(CLOSED TO SUTOKU) un: skewer

[passthrough]

[It's a short while after the bombs go off that Sutoku members will get a new network notification. He still doesn't trust his voice, so text-only it is for now.]

Everyone,

The lieutenants can interject here if needed, I'll give them the floor. But given what just happened, can everyone check in, if you're able? Where are you, what are you seeing? Was anyone caught up in what happened over in Shuten?

A lot just happened in a short amount of time, and there's a lot of panic right now. It's chaotic, but I think we need to really need to see if anyone's been able to gather anything, before the city really starts to make noise and point fingers about what just happened with Iron Bear.

If you saw anything out in rescue efforts or anything tonight, it might be a good idea to speak up.

Also: I'm not seasoned enough right not to make a good enough guess, but have any key properties for the Alliance been checked yet?

[ooc: mini event check in for prompt #5, feel free to use this as an informational check in as we learn things from the mods.]

Comments

sorry about stupid question o'clock

[slippin]

[ He hates the idea of having to choose—well, the idea of choosing wrong and sending people scared enough to rely on him to their deaths. A temple's too much like a tomb: Konoha it is.

Why is he thinking about this? ] You're an exorcist, right? [ Look, he's too exhausted to double-check. His hands have been shaking off and on. ] Can you tell if the city's mojo is out of whack?

HAHA it totally isn't!

[worldbent]

Yes, that's right.

I can tell to an extent. Given that we are surrounded at all times by thousands of youkai, it would require a particularly powerful aura to stand out among the white noise.

For example, on the topic of the last emergency- when the city was under the influence of Haniyasu-no-kami's curse, it was quite noticeable. And I was able to recognize it as a more powerful version of the cursed influence of their haniwa.

But for the time being, I don't sense anything on that scale. If our enemy is within the city, they have sent smallfry who are not powerful enough to catch my attention.

Do you have a particular suspicion?

yessssssss mental image of max von sydow preserved

[slippin]

[ Does he believe this? Does he believe he's in hell, does he believe a bomb went off and it's just being tossed on the pile of emergencies that have rocked the city?

Fine. Call it a thought experiment. ] I don't know. [ He types, then thinks about deleting. Just leaves it. ] Spiritually I'm deaf as a post. There might also be some curse action in the mix.

I mean personally.

[ I don't know anything about, he types again, then stops. ] I don't know how soon the bomb went off after his crazy rant, but timing that, you'd have to factor in delivering the tape and scaring the crap out of the news anchor on top of the station's schedule. For that kind of precision he must have people here.

But it's like you said, if he had power he wouldn't need the theatrics.

[worldbent]

Spies.

[A simple enough point of accusation, and probably correct. The question then became where the spies were coming from.]

[Sniffing out within their own ranks would be complicated, to say nothing of the other clans'. But Matoba couldn't say he hadn't expected such infiltration to occur. In fact, he;d been expecting it- although with perhaps a different target in mind.]

Any suggestions come to mind in how to flush them out? [Might as well open the floor, before coming up with the plan all on his own.]

[slippin]

[ What happens then? Stupid question. They all get sent to a spy farm upstate.

He remembers Emily clobbering toys with the mallet, Matoba saying he's not one for light touches. ] I'm coming at this from more of a broadcasting perspective. [ He stalls. ]

Run a fake tape disavowing them, see who jumps? [ Sometimes a strategy can be the thing you most want to pour your energy into at a particular moment! ] They have to be in touch somehow, that's what I'd want to pin down.

[worldbent]

[The lightest touches he gives are the ones where you don't find the bodies afterwards. That's light enough, isn't it?]

Broadcasting? I see. Like that poor newswoman that the Iron Bear had strongarmed, I suppose. That is an interesting proposition. I think that I know someone who may be able to assist with that, from in front of the camera. We will still need the writing, the staging.

Although that person is a member of a different clan, there is no chance of his betrayal- simply the difficulties of clan politics. Perhaps we can work something out that will elegantly sidestep those entanglements.

Would you be interested in meeting him?

[It pays to be old flames with a famous actor.]

[slippin]

[ It’s much easier to bite back a semi-confounded Really? over text.

But suddenly his concerns aren’t so concerning—he’s thinking about Iron Bear’s vocal cadence and matching the tape’s production values and…there's the voice of a bespectacled twerp in his head saying they're not gonna have time to build a Mad Max throne. But it’d be fun. ] Yeah, absolutely. He does voice work? And he’s leaving the house? [ You know, all things considered. ]

We’ll need equipment, that’s the biggie. And you could do a [ unhinged zealot ] religious fervor pass on the script.

[ Several seconds later: ] If you have time.