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Post by Reii on May 7, 2011 3:51:55 GMT -5
[generic title. Open until page 3 or unless PM for entry.]
The Industrial district of the city's air was thick with smoke and heat. Stepping out of one of the many storage houses, K:anode choked on the smoke for a second, his eyes watering up from the ash particles getting in his pinky-purple eyes. He had walked down to this district from the slums. He was beginning to appreciate just how civilized and developed Ost was now that he walked through this place. He probably stood out a little as he walked through. His clothes not yet covered in soot or as badly torn as that of most of the people he saw here.
"He should be around here somewhere..."He muttered, looking around for a person he had expected to meet here, though he had no idea what they looked like. He had described himself in the written conversation, but had forgotten to ask the same of this person. Heck, he didn't even know if it was a girl or guy. However, it was essential that he meet this person. He didn't know the city at all really, but the case he'd taken up required him to find several prominant figures of the Industrial district and find out what exactly they were up to.
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 7, 2011 9:23:12 GMT -5
The Industrial District of Ess was a horrendous place. Filth spewed from smokestacks and a thick layer of grime seemed to coat everything. The blonde-haired man looked quite out of place, with his black suit and new boots standing out against the workers' soiled clothing. It had been risky for him to travel here, what with Ost's government still watching him closely, but he had heard of the man he was here to meet often when he was still in his home city. K:anode was probably one of the few besides himself that knew what was going on in the city of innovation. Things were hardly better here however, and it might be helpful to have an ally in Ess.
He spotted the boy immediately, and would have known it was him even without having read a description. He could feel the black mass inside shift curiously at the presence of another demon. It would be easy enough for the kid to assume that Clock was the one he was here to meet. They were the only two here wearing decent clothing. It had been enough of a pain to drag himself all the way here, we wasn't going to adopt some guise. He was here to get to the bottom of some questions he had about Ess, especially those controlling the power industry. He strode towards his recent acquaintance, whom he had never met in person, keen on getting this over with and finding some privacy. Being around so many strangers set him on edge.
So, taking his broken pocket-watch in hand to help keep a hold on sanity, he scrutinized the half-demon with piercing blue eyes. "I believe you've been looking for me." Shadows swelled in his gut, threatening to choke out his voice. He tightened his grip on his clock. Clock. Clock. Oh yes, that was it. "I'm Clock." He didn't offer a handshake for greeting, slightly annoyed that his demon was acting up. The scientists had said that they would be merged together. It was more like he had a shadow shackled to one of his arms. They never got along, and if anyone was in control, it was the demon. This child however, didn't seem to have any such problems, which irked him. The darkness inside was quite interested in the half-demon, he half expected it to emerge and strike up a conversation. Something like, "Hey, I knew your father. Yeah, we go way back." Wouldn't that be just dandy. His patience was thinning, and he had barely started talking.
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Post by Reii on May 7, 2011 13:38:32 GMT -5
K:anode twitched. The strange looks from passerbys was starting to irritate him. Everyone who passed by glared at him, scowled. Like he was some kind of evil- He dropped his eyes to the gritty ground, a mixture of mud, old rock, gravel, old rainwater and -other- soilage. It was kind of true. But he didn't -choose- to be half demon. He didn't choose to have untold powers, to be supposedly filled with evil and thus, a lack of morality, kindness and humanity.
"Heh.."His thoughts of self-hate were cut off by the sense of something dark. Something like himself.
"I believe you've been looking for me."
He looked up, seeing the taller figure dressed in a fine suit. Clearly a wealthy man for whatever reasons. Either intelligence, family or he was simply the puppet of some sick people. He could indeed sense the dark energy, that of a demon. He had met a few in his life, but not any since his mother and him ran off from the researchers (though he knew they kept watching). It seemed weird. Nostalgic. His eyes twitched as memories of the labs blew through his mind. "Clock. Interesting. I'm K:anode."He replied, not offering a hand to shake either. He'd always wanted to do that, the simple courtesy, but no one ever took his hand. Their subconscious knew better. "So we're here to find out about the industrialists in this city."He began, starting to walk towards one of the larger factories. "I'm sure you know they're working for the goverment. Goverment keeps the workers from striking, their rights down and gives them business to make weapons. In return, they're loyal dogs and give some funding to their masters."He paused, letting the information sink in, or to let Clock add anything, then continued, "But recently, it seems their now up to something more. There's been several murders and disapearances in the past 6 months. I'd say they have something to do with it -though the media says otherwise. You know their also controlled by the state."
