tushanshu | [Console] video;

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[Console] video;

[Video;]

[The magical disguise Skulduggery uses generates different features every time he uses it, with the result that no one will recognise his face when he turns the console on. The skin's a little waxy and he doesn't seem to blink, but apart from those minor details, he looks normal. Only his voice, smooth and Irish, is the same as it usually is. A little jarring for those who know him best as a living skeleton.

Because of that, a brief introduction seems appropriate.]

My name is Skulduggery Pleasant. I'm a freelance detective.

[The 'freelance' part is important, since the whole point of using video is to make it clear he doesn't work for the Snakes - or anyone else.]

I'd appreciate any information anyone might have on attempted thefts of the soul jewelry. This is a request extended to everyone in the city; I don't think the kedan are organising an attack on Foreigners any more than I think Foreigners are organising an attack on them, and I don't much care about whether a witness can shapeshift or not. Or a victim, for that matter.

[There's always the possibility kedan have been mugged in the same strange conflicting style, but are too scared to come forward.]

The network isn't secure, so if you'd be more comfortable talking face to face, I'm happy to arrange that. You can leave a message for me with Anton Shudder at the Midnight Hotel - he'll make sure I'm the only one who hears it.

Thank you for your help.

[And the feed clicks off. Most, if not all, of his responses to this post will be audio, and will be made from consoles in cafes around the city - leaving the Hotel console free for anyone else to use.]

~~

[Audio;]

[Sent directly to Midii's inbox.]

Anton's now running an informal census at the Hotel. I can't guarantee it'll find everyone, but it should give us a much better idea of how many Foreigners we have, and hopefully how spread out we are.

[Sent directly to Wan's inbox.]

Some of the students at the university are talking about water levels being higher than they'd expect. Have you noticed anything like that?

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[Aww, he needs her.]

[China turns back around, and doesn't even bother trying to hide the tiny smile of satisfaction.]

I'll let you know if my sources bring me anything directly relevant, of course.

There's also a few smaller things that don't seem connected, but are... anomalies. For instance, did you know there's an abandoned building on the outskirts of Earth that's been seeing mysterious lights in the night, with curiously little evidence left behind in the morning?

[As much as she hates to say it, Skulduggery might be able to do more with some of this than she can right now.]

The aftermath of an attack could occasionally be helpful, but Skulduggery needed more information to work with first. For that... yes, he would need to talk to Aqua's student first.

"Was anyone with her when she was shot?" asks Skulduggery. "Where is she now?"

[There aren't very many problems in Keeliai so well-known that talking about them in public isn't a good idea, so it doesn't take a genius to realise what problem Sokka is referring to.]

Absolutely. Would you mind meeting at the Hotel?

[Skulduggery enters the garage to find Sonja sitting - not quite next to the Bentley, but close enough for government work, and he only gives the skimmer a cursory look before pausing next to her.]

Sorry to make you wait.

[Bite your tongue.

... An abandoned building. Hm. Seemingly irrelevant to both the muggings and the shadow thief, but of course even the seemingly irrelevant things could turn out to be important.]

What was the abandoned building before it became an abandoned building?

You have a point. Young turtles, then.

[It's bittersweet, trying to imagine Quintus the size of Asti. Bittersweet because five of the turtles would never have a chance to grow that size, and further so because in a very strange way, Skulduggery misses Quintus. It feels like there's a small space at the back of his mind now perpetually empty.]

"Yes, a boy named Yosuke Hanamura; he's the one who brought her to the Healer's Guild last night. I believe he was there when it happened." Where I should have been, she can't help but think. "And as for Xion, she's currently resting in my room here."

Again, she feels a rise of uncertainty at telling him this, but Aqua has decided to continue with Skulduggery's help, even if she cannot bring herself to fully trust him now.

[As a matter of fact, Skulduggery does know someone who can travel through shadow. Seeing as that person is currently blind and spending most of his time in bed, he doesn't think it relevant to mention.]

Neither have I. The thief seems to travel on a tangible wave, and use that wave to carry multiple large objects. I'm not sure how much of that is exaggeration, but I know rumours usually start somewhere. If you're hoping to come across him, Metal Sector is your best bet.

[At night, he doesn't need to add.]

Usually, yes.

[Would it surprise you to hear that he sounds amused?]

To answer your original question, I don't usually come across issues of jurisdiction because people don't usually think ignoring me is the best course of action to take.

Ah, Yosuke. Skulduggery remembers him. Excellent; the less he needs to worry about people adjusting to his state of existence, the better. Not that he usually worries to begin with, but witnesses are so much easier to question when they aren't staring wordlessly at him.

"Do you happen to know where Yosuke is now?" Skulduggery asks, turning to lead the way up the stairs.

Tangible wave... if that's so, he's likely controlling the substance with either an ability, or something else that reacts with the material it's made of.

[Kakine's Dark Matter comes to mind as well. The bastard could endlessly create matter that definitely didn't exist according to natural law, and had whatever properties he decided to give it. He's seen no sign of anyone else from Academy City being here, though, nor can he imagine either of them wanting to do this. All this does is help cement ideas on the possible details of the mystery thief's method.

He taps the sheet.]

Do you know if any places in Metal Sector connected to the Metalworker family haven't been hit yet? The thief probably doesn't want to be too predictable, but it's still not a bad area to pay attention to.

"No, I'm afraid not. I've spent most of the time with Xion." Aside from coming down to contact Skulduggery and subsequently waiting for him, she's spent every waking moment with Xion and Roxas since they relocated the former to her room. Every waking moment being all of them, of course, although she hasn't really realized that.

