[open] i don't have a clever title like haki's but whatever

[reveilation]

i. 7/17 (bgm)
[ How did this happen...

Kido loves cats. She really does. But she does not like this one specific cat chasing after her with a knife in its mouth and unrelentingly following her for the past four blocks. Is this karma for not stopping on the street to give it head scratches?? ]

Ugh, stop it!

[ She turns on her heels to confront the cat, stomping her feet on the ground in an effort to scare it into dropping the knife or running away, but all the cat does is prance closer and make stabby moves at her ankles. ]

Drop it right now, cat! You're going to trip and hurt yourself and—

[ slice up her ankles, cool cool cool ]

ii. 7/18-7/21
[ Anywhere around town or the outskirts near the forest or the lake, maybe you're out here enjoying some quiet and alone time watching the crows fly overhead, and then all of the sudden something falls from the sky and it's not quiet and alone anymore and Kido appears out of thin air holding her head and screaming at the sky.

This just sort of happens throughout the next couple of days, an unusual number of crows circling the town and Kido suddenly appearing where there definitely was nobody standing there before, trying to fend off things falling from the sky. Some of them are cool, like an mp3 player or a charger cord, but then there's also an umbrella and after that, Kido starts carrying that around to protect her head from falling objects. It sort of helped with the dartboard except that was really heavy and still hurt, and the three darts that accompanied it punctured the umbrella and now it's useless in the rain.

Another crow lands on her shoulder and drops a stack of bills amounting to ¥10,000 onto her lap. ...The bills get stuffed into her pocket and this crow gets a head pat before it flies off.

But not this last one, who keeps trying to deliver Kido a pair of glasses that she immediately turns and yeets into the middle of the lake. The crow flies over and plucks it out of the water and brings it back before Kido can run away. Maybe it thinks they're playing fetch. Kido does not want this. ]

iii. 7/17-7/22, Lockdown
[ The only reprieve that Kido gets from the weirdly aggressive animals in the town is during Lockdown, when the only birds she has to worry about are the Shadows overhead. Unlike her first few days here, she's much less scared of them than before— not that she's gotten any better or more confident at fighting, but because she does not need to. ]

Hey, let's team up.

[ She makes this request at the school gates, a key swinging on her finger. No more hopping fences. ]

I can guarantee you that we can walk through to the end of this place without being noticed or attacked. If you want to fight, I can guarantee the first strike. But either way, I need others around to discuss what we should do.

[ It's late into the month. Everybody else in the town seems to have slowed to a crawl, this place has not disappeared yet, and a there's also that gate at the very end that they can't get through. They have to do something about this. ]

wc.
[ Contact me at birdseed for anything you need!

For prompt iii: this can be either a one-on-one thread, or a group of two characters + Kido! Essentially she's getting them through the dungeon by using her canon ability to make them unable to be heard or seen, and then leeching off their kills bc her Persona has growth 3 and can gain experience doing nothing haha ]

Comments

[16lab]

[ wow what is this diss.......

RO gently puts the cat down. It must have been uncomfortable being in that position, even though it was being petted by Kido. Also, she's not sure if she wants to know what is the strangest thing there is, but. She's curious. ]

Has there been worse? It sounds like a potential hazard. Are there no security protocols for things like this?

[ WHY IS EVERYONE SO CASUAL ABOUT THIS ]

[reveilation]

[ She likes apple pie, it's fine!!!

The cat runs away the moment it's set free, probably to go raid another store for its kitchen knives. ]

Security protocol, huh? If that cat had an owner, there would be somebody responsible for looking after them and prevent this sort of thing. This place just has so many strays...

[ Which she's trying to make out to be a bad thing, but it's hard to hold back a smile. Cat village, hell yeah. ]

[16lab]

Are you telling me that stray cats have a real possibility to carry a knife and attack humans...?