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 7, 2011 19:22:19 GMT -5
Hmph. Clock folded his arms, listening as K:anode explained what he knew about what was going on. He didn't know much more about what was happening, but he could wager a guess. If Ess was indeed trying to create their own human weapons by merging humans with spirits. Things were getting out of hand. This was never supposed to have happened. Unless it was... God only knew. If that's the stuff you chose to believe in anyway. Clock wasn't even sure if his own body existed anymore, let alone some man in the sky.
The world is seen differently through others' eyes. If you believe in something enough, it exists. Somewhere. A place made of dreams. Solid. Until your hope falters. Confusion. Spiraling. Down. Down. What is this world? How can there be things you can't touch? We create them with our mind. They're not real. They're as real as we make them. If I can make feelings and thoughts real with my mind, why can't I bring her back? Perhaps I can. Do I believe I can? No. Is that the problem? Maybe. Why do our worlds exist in our mind? Time goes by. Time. Clocks.
clocks.
"Clocks." the pocket-watch was clenched in his fist, his teeth grinding against each other. The one thing that somehow managed to keep him grounded. "Time is just as fake as everything else." he muttered to himself, not really caring what this other guy thought of him. He had past the point of caring long ago. About anyone. Or anything. Perhaps not everything... He was here now wasn't he? Why? I want something. What? He wasn't sure, but something in his mind told him coming here would help him find it. He was tired.
The rings under his eyes told of his sleepless nights in his room. Filled with clocks. They kept him awake, with their ticking. He never wanted to sleep again. It was worse than being awake. Things were beautiful, and calm, and everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect. And it scared him beyond belief.
"Do you know where we could find these officials?"
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Post by Reii on May 7, 2011 19:37:29 GMT -5
After a moment of waiting for some kind of response, K:anode looked around at the other man. His eyes seemed glazed over and tired, like he hadn't slept in many, many days. He turned back to the path in front of him. He doubted the man even noticed him he seemed so engrossed in his own thoughts.
'clocks'
"Huh? Sorry?"K:anode asked, looking around again, but the guy didn't reply as such and what he said didn't really make any sense. He sighed. The guy was blantly mad. "Boy, they messed you up pretty bad..."He muttered to himself -though he could hardly speak. He wasn't paranoid as such.. just...
"The officials? Well I was going to investigate the factory first, see if there's anything to find out there. I only have one lead on the officials, a name: Leo Andrews."K:anode replied as they reached the back door of the said factory. "If you know anything about him, we can look for him now, but I have no further leads.."He told him, looking a bit down embarrassed about it. He was meant to find more information then just a name. An address, family, friends, hobbies -anything! But that guy covered his tracks too blooming well.
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 9, 2011 15:25:27 GMT -5
Clock wrinkled his nose at the thought of exploring one of the factories. It seemed like a total waste of time compared to tracking down one of the people responsible and threatening the answers out of them. Of course, that was a little more conspicuous, and they didn't have much to go on. Then, there was always his uncanny ability to find the people he was searching for, but perhaps that could wait. Though he really doubted there would be any kind of evidence left if they were as good at covering up as K:anode said.
"No. I've haven't heard of him, but I'm guessing some of the workers will have." Frightened people weren't always the best for getting information out of, but it was worth a shot. He caught up to his new acquaintance, heading direction of the factory. He wasn't too excited about being inside, judging by the air quality outside. He wanted to be back in his lab. Everything there was orderly. Clean. Didn't you need some sort of permit to get into one of these places, anyway? Too late to ask.
"Lets get this over with then." He turned the handle on one of the large steel doors, and pushed it open. A blast of heat, and a horrid smell hit him all at once. Great. Meat packing. One couldn't look anywhere without seeing slaughtered livestock. Having their organs cut out. Being drained of blood. Being quartered. It was quite vile to put it lightly, but this was as good a place to start as any. He clapped his hands together, and took a good look around. "Nice place they've got here."
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Post by Reii on May 9, 2011 16:53:46 GMT -5
K:anode frowned. He had a feeling Clocks didn't think his idea was much good, but that was all he thought of. He'd better think of something better while they were here. He let Clocks lead the way into the factory, the little colour in his face draining when he the doors where opened and the stench of rotting death hit him. His eyes twitched, his head twitching from side to side as he looked about, trying to find a spot he could look at without seeing red blood dripping down the carcass or organs being ripped out.
