endgames | 037 -- [Voice

[With Naruto MIA (and if he's being experimented on, he hopes his pal fries the Rogues good in the process), Shikamaru can't afford to cut out at the convenience store, much as he wants to. He takes the morning shift, debating whether he should look into hiring more people again, before finding his journal returned to him halfway in.

Yeah, returned. Don't ask. ...it got eaten, okay. Don't ask.

Later in the day, when he's off, he decides to mark the occasion.]

[Voice]

Congratulations, Luceti. As of today, it's been a year since TERRACE, and so a year since this village's seen a draft. They've been happening less and less frequently, but that's a record even for us. [Which is a good thing, if you can't tell from how pleased he sounds.]

Speaking about misconceptions... Let's play a game. Pretend I'm a New Feather here, freshly arrived and working on the half-naked problem. A couple dozen people have explained the thing about the wings, don't worry, but I still have no idea how I got here, or where 'here' is.

How do you explain the situation? What's the first thing you tell me about the world, or the Malnosso? If you don't feel comfortable saying it on the journals, you can find me at the playground if you want to say it in person. Any of you who've been here for less than two years, I'd be interested in your response especially.

[/end]

[True to his word, Shikamaru will be at the playground all afternoon, hogging the roundabout while school's still in session and begrudgingly giving it up when the kids are out for a spot in the sand. He'll have his journal and a separate notepad with him, scribbling in both.

When the sun goes down, he'll hang out for a little while longer for latecomers before calling it a day and going to the bar. He has no intention of getting sloshed, but he'll stick around long enough to have some fun and knock back more than a few.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Indeed. It's been too long since we've had a real success there, but hopefully that recent breakthrough will come through for us.

Would you like to meet me later and check on it's progress?

I'm game. When you going?

Sometime later in the afternoon... around half-past four or so, depending on when I wrap up my other errands.

Haa... I said I'll be here all day, but I can leave a sign. The "come back in an hour" variety, or something like that.

That could work. Or if all else, you do have your entry. If you get a bunch of angry notes wondering where you've disappeared to, you're welcome to pop back up here.

Fair point. I'll meet you in a while, then?

Yes. I should be heading back, anyway. [She has a bit more free time to talk after recess on Thursday due to it being a Music day, but that doesn't mean she should dawdle too much.] See you later.

[And she'll be at the well-entrance a little earlier than planned, so she'll shoot him a note about that. Besides, with the walk down to that secret area, better to get there early anyway. So closer to 4 after all.]

Edited 2014-04-04 05:22 (UTC)

[It's a good point. He tells her he'll be along - he ended up getting someone to talk to, but he leaves as early as he can as well. Quickness comes with being a ninja, though, so he makes good time.]

Hope you weren't waiting long.

It's nothing to worry about; I grabbed a few extra snacks from the Bakery for the walk.

Cool. [He'll walk over to stand by her then. I'm assuming they're at the computer?]

[She types a few things into the console as he approaches. The old computer screen seems to be running progress codes. It's a lot further along than it had been the last time they checked.]

The estimated time before the next door opens still seems to be fluctuating, but it's all moving in a positive direction now that we've worked out the script errors.

It's about time.

[He opens his mouth, only to exhale lightly instead of mentioning the joke on the tip of his tongue. Tony and Daisy sure picked a fine time to leave.]

Even if it means now we need to be ready for when it finishes, so we can do it all over again. Third time's the charm, huh?

Indeed. Though now that I've observed most of it for myself, I don't think we'll run into that same error again. Though we should come down here more regularly to be sure, just in case. We should also get Vash to take a few shifts again.

I'll talk to him, next time I see him.

[Which will be later today, luckily enough.]

I'll mention it to him as well. He helps out at Azalea, so it's convenient. [She looks back over at the screen.] It'll be good to have some fresh progress again... provided that there is anything useful behind the door.

[Given it's the one she had wanted open initially, it would be disappointing if not. But anything was a possibility.]

At this point, I'm convinced any of it is open game. Of all of them, the last door should've been a dead end - it probably would have if not for the good doctor.

Her bones confirms at least one thing: there are those who had access to this place even after it's secrets were scrubbed. She might not have been the only one who had the same idea.

Or the only one caught in the shift, as evidenced by the initial skeleton. But you're right, of course. We learned a lot from an attempt that seemed best made on a whim at best. Now it's only a matter of time... [She frowns, trying to see if she could find a more accurate gauge of time from that loading bar, to no avail.]

[He looks down the hall, in the direction of where those rooms lie.]

Think we should poll the others for what door to open next, or wait until Archives is cracked?

We might as well wait and do it at once. There's a chance what we find - or don't find - can have an influence on our next decision.

Fair point.

Speaking of that though, that last room we opened has made me wonder if maybe we should be checking someplace else while we wait.

We should always be mindful of where we poke around, but where else did you have in mind?

Those ruins in the mountain. The laboratory.

There was nothing of use there when we examined it. But you were able to find this place in the tunnels from a special item given on one of your missions, correct?

[He nods.] That's right. It belonged to Precis. Since she's no longer here, I can tell you what it was. It was a pair of sunglasses Specialist Davis rewarded her with. Shifts become visible when wearing them.

I see... and do we know if these glasses are still in the enclosure?

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