[ what the fuck ]

This place is strange... I wonder if there will be more incomprehensible things thrown my way. [ She needs to be prepared. But first. ]

Ah, your ankle... I can escort you to the local hospital if you have trouble walking. I don't have any first aid kits on me.

[reveilation]

[ She's pretty sure she's seen youtube videos of dogs carrying around swords and birds carrying around knives, so this is a very real possibility, yeah. ]

Like I said, it isn't the strangest thing... [ She sighs and looks down at her ankle, walking a couple of paces to test her weight on her foot. They're superficial cuts, and she'll have to throw out her socks, but it's not bleeding all that much and it stings more than it hurts. ]

Thanks, but I'll probably just get this washed and wrapped. Do you work at the hospital? People don't normally carry around first aid kits.

[ It'd be smart, though! gestures at all the times Kido probably could've used a first aid kit, and not on herself ]

[16lab]

I'm a combat tactical doll, so I normally would not carry one around either. [ She's not sure, since she doesn't feel her combat core anymore, but she'll say that anyway. ] However, seeing as to how many humans are around, I'm starting to think it would be better idea to have one on me just in case.

[ Even if it feels weirdly peaceful... she still hasn't gotten used to that yet. ]

[reveilation]

[ Kido stops short, right i the middle of a step and turns to look at RO ]

You're a what?

[ Correction: the strangest thing that she's seen or heard her entire time here might just as well be "combat tactical doll" ]

[16lab]

A combat tactical doll.

[ A long blink. ]

Or perhaps you're more acquainted with the term "T-Doll" instead?

[reveilation]

No... The dolls I'm familiar with are children's playthings, small toys made of cloth or plastic, not— [ she pauses, and her voice ends in a rising, questioning lilt ] human?

[16lab]

Oh.

[ Here's where she would say it's a common mistake, except... it isn't. Not when humans feared T-dolls and could spot one right away, but. Right. She no longer has her SMG in possession. ]

I'm not sure how I would be able to give immediate proof without injuring myself, seeing that there aren't any repair bays nearby.

[ Though, rest assured, she won't be hurting herself. ]

[reveilation]

Uh.

[ ...She doesn't get it. But you know what? She also doesn't care; for all Kido can tell, RO is like Konoha, who she can't fully understand and is not quite sure is human either, but it also doesn't matter, because they're friends. ]

No, there's no need to prove anything. You said you were a combat... tactician? [ She doesn't want to say doll... ] If that's the case, I need to ask: have you stayed up until midnight before, and seen something strange?

[ All the lights and the people in the world disappearing, she means, but just in case RO isn't aware, Kido doesn't want to make it out as if she's talking nonsense. ]

[16lab]

Yes...

[ She starts to say, feeling unsure. ]

Something like moving shadows? I don't believe it had a solid form. The world went dark after and I woke up the next morning somewhere else.

[ ... ]

Is this normal too?

[reveilation]

Not... really. No.

[ ...Kido's never had that happen to her, because unlike some of Haki's characters, she never stuck around too long to get killed by a Shadow and knocked out for the rest of the night.

But that doesn't matter! Because if RO was able to see the Shadows, then she should be able to deal with the Shadows inside the school! Hopefully! Without getting knocked out again. Actually, Kido isn't sure how strong RO really is, if she got beaten by one of the Shadows; she can still hope. ]

Have you been to the school during that time? There are things in there that it'd be really helpful for a lot of us if you could take care of. You won't be there alone, and with more eyes, they won't be able to get the jump on any of us.

[16lab]

[ Look..... what else can you do when you wake up in the middle of nowhere and there's hurricane winds blowing... ]

I actually got here recently. Is there some suspicious activity going on in that school? Please tell me more about it.

[reveilation]

[ You can turn around and go back to sleep, which is what Ryoji maybe did. ]

It'd be a lot easier to show you... but essentially, there are monsters inside. I don't know too much about them, or how many there are, but if they're coming out onto the streets and attacking people, that's not a good thing, either.

