jigokucho | EMBER 3.1 - A Social App for Lost Souls! [Sept. Substory OVERFLOW]

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EMBER 3.1 - A Social App for Lost Souls! [Sept. Substory OVERFLOW]

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The EMBER Application icon flashes alive on the homescreen of all the Lost Soul devices across Jigoku-cho.

An Update has just been installed, welcome to EMBER 3.1!

BUGFIXES & UPDATES
-Increased stability and quicker performance.
-Improved accuracy of [various] data tracking.
-EMBER Go! increase in spawn points throughout the city.
-WARNING added; "If USERS trespass upon any part of the city they are not allowed in order to collect characters, do be quick about it.
(EMBER is not liable for injury nor legal troubles which may be incurred.)"

-Helper NPC: YDRIS, added to help users within EMBER, Go!
-YDRIS can be set to automatically feed and pamper collected "Little Lost Souls™".
(This feature costs Dragon Coins at an hourly rate.)

-CAPTCHA Temporarily disabled.

Please see the ORIGINAL EMBER 3.0 post for full information.
Thank you.

-EMBER Support Team

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(Use squared Image for best profile template fit!)

FUCK ✓ / FIGHT ✕ / CHILL O HTML
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-This is an OVERFLOW for EMBER posting!
-Please post fresh profiles and link back to previous threads/start new threads on THIS post.
-EMBER is intended to last through to NOVEMBER before another full update to 4.0. SO, do not be shy about reposting here to dodge CAPTCHA! If I need to keep making these, I guess I will...

PER MODERATION: "As the ember post reaches captcha, we will still accept threads for rewards that get the rest of their comments off-post, even if it's an inbox. so long as they start on the ember post, it's fine"

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Great, see you then.

[He eventually does send the address, but nothing more. As a proper gentleman, he of course arrives a little early. He's in his whole mastermind getup, cape and makeup and all. When he spots the other, he gives a polite bow, expression level.]

You found this place alright, I see. [A little smirk.] Didn't get lost in the hustle and bustle? How nice.

[Heizou himself is right on time, his slight frame emerging from the bustle of the street with nary a hair out of place. He lays eyes on the other man and seems to know instinctively that this is certainly the person he's waiting for, approaching with a bold grin and returning the polite bow when he gets closer.]

I'm sure there will be plenty of time for getting lost another day. [He says, his voice as light as his apparent attiude.] But I had somewhere important to be. Besides, I have a feeling I wouldn't have had too much trouble finding you either way.

[He looks Moriarty up and down, taking in the whole look he has going on.]

Not with such a dashing getup waiting for me.

[Oh, he's shorter than expected - Moriarty glances down with a raised eyebrow. So this is the detective they call "Cyclone", huh. Red hair. a flippant attitude...]

Don't flatter yourself. This outfit is not for the likes of your eyes alone. But you may appreciate it, all the same.

[He lets out a little huff, eyes narrowed in slight amusement.]

Now then. Shall we move on? Lunch awaits.

I fully intend to appreciate it. [The detective shoots back with a cheeky wink and a small gesture of one hand. Of course he's not so full of himself to think this is just for him, but it does tell him a few things about the kind of person he's dealing with here.

Curiouser and curiouser.]

To lunch, then. I've been eagerly anticipating getting to know you better. So far I'm not disappointed.

I would say the same thing. You're an intriguing one, detective.

[Ah, saying it like that...that's really very "criminal mastermind" of him. Well, its not that he minds it, really - its always nice to have a challenge, rather than let the mind stagnate and rot.]

[He strides over to a waiter, asking for a table, and they're brought over to a nice little booth. Moriarty does have to sweep back his cape to not get it caught up too much on the seat underneath him (he doesn't want it crumpled) but pulls a menu to himself, glancing over at Heizou with those dark, empty eyes.]

What's your poison?

[As he follows he takes in everything about the place around them, including a few choice details about the other patrons of the cafe before they sit. Heizou waits politely until the other man has himself situated with his cape before he takes his own seat with an easy flourish.]

My poison?

[He rests his chin on one curled hand, looking across the table indulgently at his companion. There's a light in his eyes like someone in the middle of working out a puzzle, or seeing the way they might win a chess game in the next three moves.]

Since you have the advantage of familiarity, could I impose upon you to choose something for me?

Impose? Hardly. I would be glad to make that choice.

[It does feel like a chess match, in a way. First pawn set out. Response matched with a knight. He's cool as ice, expression not even shifting as his eyes flit to the menu. A moment later, he hails the water, and pushes himself up slightly, gloved hand hiding his mouth as he murmurs into his ear.]

[That being done, he settles back in his seat, smiling over at the other man.]

There. I've ordered for the both of us. Let it be a surprise.

Edited (me like i think i can word) 2022-09-18 14:29 (UTC)

I love surprises.

[There's not a flicker on his face to make it seem that he's put out by Moriarty taking over the whole thing. Hadn't he all but invited it? Besides, every little thing the man does tells him something else about him.

And what an interesting man he is, so far.]

So, do tell... why this keen interest in detectives?

I find detectives to be fascinating people. Devoting your life to a cause where one must swoop in on the crimes of humanity, illuminate all in an instant, and track down shrewd minds that want to hide in darkness...

[He settles back in the chair, pressing his fingertips together, hands resting in his lap.]

Not anyone is made to be that kind of person.

No, no... not everyone is.

