[NPC] CONSOLE | OPEN

[ironrule]

[The Foreigners have been privy to Snake announcements over the consoles before. The difference here is that those announcements have always been made by Meisheng, and have always been broadcast to the entire populace of Keeliai - kedan included. This particular announcement is also a public broadcast, but it's directed towards the Foreigners.

And when the announcement starts, viewers will be treated to Tu Yunxu himself, looking very grave.]

Good afternoon. One of my patrols found Jintou by the edge of Water Sector last night, just inside the city walls. He's alive.

[Always start with the good news, especially during a show of good faith. With any luck, not every Foreigner will believe Yunxu had anything to do with this.]

I must warn you, however - he is not himself. There is very little I or the hospital can do. Should anyone wish to take custody of him, please see Meisheng at her usual post in Central Sector.

[And the feed cuts off.]

[OOC: Characters are free to respond to this network post directly, although there's no guarantee Yunxu will indulge anyone for very long. Alternatively, action threads can be played out here as well if your character chooses to go to Meisheng about this. Please contact me either through Amaraq or by PMing this account if you have any questions!]

Comments

voice;

[needmetoo]

[Does she trust Yunxu? Not really, not after what Aqua's told her. Truthfully she doesn't give two flying shits about him. But this is her fault and she can't just look away. She doesn't want to look away.]

Where is it?

[It's as much of a message to those who know her as it is to Yunxu: She's going.]

voice;

[ironrule]

Meisheng's post? Surely you know where my mansion is.

[Meisheng can usually be found either directly outside or guarding the stairs inside. Perhaps it's not a surprise Xion doesn't know, although Yunxu certainly didn't expect her to take such an interest in the fate of her attacker. Will wonders never cease.]

voice;

[needmetoo]

I've never needed to go there before. [Half a beat] But yeah, I do.

[She learned several of the major landmarks of the city, both during her exploring in her first couple months (more the second, after things started warming up), and during her errand running. And the mansion of one of the most powerful men in the city certainly qualified as a landmark.]

I'll be there.

voice --> action

[ironrule]

[Interesting. Someone else to keep an eye on.]

I'm sorry I wasn't able to locate him sooner. If you discover a way in which I can help, please don't hesitate to let me know.

[He doubts it. Some of the Foreigners are magical healers. Still, best to offer, just in case.

When Xion arrives at the mansion, she'll be able to go straight in without a fuss. Meisheng and Jintou will both be in the front hall, off in the near corner, away from the bustle of the household. Jintou won't seem any different at first glance. Upon closer inspection, he'll be staring off into space, as though lost in thought.]

action

[needmetoo]

[Yeah right. Xion notes to herself that she's as likely to ask Yunxu for help as she is to hug a Heartless. But she's not really interested in conversing with him any more. The fact that he could very well be behind all this hasn't escaped her notice.

She heads straight there. She doesn't wait. She isn't sure she wants to be around the others at the apartment right now. She isn't sure she wants them to see her. To realize how much she screwed up. She guessed Aqua knows it already to some extent, even if she hasn't said anything.

She knows Aqua will be here soon enough, anyway. And probably the others too. She isn't planning to interfere with that.

Meishing is spared half an acknowledging glance when she gets inside, but almost all of her attention is on the kedan beside her. Any obvious frustration (for lack of a better term) leaks out of her expression, though the tension remains]

Jintou?

[She stops short, a few feet away. Her instinctive reservations regarding him are still at least that much in place. But guilt is overriding so much of it. It's written all over her face and voice.]

Jintou. I-It's me.

[ironrule]

[Meisheng is surprised. Not that someone's come to investigate; Yunxu made it clear he was handing Jintou over to the Foreigners as of this morning. She's just surprised to see someone so young as the first one to arrive. And, if she isn't much mistaken, wasn't this Foreigner the one Jintou shot?

It's astonishing how often the Foreigners surprise her.

Jintou looks up at the sound of Xion's voice, but he doesn't answer. There isn't a flicker of recognition in his gaze. Worse, there's no confusion, either - nothing but a detached reaction to a word he's been told is his name.]

He won't remember you. [Meisheng should probably at least try to explain.] We don't think he remembers very much at all.

[needmetoo]

['Oh, I think we have other things that set us apart. Like our pasts.'

'What past?'

'You remember stuff from before?'

'That's one of the things that makes the Organization members special.
Unlike lesser Nobodies, we remember who we were.'

'I don't.'

' Me neither.'

This memory was one of hers, bright and clear as day. True, she wasn't really a Nobody, didn't have a past to lose. And yet-

'I'm like you, Roxas. I don't remember much from the beginning either.'

Like a zombie, Axel had joked. How Roxas had been, how she probably was too. How Jintou looks right now. Her face begins to crumple, and yet with a massive effort, she tries to pull it together. Tries to smile. It doesn't work very well, but it's an effort.]

I'm sorry. This is my fault. [She reaches a hand out, but then closes her eyes for a moment and pulls it back.] Aqua will be here soon okay? She's... she's a friend. She'll take care of you.

[cw: brain damage]

[ironrule]

[Jintou blinks at her.]

Aqua?