He opened his mouth to speak, but upon tasting the stench -such was it's strength- his voice scattered away, as if in fear. Despite this being the back entrance, there were still quite a few workers here. They looked quite shocked to see someone who wasn't dressed in rags in this place, but knowing the penalty for slacking off, they quickly returned their attention to the carcasses. "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea afterall...."K:anode muttered, walking up close enough to Clocks to be heard, but not taking a step before the man, not wanting to lead. He kept his eyes directed at the floor, though it too had puddles of blood. He seriously hated blood. He seriously felt as insanely sickened. He really thought he'd be able to cope better. Seemed he still wasn't improving.
"So uhm..."K:anode muttered, seeing as he -should- be leading the way, "The offices are over there.. the staff should be on round and lunch breaks right now."He explained, pointing to a office not far from them.
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 10, 2011 17:44:20 GMT -5
(OOC; just wanted to point out that his name is just Clock, not Clocks. You don't have to go back and change it unless you want to though, because its kind of petty. -ocd-) While K:anode seemed to be regretting the decision of walking into this particular factory, Clock shrugged it off and headed for the areas reserved for those who watched over the workers. They weren't quite offices in the traditional sense, but there were a couple desks filled by relatively clean people whose job was to make sure everyone was working. They strolled around the plant, clipboards in hand, deciding who would be coming back the next day. Work was in high demand these days, so they could afford to be picky. No, they weren't as high up as the officials that ran the place, but they might have some information laying around. And it didn't seem as if anyone was on duty at the moment.
He walked down the center of the long room, each side lined with workers skillfully dismantling animals. Two large gullies ran down the sides of the room, and ending in gaping holes that lead below, and who knows where. The floor was also sloped, leading all the blood and other.. excess fluids, to flow into the trenches. However, they weren't the most efficient at their job, because as he noticed that as he walked he was sending up a small spray of blood. By the time he reached the door to the office the bottoms of his pants were coated with the thick, red liquid. "Great. Somehow, I knew this was how it was going to end up." Oh well, it wasn't like he hadn't seen worse. Blood had ceased to phase him long ago. He pushed open the door, and started inside.
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Post by Reii on May 11, 2011 2:01:55 GMT -5
[More so a typo, but noted :3]
As they proceeded closer to the 'offices', the sloped and the meat gathered at their feet. He was tempted to close his eyes completely, but he knew he'd walk into something, and seeing the various cutting utensils around them, he'd probably find himself joining the production line if that happened. Still, Clocks seemed unphased by their surroundings , even as his clothing became drenched and heavy with blood. K:anode glanced at his own, it was much the same. Looking around now, he fit in quite well. His clothes drenched and dulled, his hair already red, wouldn't look worse with blood.
It'd be difficult now to appear like they hadn't been here, but the marks left would be the same as the workers. Dirt and blood. "Uuuhm.. so just find interesting paper work... or... any other obvious clues.."K:anode told Clocks, though he seemed completely distracted. His train of thought was utterly derailed and he knew he couldn't set it going again until he left this place. He couldn't bring himself to peace.
Never the less he looked through the files which were poorly filed into boxes or piles, looking for anything interesting. Suddenly, something caught his eye. Sitting in plain sight, was a list of names, some of which were crossed off. He lifted the page, seeing it was clipped to several others, scanning his eyes along the list. From the few he remembered, the crossed off names were of people who had 'gone missing'. Well, at least this proved this factory was connected with the disappearances, but he still didn't know where they were being taken.
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 12, 2011 15:37:26 GMT -5
"Hmm." Clock hovered over K:anode's shoulder, studying the paper he had picked up. Sure enough, this evidence matched his previous story. If only he could find some sort of clues on the paper. A name, date, location even, would be very helpful right about now. He reached down and picked up a paper that had been stacked with the one they were looking at now. He scanned through another list of names before turning it over to look at the back. Sure enough, he saw what he had been looking for.
The Ess council sincerely thanks Leo Andrews for his support with Project HALOS.
