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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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"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?

[He's really trying to keep his composure. He really is. But with statements like that, his annoyance flares - he makes a flippant gesture, like waving away a little gnat.]

Bah. Cute faces? As if you need to launch such statements like that at me to gain an upper hand. [A nudge of his foot, as if to punish him for such insolence.] Very well. I'll take the point. Work hard for the next one.

Are you saying I could gain the upper hand more easily?

[Heizou knows when he has a foothold in a conversation and has no issues with being seen as irritating in any respect. This man strikes him as the kind of person to leave if he decides he no longer wants to participate in a situation and yet here he sits, still.

The detective nudges his foot right back.]

I think you're enjoying it. Or does someone openly appreciating you for things other than your towering intellect embarrass you? [He makes a small gesture with one hand.] I could talk about that instead I suppose, but I do hate to pass up low hanging fruit when it comes to... appreciation.

[Flirting. He means flirting.]

Hardly not.

[His dark eyes flit down at the nudge, and then back in the face of this man, this man who truly feels like a detective, through and through. Someone who sees a puzzle and wants to sift through it like a child going through a sandbox simply for the delight of it.]

[(It stings, in a certain way. Like nostalgia, but much heavier. He ignores it.)]

No. Please. If you want to launch compliments at my person, be my guest. [His bluff - of course he'll accept it, no embarrassment here.] But perhaps I should start my own offense, here. If you wish to be appreciated, I will join in on the endeavor. Or perhaps not. Who's to say?

[This man is certainly presenting a puzzle, albeit one that is entertaining rather than immediately dire. No need to rush off somewhere to hunt out clues when the entire story is sitting right in front of him to be pored over and picked out.

Not usually Heizou's mode of operation, but he doesn't mind it now and then.]

Hmm? Which is it? Will you, or won't you? Should I give you an opening or two in the interests of fairness?

[He'd like it either way. Compliments often mean very little to him, though that doesn't mean that he doesn't like to hear them! Who doesn't like to have their ego stroked now and then? Heizou grins, his eyes almost seeming to sparkle with it. He can keep this up until their food and drink arrives... and probably beyond that.] You have a way of emboldening a man, you know? And those eyes of yours. Marvellous.

[The compliment hits harder than he means it to, a momentary twist of his mouth belying how unexpected it is - his eyes? No. Surely not. One does not appreciate the darkness of an abyss. Its merely another move in this grand game, and he will not falter.]

And what of them? I have my eyes, and they do their job well. Do you wish to expand on what you mean? [A little tilt of the head, his mouth widening into a grin.] I don't need openings. You're a smart man, and I'll surprise you where I see fit. I want to keep you on your toes.

[His attention flicks down momentarily, then back up. He grins again, clearly enjoying this entire thing far too much. Heizou is a flirtatious man but he doesn't get to actually engage in this kind of thing all that often, not when he's always so busy and when most people who already know of his reputation don't think for a moment that his interest might be simply genuine rather than a means to find another clue.

Sometimes they're right... but sometimes he does just want the thrill of a completely different chase.]

Do I wish to? If you need me to, I will. [Then he quiets for a minute, simply studying him, gazing into the inky black of his eyes with unflinching boldness.] One might think I find the shadows to be an inconvenience in my line of work, but there's something beautiful about the darkness too. All the secrets it might hold, just waiting to be uncovered. Your eyes, my dear Ruler, are like an obsidian treasure trove... truly stunning.

[Heizou lowers his arms to cross them loosely on the table in front of him, and leans his weight on them slightly.]

Do you need me to go on?

...

[What nice words. But for a moment, Moriarty's gaze flickers. What wonderful compliments.]

["Would you mean that if this was any other situation? If this wasn't a game? A challenge?"]

["Do you mean it, dear detective?"]

[But he doesn't say any of that. Instead, his smile turns up, his dark eyes close in a fox-like expression, as if to hide them away.]

Ah, so the detective can spin poetry, too. How marvelous. Your tongue is silver, truly. [And he opens his eyes just a sliver, darkness peeking between dark blue outlines.] If you continue to be like this, I have no choice but to pull you in further. Dark eyes can be like the abyss, you know. And like the abyss, I'll certainly look back at you with favor.

Is that right...

[He does have the inkling, already, that he's getting into Something here. This man is more than he seems, he's worked that one out already, but without the context to pull the clues together he's still figuring out exactly what that means.

Heizou cocks his head, smiles warmly and brightly, self-confidence oozing out of every pore.]

So coquettish, suddenly. It's a good look on you. I can't say I mind the attention, either...

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