[It would sound like an innocuous question, even despite the fact that Jintou should already know the answer. Except it sounds less like a question and more like Jintou is only repeating the word, sounding out the syllables. Trying to remember what they mean. Trying to remember how to talk. How to understand.

Meisheng, after a moment of quiet, takes over.]

We've been trying to reach him all night, but he doesn't respond to anything. [She smiles; it's not exactly kind, but only because Meisheng isn't used to kind smiles, and she's been under a lot of stress recently.] And it's not your fault. You're not the one who ambushed him.

[needmetoo]

[Given the conclusion Xion had already drawn, the similarity she'd already noticed, she isn't really surprised at the lack of real reaction to Aqua's name, and the clear lack of understanding when he says it himself. It still feels like a knife in the chest though. She smiles weakly.]

Yeah. Aqua. She's my friend. She helped you before. She's really nice.

[She's silent for a moment herself before responding to Meisheng's commentary]

They went after Aqua and Tadashi. After that we... Hiro and I, we went to him. We got him to tell us places to go to look. To try to stop this.

[Despite her own fear and unease, she'd gone, because this had to stop. And nothing anybody was doing was working. Aqua and Tadashi had gotten hurt. So had Xion herself. So had innumerable others. And yet in the end... what had they gotten to show for it? Nothing. They even lost the body of the kedan woman they'd found.

Her voice cracks a little.]

We just got ourselves in trouble. And then a week later they went after him and Mr. Shudder.

[The timing is too precise, in her mind.]

[ironrule]

[From what Meisheng remembers, Jintou is much too experienced to let two children force him into doing anything.

... Well. Unless he was feeling guilty over shooting one of them.]

You don't know who went after him and Shudder. Maybe they knew what you tried to do. Maybe they didn't. It doesn't matter. They're the ones at fault. If you're going to assign blame in that fashion, then don't forget to blame Shudder as well. Shudder, Aqua, Pleasant, Jintou himself, and we can't forget every investigator in the city. Every one of them could have done something differently.

[bigdamnhiro]

Oh cool, I love vague non-answers to questions everyone's asking.

[Because you haven't said shit about the soul-gemmed kedan disappearing either, thanks dude]

So, what—he came back in a pink tutu? Speaking Spanish? Suddenly loves talk radio? Were you gonna elaborate on what he's not himself means ooooooor....?

[ironrule]

If you want elaboration on Jintou's current state, speak to Meisheng. Seeing for oneself means more than hearing a description from another. [His voice turns wry.] Particularly if you find the description lacking.

[AKA he has no idea what pink tutus are or what Spanish is or what talk radio means.]

[cherrywood]

[ Although Milyn's drawn countenance indicates she hasn't quite shaken off the last of the zhyris virus yet, she's determined to respond. ]

Surely there-- must be something that can be done... has he said anything?

[ironrule]

[Yunxu's manner grows decidedly colder.]

Yes, Milyn. He's said quite a bit, in fact. I'm sorry to see you're still not feeling yourself.

[No. No, he's really not sorry.]

[cherrywood]

[ As usual, Milyn either ignores the change in tone or carries on obliviously. ]

Happens to the best of us, dear. Even Healers aren't immune to everything.

If you need an extra hand with Jintou, do let me know.

[ironrule]

[For a moment, it doesn't seem like he's going to respond. Then he thinks better of it and turns briefly back to the camera.]

I will.

[And then he's gone.]

Voice

[redlightgreenlight]

Well, well, if it isn't the King of Serpents himself...Since you've deigned to speak to us, I don't suppose you know anything about who poisoned Anton?

Voice

[ironrule]

[Ah, Lady Valdis. For her, Yunxu reserves a smile, audible in his tone.]

You already know the answer to that question.

Voice

[redlightgreenlight]

And yet you smile as you speak. What secrets are you hiding behind that smile, I wonder.

Voice

[ironrule]

A great many. But as far as Jintou is concerned, none I haven't already related to you.

[If not in quite as much detail as Valdis might have preferred.]

Voice

[redlightgreenlight]

[In truth, she cares nothing for Jintou, information on him is irrelevant]

Do any have to do with Enon? Or perhaps why you so dislike Milyn? Or are they simply two sides of a single coin?

Voice

[ironrule]

[There's a very long, very dangerous silence.]

Where did you hear that name?

Voice

[redlightgreenlight]

I hear many things from many places. [She had him now] Is it true that you were under suspicion for his murder?

Voice

[ironrule]

If you're genuinely curious, then you know where to find me. If you're asking out of personal distaste, or simply to see my reaction, you'll forgive me if I don't indulge you. Good day, Lady Valdis.

Action!!!

[redlightgreenlight]

[She hadn't set foot in the Fire Sector for some time now, but the offer was too ripe to not jump at it. Perhaps her original intent had been to get a reaction out of the man, but curiosity overruled her chaotic tendencies. She arrived at the mansion, her sword on her hip as always, though the glow was duller than normal, but carrying no other weapons. She wasn't looking for fight, not really, and it wasn't like she would need weapons if she was.]

I'm here to see Tu Yunxu.

[She said to the nearest Snake, her classic, winning smile on her face. There was no reason for the snake to refuse, Yunxu had practically invited her.]