realityshifted | 001 - A Bad Day For Everyone

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darker than black (da) misaki hirihara

001 - A Bad Day For Everyone

[Misaki Kirihara appears on the plane looking very, very pissed. Her Sig P230 is unholstered and leveled at…

…no one.]

Tch.

[She lowers the weapon, very slightly, taking in her surroundings. Or rather, the lack thereof.]

Contractor!

[She turns in a slow circle, tension wrapped around her like a creaking spring.]

Contractor! Show yourself. You’re being stupid. Using your power on a member of the NPA will get you killed. It isn’t worth the laugh.

[A pause. She’s starting to get angry again.]

Show yourself!

[She looks up, down, around at the stars, and a pained expression crosses her face. Barely audible, she mutters,]

You people… know how to be cruel.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Total suspicion; she has it.]

British... Familiar with the name November 11?

Not at all. I'm from the Manchester, 1973. [frowns slightly] Though...

Pardon me, what I said bears explaination. This area serves as a nexus point for various worlds - that includes different points in times. It sounds unbelievable, I know, but that's because it is unbelievable. That doesn't make it untrue.

It looks like a mirage from the Gate, to me. [The metaphorical spines are out]

I'm quite used to the unbelievable truth at this point. You're with the police, you said. I've not heard of unit 1973. What's their specialization?

The year 1973. A.D. I'm in Manchester's Criminal Investigation Department, A Division, under Deputy Chief Inspector Gene Hunt and Superintendant Rathbone.

...You mentioned the Gate. Do you know Li?

Li...? Li, Li Shenshun?

1973?

That would be the one. He's been able to get here before you did. [mildly] But if you're from the same place he's from, I reckon you'll enjoy the stars.

Yes, 1973. As I said, people from all different worlds, all different times. There's a girl here from Japan, 2026, but her world hasn't gone through anything to do with your world's Gates. Mu's world has living clothes, the three Doctors are all on different planets...

And I would appreciate it if you'd lower that gun.

[She does so, if only because she's getting a headache.]

You're from 1973. Of course, no Gates. You know Li. Because he's here. As is a girl from 2026, someone with living clothes, and doctors who work on other planets. [She presses the heel of her palm against her eye. Must... assimilate information... within. known. parameters.]

Not 'doctors.' 'The Doctors.' They're all the same person. Alien time travellers who take on new bodies-

[it does occur to him that this isn't helping the new person understand, so he stops]

It doesn't get much easier to understand, but you get used to it. You can go home just by thinking it; you might be better off resting there a bit before coming back. All you have to do to get back here is think that, too.

[She looks around, wary, but with a flicker of something else behind it. Lonliness, maybe?]

And if I don't want to come back?

[She realizes there's a bit of politeness that she's forgotten about.]

Section-Chief Misaki Kirihara, Public Security Bureau foreign affairs section four. [Returns the badgeflash with a practiced motion]

Technically, you don't have to. You'll probably find yourself coming back. There are benefits to this place; time stops back home while you're here. I get all the paperwork done here. Mostly because there's never any time between fieldwork and what the Guv fondly terms 'beer o'clock.'

[a slight grimace, indicating his opinion of 'beer o'clock']

Aside from that, sometimes events happen. Events connected to this place - to Lapis, Lazuli, and Meredith. Monsters eating bits of your world, waking up in someone else's world... it's good to keep in touch with the other people here. Though I'm obliged to note that there are some very dangerous, cruel people here, dangerous in a manner probably unfamiliar to you.

Good to meet you, Section-Chief Kirihara.

[Bit of a sardonic smile.] How did you know about the stars? Li told you? And who is 'the Guv?'

[Her expression darkens, both at the thought of monsters nibbling on Tokyo and at the mention of the dangerous and cruel. How much she should say is still up in the air--as is how much he seems to know.]

How did you meet Li-san, exactly?

Ah-- good to meet you, as well.

Li's said a bit about them. He has a telescope, actually, for stargazing here. 'Guv,' short for 'governor,' is how teams in Manchester refer to their DCI. Well, did up into the 70's, at least. They never used it when I was a DCI. So my Guv is DCI Gene Hunt.

I don't know if I remember. Was it through Fumie? I might've fed him - no, I know I fed him. I just don't remember if that's the first time I met him. Might've been when I was doing some research into reality changes. Probably that.

[She nods, thoughtful.] So, you aren't from the 1970s originally, then. How did you end up there? Someone was talking about reality switches--are they permanent, with some people?

[There's a fond flicker of a smile, but she shakes her head, as though to banish it.]

How well do you know him? Has he been here long?

...You know, I have to be a bit more careful with my words. Back in 73, everyone just shrugs it off when I talk like that. But no, I ended up there by independant means. [a pause, and as an afterthought] Realities have been known to merge, though. It's possible that one reality could completely take over another one.

I know him well enough to know that he keeps secrets. He's been here two months or so. It's hard to tell, here.

[She does NOT like the sound of that. Darkly,] You make it sound as though it hasn't happened yet--a complete takeover--but you think that it's possible? How does a merging of realities work?

[She smiles dryly at his phrasing.] Are you fishing, Detective Inspector?

All that Meredith Sault said on the matter was 'closeness.' That seems to mean honesty and shared time between two people. The individuals involved usually are friends, but given that the reality I share with the Guv's done some merging with someone we both happen to hate, I'd say affection isn't necessarily in the equation. It would not be unreasonable to assume someone could learn the system and use it to the purpose of takeover.

Are you trying to gauge how much I know so you don't have to reveal any more than that, Section-Chief?

[Bad, bad thoughts. If someone intelligent enough from this place were to get inside the Gate...] I see.

[She bursts out laughing.] Yes, Detective-Inspector, I suppose I am.

As I said, it hasn't happened yet. I don't know if it can happen. But it's something to be careful of.

[grins] Then I have to admit that fishing is in my repertoire. Not that I was. It would be prety obvious as fishing.

I will keep in mind that your skills are more subtle.

How did you end up here?

Here? [waves a hand to indicate the Plane] Same way as everyone else, I'd reckon. Walked into the shop that'd never been there before, spoked to the strange woman in a hood, and woke up here.

[Scratches her head.] So that's a constant then. What about them, the Twins and that woman? Do you know anything about them?

I don't know much about Ms Sault. I work for Lapis and Lazuli. [frowns] I wouldn't suggest that you trust them entirely. To give you an example of their character: they like me, and thus tricked me into becoming their shop boy so I could pay off a debt for something they would've done anyway. They're about business when it comes down to it, so expect deals and trades and the like.

Marvelous. They sound horribly entertaining.

What, if you don't mind my asking, was it that they tricked you into paying for?

My DCI died because of one of the people here. I wanted him back.

You wanted him back.

[She does not like where this is going. She does not want to believe where this is going. She is reconsidering the possibility of her own insanity.]

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