Hey Futaba, I got some kinda big-ish news. Bad news, really. Not bad enough to panic right now, but I told Yusuke and I've gotta tell you too.
Akechi is claiming that Adachi, that adult with the dog from the cafe, is a murderer from Inaba. I'm inclined to believe him, if only because he has no real reason to lie about such a thing. What do you think?
[Honestly, this should surprise her more considering Adachi was someone Yusuke knew and apparently trusted. At the very least he was among people the artist cared about considering he had received a warning about Akechi.
She wasn't quite sure what to think.]
Are we sure Akechi is telling the truth? Like you said, he doesn't have a real reason to lie...but he could be.
[ This is probably something that needs to be addressed with everyone. Yusuke recognizes that, but he is in a state, and the others know why, but Futaba is the only one of them who has really been in a close enough place to understand. Today's new problem is unrelated to the Constellation, he thinks, he hopes, but he just...can't be crowded. ]
Have you been watching the news, Futaba? Did you see that parking lot that was torn to shreds?
[ Just in case, he sends the link to Brendan's BlueTube footage of the aftermath. ]
[She may be watching that footage on a loop. Kidding. She definitely is.
Most anyone could be convinced it's Yusuke, but there's just enough there for someone that has fought by his side for the better half of a year--someone that tracked every movement of her team--to notice as being significantly off.]
Saw the news. It doesn't really fit with the timeline of your movements...Speaking of, they do a good job imitating you at the start, but they really needed more research. They're all over the place.
Excuse me. This is Futaba, right? I'm Shinjiro Aragaki. Yusuke mentioned you. I wanted to ask about making my device hack-proof. He said you can do it. I'll pay you.
[ Otabek leaves a package. It's neatly wrapped with a bow at one corner and a handwritten note tucked under the edge. Inside is this and the note says - ]
[Delivered a few minutes after Count Dooku's post hits the network, this message arrives from another username that's a jumble of letters and numbers. But the signature is the same.]
[He doesn't know, yet, whether this is truly a group or merely an individual presenting themselves as one. He doesn't know much at all, which is rare for him and thus quite a gamble; but he suspects the involvement of one man in particular. If it's that guy's allies, it'll probably work out.]
That's one way to do things.
You've crippled one head of the organization. That's no joke. But the remnants of groups like this are always the real problem. You should clean them up before a new Constellation can be born. I intend to make it my project- should you wish to do the same, I offer my alliance.
Since you've proven your results, I'll give you a piece of information as a show of faith:
This imPort is an agent of Antares. Possibly "was"; at the moment I haven't verified whether her memories have been altered or if this is merely an act.
It'd be my suggestion that you keep her under surveillance, at least. My intuition is that she's one of the ones whose purpose within the organization was least pure. She may be responsible for many crimes committed under their banner.
I hope you'll continue to use that interesting ability of yours in the best interests of people.
(I think you have an ally that knows how to contact me. Use him to pass messages, if you prefer not to use this method.)
02
Re: text; same pingback method as on the calling card
You managed to find me, so I'm going to assume you're serious about wanting to pursue this avenue.
We, as a group, have been betrayed before. We do not trust lightly. We'll follow your lead and observe. If this leads somewhere--or if there is more...we will see what happens then.
(Our shared contact...People can be compromised, but if he has channels of communication with you, we may use that at times.)
[Knocks at her window at all hours of the night are not out of the norm for Futaba, quite the opposite really considering her friends' group. So it's with little surprise when she throws open her window and leans out, trying to see just who wanted her attention now.]
[On the 31st, Futaba will receive an envelope in the mail containing one (1) car key and a piece of paper with a Nonah address written on it. The address leads to an abandoned farm in Nonah, and the key goes to the embarrassingly sporty car sitting in the driveway.
The hatchback went to the first taker, but its owner getting sent home freed up her other car as well. So congratulations random stranger, you've won yourself a free Mustang, complete with red leather seats. Enjoy it, it was absolutely purchased 100% with Clara's sister-in-law's drug money.]
[Utena hasn't been at the house much lately, it's true, but it's not normal to go so long without seeing Futaba around. Maybe she's busy? She's probably just busy, but... She sighs, and gives her door a quick knock]
[Futaba is definitely here. She has been for the past few days; that's mostly due to her having a stash of instant meals and sodas in her room. If anyone were to come in, they'd find her curled up on her bed, laptop in her lap and blankets draped over her liked a hooded cape.
She's half tempted to reply to Utena's knocking with a text message, but she thinks better of it after a moment.]
[ So. He's been gone for nearly nine months. At first he hadn't really realized it, the whole process of porting in and out was so exhausting that he ignored the new folder and just went home. To his old house, where his things are gone, where his roommates are gone, where his next door neighbor/well-established boyfriend is gone.
What would a normal person do? Scroll through the network until they find a name they recognize, probably. But not Yusuke, he's looking from door to door, until he finds someone he knows, someone who can make this sudden whiplash make sense.
Sorry, door to door? More like window to window. No number of months lost in the ether can take the Phantom Thief out of him. Yusuke is scaling buildings and peeking into windows throughout the (much smaller) imPort housing neighborhood in Heropa until he finds what he's looking for. A dark bedroom with an elaborate computer setup, and a painting he recognizes as his own on the wall. It must be Futaba's.
Hopefully, at least. If a stranger were to walk in and find Yusuke laying on their bed, it would be weird. This isn't weird at all. ]
[Futaba had no idea what awaited her at home. She came into her room as she would any other day. Her attention wasn't directed at the bed, not at first.
First, she flicks on the light, quietly trying to shoo one of the cats away from her feet so she wouldn't trip as she moves to her computer. She idly clicks her mouse, display coming to life to show very little of interest if her disappointed sigh was anything to go by.
But then she's turning around with the idea of flopping on her bed and maybe playing some games--except there's someone on her bed. So she shrieks, grabbing some spare part haphazardly from her desk, prepared to chuck it--]
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