speakveryclearly | OFFICE BUILDING INFILTRATION

They're in Tokyo. Season 49 of Murder Manor has just finished airing and there are some difficulties in preparing the DVD distribution on account of the numerous references Chiaki Nanami made to popular copyrighted Nintendo games. Kaoru is pretending to be the representative from Nintendo who has come to the Murder Manor office building: as a Japanese guy in a nice suit he is pretty convincing. He does various shady things which are left to your discretion; I'm not sure if this is supposed to be all in one day or multiple days and if he kills other people in the meantime.

Kanaya is not personally infiltrating the building because she saves her disguises for emergencies. (People have learned to look for a woman wearing a really huge hat and absolutely ridiculous amounts of foundation.) So during this part of time they're just in contact snarking about the mission via text message or headset phone.

THE CLIMACTIC REUNION: Kaoru is convincing the highest-ranking final target to come with him to the rooftop for a completely routine helicopter ride. Kanaya is in the helicopter. When the high-ranking person gets into the helicopter, they do not expect Kanaya to be in there with gloves and strangle them with their own necktie, which she subsequently makes appear to have gotten caught in some machinery. This is because they crash the helicopter as this person is so high-ranking they need to have seemingly died in a normal way as opposed to being obviously supermurdered.

Kaoru and Kanaya jump out of the helicopter before it crashes of course. Kanaya was never officially there; Kaoru's nintendo guy persona was presumed to have already left the building. Then Kaoru hotwires a car while Kanaya starts typing up the notes he stole or something.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[JUST ASSUMING WE'RE STARTING FROM THE TOP?! HERE IS KAORU, they've probably been in the process of infiltration for at least a day. it can be a two-day mission and he's on a lunch break right now, day two, THE DAY SHIT GOES DOWN.

has he murdered anyone in the interim?? quite possibly! but wow, no one's found out about it yet. no one seems to have caught on at all, thankfully, likely due to a combination of glorious makeup expertise and a lot of practice with portraying himself as a different person even down to the smallest of physical tics and signals. he's very careful to monitor himself in front of his peers, and his character is at least reclusive enough to take lunch breaks alone (a carefully planned part of his disguised role so he'd have some time to himself).

so here he sits, in his usual hidey-hole for the lunch hour, and in the same way he did yesterday he'll turn his wireless headset on and set it for Kanaya's number. he knows she should be en route right about now... whenever she answers, she'll be greeted with an amiable-sounding:]

On your way?

Yes, there's been no traffic.

[Nothing airing today with aerial shots, thank goodness. Unlike some venues where fear of vampires keeps Kanaya's mouth less than half open, she speaks bright and crisp, eagerly compensating for the background noise of the chopper. Maybe they should requisition a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, because this mode of travel has no other downsides; authorities look for helicopters far less often, all of her comrades are with her by audio without taking up space in the base or racking up a disposable cell phone bill, and the dystopian landscape almost looks nice from up here. Any slums are out of sight, far beyond this skyline full of towers with objectively good architecture.]

Are we looking at a post-lunch meeting or a mid-afternoon meeting?

Good.

[in regard to the lack of traffic, that is. travel is always a real fright to deal with since there's always a risk of being caught on film and recognized even in a disguise. they've had some close calls with that sort of thing before, but luckily nothing that can't be dealt with...

but he prefers days like this vastly, where the threat isn't present at all.]

Hm... Mid-afternoon, I think. They're surprisingly lax about the meeting times here. The business in Tokyo really hasn't changed much, has it? [even though this has been his home for years, he still has a tendency to refer to it as something else when he speaks. but it's clear by now though that he doesn't actually feel it's separated from him.]

I'm glad this is ending soon. We should go out to lunch tomorrow to celebrate, all right?

