to be dead." Now nervous, Kitt blinked and glanced at the two officers beside her. She hoped to whatever that her readings were wrong - maybe it was the distance that was screwing with her scanners?

Janetta had already reached behind her and slipped her pistol from its hiding place, holding it at the ready. She was watching Ryobi intensely, the noise from beyond the corner constant in her ears. "You ready?"

Omega Station / Boop!

Janetta, back to normal if not just a tad quieter than usual, followed Ryobi out of the showers and back to her office, where Kitt was waiting for them. Her backpack was in her hands, and the warden raised an eyebrow at it before assuming that Ito had gotten what he could've from her office and thrown it in there. Again, she was glad that at least one of them was being thorough.

"Are you alright, Warden Pryce?" Kitt asked, watching her intently as Ryobi took the backpack from her.

"I'm fine, Kitt, thank you. Sorry about the show. I hope you'll forgive me for my indecency." The robot promptly shook her head in reply. "Nothing to apologize for, Warden. I am just happy that you are safe now."

Feeling something pushed into her hands, Jan looked down to see that she had been handed her own pepper spray. She nodded at his statement, tucking the small canister into the front right pocket of her jeans. There was a part of her that felt like responding with: Fine, let those fuckers find us. We'll give them hell. But she merely cleared her throat and said, "Right."

Finally, he transferred the radio to her. It was a small, light blue, circular device with a touch screen that came to life as Janetta wrapped her hand around it. She gave him a final, quick nod as she pressed the icon on the screen that read Captain Burchill. The screen went yellow for a few seconds, before going black. "That's... weird," she muttered as she hung up the call. Ryobi would know that the Captain's face should have been staring back at them after the few seconds of yellow, and the fact that it went black meant there was no answer. Janetta tried again, pulling up the yellow screen before it again faded to black.

Her gaze moved to Ryobi for his reaction, a furrowed brow and a quick lick of her lips showing her own apprehension. "No answer." She turned back towards their robot companion. "Kitt, no one's contacted you from the Captain's office, have they?" The receptionist shook her head no, and Jan sucked at her teeth for a moment of thought. "What are you thinking?" Her attention returned to her officer. "I think we should go check this out. Whatever we find in there... We need to know what's going on with the Captain."