[Heizou had not always set out to be a detective. It had been a single moment, at the side of a road with his hands covered in blood when his decision had been made. As it turns out he's very good at it, but things could have been different.

None of these thoughts show on his face, where a cheeky smile is being directed across the table at Moriarty.]

But I wasn't intending to make this lovely lunch date into some kind of interrogation. Is there something you'd like to talk about?

[His eyebrows twitch down slightly at the word "date", but he simply lets his face settle into a placid expression.]

Mm. [He thinks about that, pursing his lips.] Are you a reader of books, Heizou?

[Oh, but he spots it. That subtle little twitch. Something in his expression eases, though it's difficult to tell exactly what.]

Not an avid reader, but I'm not against it. With my work I don't get much spare time to sit down and read a book cover to cover.

[His nose wrinkles slightly as he grins.]

I've been trying to get the local publishing house back home to include me in some of their murder mysteries, but I've been having no end of trouble in getting an introduction to the owner.

Makes sense. Detectives are busy, busy, busy.

[What with criminals to make them run around like chickens with their head cut off. He muses on that for a moment, before raising an eyebrow.]

Oh? You want a bit of the spotlight? Surely your feats should speak for themselves?

Wanting to see my name immortalised in a written publication doesn't sound so strange a thing, does it?

[He still has that smile, still a little cheeky in his expression. Heizou already has his reputation and doesn't need to be written about to bolster it, but that isn't the point!]

Or are consultants like yourself simply too high-brow to be interested in such things?

It does not. But it does seem to indicate an ego willing for such things. How amusing.

[Now he's smiling a little, dark eyes lidded.]

Part of me wishes for my feats to be written of...but my work tends to pull me back in the darkness. I'm fine with that.

[Heizou is admittedly quite proud of himself and his work even if he is not always openly boastful about it. The smile he sees on the other man's lips has his own expression softening, and he taps the side of his shoe very lightly against Moriarty's.]

But what a pity. You must have some stories worthy of prose or poetry. Why don't you tell me about one?

[Again, that twitch of his eyebrows - and a little knock of his shoe against the other's, as if to say "cut that out".]

My own stories?

[Ah, and there's the rub. A younger Moriarty, a snapshot of a time before his grand step into the world of evil. A Schrodinger's cat of a situation, where his crimes have been done, and yet he has never done them. That's the nature of a Servant. He thinks for a moment, before letting out a hum.]

Ah, well. Don't let it reflect against me here. I was consulting, after all, but...I did act as overseer for a grand war between several factions.

[It doesn't work. He gives another returning little tap with his shoe as he listens, and his eyebrows do lift just a fraction.]

An overseer for a grand war?

[Not just any war, but a 'grand' war. Heizou has already picked up on his companion's tendency to use particular vocabulary, but it sounds like a very deliberate choice here.]

That seems somewhat outside of the bounds of the kind of work that I'm accustomed to consultants undertaking.

[Another little prod with the toe of his foot, eyebrows now knitting together a little. Binch. Moriarty thinks he's a little insufferable. It's not a bad thing.]

My services are highly requested. In the case of my...client, my expertise was needed in these particular circumstances. [He lifts his hand, miming drawing a triangle in the air.] I love complexity, you see. When many parts work together, thats when I truly come alive.

[Oh, Heizou is definitely that, and each retaliation comes with another gentle swing-tap of his shoe against the side of his companion's foot. Just a little nudge, barely enough to be a bother but most assuredly there.

All the while he has his chin on his hands, gazing entirely indulgently at his companion while he keeps speaking.]

Mathematically-minded, you said. [His eyes follow the shape that Moriarty traces in the air. What the man says resonates with him - he tends to come alive under similar circumstances, though he doesn't think he could consult for warfare.] But mathematics doesn't always come down to simple numbers, correct? In a broader sense... Perhaps you and I aren't too different.

[Not to be deterred, Moriarty decides to up the antics here a bit. He taps back, but this time with a neat little pattern, short little nudges and more meaningful prolonged pushes. Morse code, if Heizou can recognize it. S-T-O-P.]

That I did. [Its impossible for his eyes to glitter - if they do, they do so like black sand, absorbing light. And yet they do now, smile curving up a bit.] And it never is so simple, truly. Do you think we are alike? How wonderful to hear. I like to know if there are minds that can challenge my own, you know.

[Challenge, but not overtake. He won't stand for that.]

[It takes him a moment, but he understands. He also doesn't stop what he's doing.]

I think we're alike in some ways, there's no doubt about that. We're both always on the hunt for the incomparable sense of satisfaction that can only be found in seeing all the pieces of a puzzle fall into place. We both enjoy an intellectual challenge, and a battle of wits...

[Heizou tilts his head with a mischievous, crooked grin.]

But I think you're a little more adept at playing footsie under the table than I am. I'll have to concede that point to you.

Yes, yes, that's...

[He starts, ready to agree, and then he says that - Moriarty's eyebrows instantly meet in a slightly exasperated expression. Called out...]

Tch. As if that's some grand talent. You can't blame me for wanting to have a little fun.

I certainly can't. I'm having fun too.

[He doesn't tapMoriarty's foot again but instead sets his own down next to it, just touching. Heizou shoots the other man a wink and finally sits back and clasps his hands on the table in front of him.]

This is one of the most interesting interactions I've had with a relative stranger in ages, and with the cute faces you're making, can you blame me for teasing you a little? [His eyes brighten again as he smiles.] Will you take the point, or do we need to continue to battle it out?

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