She follows him to the stairway. "If I see him, though, I'll ask him to speak with you."

[It was still pretty odd to see a skeleton in a suit stroll in. She wasn't sure if that was ever going to cease being uncanny]

No worries. I wanted to tell you about the run in I had with some Kedan who wanted my Soul Gem.

There were maybe ten of them. Definitely not very organized or experienced, and they changed their mind halfway through, fearing foreigner backlash.

Maybe not even that anymore.

It's been a year, right? More than a year, now. If they ever come back...

[Who knows how big they'll be?]

[Never.]

Something like a factory. It's been unused since before any of us came, apparently.

[China pauses there, thinking about it whether or not she actually wants to share everything with Skulduggery.]

[Even if she doesn't necessarily want to, it'll be more useful to do so, and she's not making much headway on her own yet. She'll have other bits of knowledge to hold over his head eventually.]

There have also been a number of thefts on the Palace grounds. Mundane items, for the most part: the sort you wouldn't think people would generally bother stealing, and therefore not a priority for our charming caretakers of law and order. They don't seem to be stopping, however.

[It goes without saying that they're in numbers great enough China considers it strange rather than just part of the natural course of life.]

As I said. None of this seems connected, but they don't make sense taken by themselves.

Yeah, sure. I suppose that's a good place to meet up. I mean, it sure does lack all of the adventure of meeting up in the back of some alley somewhere not knowing if a couple of no-goods will come first to beat the information out of you.

Yeah, on first thought, let's meet at the Hotel. In a half hour?

[Because he never was considering meeting anywhere else.

[And so, Sokka will naturally be waiting for Skulduggery to arrive. That is, unless Skulduggery is more prompt than Sokka is, which means that Sokka will arrive probably five minutes earlier that the appointed time.]

Skulduggery nods. "That would be helpful. Thank you." Not necessary, hopefully, but certainly helpful.

Once they reach the top of the stairs, Skulduggery lets Aqua lead the way. He has a fair idea of where the room is, but he hasn't paid enough attention to know exactly, and he has no interest in making a fool of himself while simultaneously wasting time. Minutes, to be fair, but time nonetheless.

It certainly does lack a sense of dramatic tension.

[Up in the air whether Skulduggery's serious tone means Sokka's joke has gone right over his head, or that he's trolling right back. Either way, he confirms half an hour, and he's there in exactly half an hour, to find Sokka already waiting in the lobby.

He tips his hat.] Fine weather we're having, isn't it?

[Excellent. Straight to the point. It's almost a breath of fresh air.]

They changed their mind halfway through? [He tilts his head, confused.] You mean they gave you your soul gem back?

That's what I think. The rumours claim the thief himself is made out of metal, but it's far more likely he's just capable of controlling it.

[Or she. Or, for that matter, they. It's entirely possible more than one person is committing these thefts.

Skulduggery shrugs.] Anywhere in the Sector not already on that list. The Metalworkers own most of it, and there's no pattern I can see. I don't think the thief has one in mind, actually; I think he's picking likely-looking targets at random. The question is what makes them likely-looking.

[He pauses as a nagging thought at the back of his mind finally catches up with his awareness.]

Something else that reacts with the material? Is that how your powers work?

[It's a strangely specific suggestion to come up with otherwise.]

[takes another long sip before answering]

Not exactly. I know electricity espers, though. Manipulating metal that reacts to magnetism is easy for them.

None of them are here.

[As far as he's aware, anyway.]

If I tell you details on my power, I want assurance that giving that info won't fuck me over somehow.

[Skulduggery doesn't like abandoned factories as a rule. He watched his best friend being turned to stone outside one, so the dislike is admittedly biased, but the idea of an abandoned factory being a meeting place for person or persons unknown is just so bland. In his opinion, if a group of people are planning something diabolical and/or evil, it must be something they care quite a lot about, and hence they could easily come up with a slightly more original conduit for their plans than the cliche of an abandoned factory.

Still, he's not one to ignore potential clues just because they bore him.]

Mundane items? [Hm.] When Malicant abandoned the Palace just before we defeated him, the library turned out to hide a secret entrance to an underground cavern where less-than-savoury deeds were taking place. Ritual sacrifice, experimentation, that sort of thing. The entrance has since been closed off. I'm not sure who did it, but I doubt they were trying to do anyone a public service. With the library laid bare, we might just be making someone somewhere very angry.

[And they then decided to steal a variety of mundane items from the construction ground? Something there doesn't fit.]

Soul gem, a few other bits and bobs. They took my juulan though. Good thing I don't carry too many on me at once.

Zatanna checked mine out so it doesn't have the cloudiness she says she's detected in her own. She wasn't exactly forthcoming about the details of her encounter, so I don't know what the differences were.

Anger isn't the right motivation.

[She might have only the barest of ideas about how any of this fits together, but she's pretty sure about that much.]

Theft no one notices for days is hardly an effective demonstration of anger. It's someone needing something, and choosing the subtlest avenue possible to acquire it.

I suppose you think they were hiding evidence?

Aqua steps past Skulduggery to guide him to her room. It's not a far walk - she stays in the room above the stairs - so very quickly she's arrived at the door. Before entering, she turns back to the detective with a somewhat apologetic smile. "Could I ask you to wait out here for a moment? I'd like to make sure she's up to answering questions first."

It's unspoken, but there's also the implication that Aqua wants to give Xion a little warning as to Skulduggery's appearance. If anything, that's what the silent apology is for.

She knocks before opening the door, peering inside. "Xion, are you doing well?"

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