That sounds like a great opportunity to finally appreciate the seasonal scenery... the hours tend to keep on ticking away. [She says with well-chosen giseigo; she has to stay in practice if they're going to be facing down the dreaded airport again. The language will never be the medium for her deadliest tongue-lashings, but then again, that's not really English either. Some things about Japanese life make more sense to her than the glitz of America, such as the common identification with simply enumerated Interests. The tendency towards a sedate working atmosphere, on the other hand, was completely baffling. Any completely native familiarity is a permanent thing of the past. Her profession is an acquired taste, and she's happy enough this way, playing the room by ear trained on the job.]

Oh, and while you were in there, Poland came up with a new joke. The setup is: why was that robotic season 39 contestant removed?

Don't they? But I'd really like that, anyway. Food tastes terrible when you're in a cramped space while eating it. [what he really means to say is that Japanese phrase that seems to have popped into popularity recently; food tastes better when you eat it with the one (ones, in his very lucky case) you like. he's grown accustomed to sharing private, cozy meals with his favorite people and loud, boisterous ones in the company of all 19 of his companions. eating in a quiet office space is something he doesn't like much at all.

she might be able to hear the sounds of him shifting a little - the crinkle of a wrapper as he opens whatever packaged meal he's eating today.]

Oh? I don't know, why was that contestant removed?

Because her handler got the axe!

[YEAH.... YEAH. Kanaya's awful excuses for jokes sound better when people who tolerate her are there to listen.]

This data should be really helpful. I'm resigned to never understanding how those people think without detailed resources, especially if they're going forward with the audience-producer selection hybrid ranking system.

[HE TOLERATES HER, AT LEAST... he also thinks that awful jokes are the best and he laughs even though thAT'S TERRIBLE.]

Tell Poland that one's a good one. He should keep it. [kaoru no]

Well, they've still managed to make a mess even without their detailed resources. But I'll be glad to get this done and over with. We can hand the data off to Stiles right away and leave it with him; they'll puzzle over it. [BECAUSE HE'S TAKING A BREAK AS SOON AS HE GETS OUT.]

[This is such a great system they have, where members of the crew can take turns performing dangerous tasks. It's a good thing they're never going to pin all the heavy lifting on Kaoru and Stiles for months at a time]

Is there any decryption involved with this set? [I guess she will probably be doing either that, translation, or encryption in the car when they are done] Or just particular exhaustive contemplation of how disgusting human nature can be.

[it sure is, he'll enjoy the assured continuation of their switch-off system which will definitely last forever.]

A little decryption. They're getting more cautious, I think. [but with the way he says it, he clearly still doesn't view them as a threat in this particular regard.] So we'll have plenty of time to have a good laugh over their collective grossness once we're back in the car. I'll even let you start this round with the witty quips!

You will? Oh, Kaoru, you are too kind to me.

[She really never gets used to this sincere, freely offered camaraderie. A few seconds later the chopper noises in the background start to cut out.]

Okay, I'm landing soon, after that I'll have to kill the battery; the supply of fuel is limited. Ping me when you're up here.

I only do what I can. [there's a lilting tease in his tone, though, and he perks up a little on his end when he hears the chopper noises diminish.]

I'll let you know. I'll try to move quickly, all right? Or as quickly as I can under these circumstances.

Good. Slow and steady wins the race as usagi to kame learned the hard way. [They know that story damn well after multiple years of this shit. She's said it as shellfiend to the hopdemon before.] Just don't break a nail.

[An inside joke. With this she cuts out.

A couple hours later in mid-afternoon she cuts back in. The chopper is much louder now due to the delicate, partially preprogrammed autopilot orientation their new proximity demands.]

On your way? If you can't talk tap your foot once for yes and twice for no.

[that has him laughing - both the inside joke and the little saying that's adapted with time along with them.]

That won't be a lesson soon forgot. Anyway, I won't. [AND OFF THEY GO back to their separate businesses. which, for Kaoru, entails a lot of boring deskwork and equally boring interactions with dull, bland people.

when she calls back, she'll hear a pause on his end for a second and then the distinct noise of one singular tap. ON HIS WAY FRIEND he's just not in the stairwell quite yet. when he does finally get there, she'll hear him heave a sigh.]

Good thing that's all done and over with.

OFFICE BUILDING INFILTRATION

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