[16lab]

Monsters?

[ She never had to deal with those before, but they sound like a threat to people from what Kido's saying, so her programming picks it up faster that this is something she must do.

... Though there's a problem. ]

Unfortunately, it seemed that my gun was taken from me, as well as my combat core. I may not be as useful as I was in the frontlines, but I believe I still have tactical abilities to command a group, should it ever come to that.

[reveilation]

[ That does something to reassure Kido, but what good is a commander when all their troops are inexperienced children? ]

Being able to organize everybody and give directions would be helpful. It's more than what we've got right now, anyways. Can you use other things besides a gun? Axes or swords?

[16lab]

[ Cetana is truly a coming of age genre with all these kids around...

RO shakes her head no. ]

No, but I can always learn. But perhaps you can answer this question for me. [ She gets out her own omamori, labeled RO635 with JUSTICE embroidered into it. ]

Are the situation and this item linked somehow? I can't think of why I would come to possess it otherwise.

[reveilation]

[ Give the kids back their childhoods, half of them just escaped from a murdergame and they don't deserve this. ]

Yes, they're linked, but I don't know the full details of that yet, either.

[ She pulls her omamori out of her pocket too: KIDO, and EMPEROR stitched into the cloth in bright gold. ]

It's much easier inside the school at night, but these... well. It would also be easier to show you. Can I meet you at the school gates tonight, Rob...ess? [ Shes's squinting at the omamori trying to figure out how to pronounce her name, the last three letters are pretty stylized compared to the first two. ]

[16lab]

RO635.

[ She follows up easily, spelling out each letter and number because that's how it's pronounced. ]

... I'm also fine with RO if that's too long to say. [ She spells that out too, like are-oh. She's assuming that everyone here is a civilian of some sort anyway, even if this whole weird situation popped up. ]

And yes, we can meet at the school gates.

[reveilation]

[ Given the out, Kido takes it, nodding in agreement. ]

My name's Kido. I'll be at the gate a little before midnight, since I don't want to run into any monsters on the way there. But I'll see you tonight, RO.

[16lab]

That sounds like a good idea. I will meet you then.

[ Aaaaand fast forward! It's a little before midnight, and as promised, RO makes her way to the school gate. She's used to night ops, so the darkness doesn't bother her much when it's normal, but it being pitch black? She'd probably need a flashlight drone or something. ]

Hello, Kido. Everything seems normal so far.

[reveilation]

[ It would probably be a very good idea to have a flashlight, if only the lights wouldn't work during Lockdown despite being battery powered, but fire works? If they never feel it's necessary to carry old school torches around. Kido just bypasses the darkness problem completely by being there early enough that there's still some light by the time the world is plunged into darkness at midnight, waving to RO when she arrives and giving her a thin lipped smile because ha ha! "so far." ]

Yeah... I'm going to spoil things for you and say that it won't last. The first thing we'll encounter is a maze; if we push through it, it'll attract monsters, if that's how you want to do it. Otherwise, we can do the maze properly and fight only when we need to. I'm here to be backup either way.

[16lab]

[ She'll just take that info in, process it, and nods. ]

Of course. It's best to reserve our strength for something when we really need it. Doing the maze properly sounds like the better plan, even if it will take longer, but I assume there isn't any dire time limit?

[reveilation]

I'm not sure. I try not to stay too long if I can help it, or I won't be able to make it back out.

[ She's not one of those people who fight until she collapses and wakes up at the school later, so it's just been an hour every night she decides to come. That saves energy in the long run, and Kido's glad that RO feels the same about, as she steps towards the door to push it open. ]

The stairs lead down; watch your step.

[16lab]

Thank you.

[ She's watching her steps and it's... really dark now. Huh. Maybe if she was a handgun-type, she could see better at night, but there's nothing like that here. She feels around for the walls and slowly makes her way down. ]

How long have you been at this?