He held the paper out to K:anode, pointing out the name. "Isn't that the guy you were talking about earlier? I think he's the owner of this factory, and probably a part of the Ess government." Which meant he would be the first guy asked to help out the council, and whatever this Project HALOS was. He was sure it had something to do with the disappearances. There didn't seem to be any more information on the papers, but maybe there was something more about Andrews or the council in here. He looked through a couple filing cabinets while trying not to make too much of a mess. If the employees came back and noticed someone had been rummaging through their stuff, the people involved would be trying even harder to stay underground. "We probably shouldn't stick around much longer."
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Post by Reii on May 12, 2011 16:24:18 GMT -5
"Yeah.. go figure I guess."K:anode replied, reading the information. He had heard of that organization, he'd explain in a moment. Now wasn't the time for chit-chat. ]He continued shuffling through pages, becoming increasingly clumsy and impatient.In the corner of his eyes he noticed that the staff were becoming increasingly restless, starting to mumble among each other and cast more glances. Sure enough they'd attract the attention of the supervision, and thus to the two 'demons' in the office. He better hurry and find something. He moved unto the last desk, the least organized. Pages lay scattered everywhere, some falling off unto the ground, tainting them with dirt and splatters of red. Those he ignored. "Meeting at 10pm, Essary House." "Think this is for him?"He asked Clocks, holding the page up, "Not just anyone gets to go ther- oh shiz!"He began, then dropped down below the table. "What are you talking about?!"A voice yelled from across the factory. There had barley been a mumble to be heard, though the sound of the chopping meat and out-of-date machines rolling roared above most other sounds. Quite a distance from them, a man in a cheap suit yelled the odds at any worker which happened to take his fancy. In this moment it was a child of about 12. He continued to converse with the people there, though K:anode could no longer hear them.
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 14, 2011 19:32:12 GMT -5
Clock noted the presence of one of the staff at about the same time as K:anode. He quickly ducked behind a desk, and peered out into the gutting room through the crack in the door. He couldn't make anyone out, and they didn't seem to be coming for the office. At least not at the moment. He had remembered seeing another exit when they had first entered the room, a small wooden door on the left hand side. He wasn't sure where it lead- probably to another meat packing room- but it had to be safer than staying in here. He slid over to the door, and motioned for K:anode to follow.
Turning the handle gently, as not to make too much sound, he pushed open the door and peeked around the corner. Sure enough, it was filled with more workers, stirring huge vats of boiling water and meat. It smelled almost as bad as the previous room, except this was was filled with a noxious steam. He fought the urge to cover his mouth with his hands, and instead decided to address the workers staring at them. "Routine health inspection check. Back to work everyone." He clapped his hands, and surprisingly enough the workers turned back to their frothing tubs of meat. By the state of the place, he guessed that no one had ever even given a thought about heath or safety, let alone sanitation. They needed to get out of here before someone reported them.
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Post by Reii on May 18, 2011 1:25:58 GMT -5
K:anode followed Clocks out through the door, and almost turned back. He'd rather take his chances with some suited guy.. but then, so bad was the smell. But then.. the other room had a lot more blood. He began to sigh, but then found himself momentarily choking on the fumes.
He continued to follow Clocks, having glanced about for anything he should take note of. Now he just looked ahead, occasionally turning to try and find the exit. Surley it would be at one of the walls. Suddenly, the the thick smell and moisture seemed to move away to their right. It was replaced by what seemed like fresh air in comparison, though it was the smoke and grime from the outside world. He looked to left, where the door must be. Someone had come in.
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Post by .:Zodiac:. on May 22, 2011 14:22:13 GMT -5
Fresh air rushed in from outside, startling Clock at first, but he took the opportunity dive back into the mist and out of sight from whoever was entering. He wasn't sure who it was, he didn't get a good look at them, but he darted out the door as soon as the person's back was turned. It was a relief to be back in the relatively clean air. At least compared to what he was breathing in inside the factory. He ran the back of his hand across his mouth, hoping to get rid of the rancid taste still lingering on his tongue. Turning around with eyes squinted in the sunlight, he searched to see if K:anode had made it out as well.
That had been a close call. Too close for his own likings, but he had escaped. If anyone had seen him, well, that was a reprocution he would deal with later. Now that he had an idea who was behind this all, perhaps K:anode would become quite useful. "You said you knew something about where the meeting was being held?"
(OOC; finished, sorry. ;-;)
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Post by Reii on May 29, 2011 9:30:30 GMT -5
K:anode was quite taken aback by the whirl of fresh air which swept through the factory in the moment when the door opened. He paused for a just a moment, focusing his eyes on the person. They narrowed as he tried to remember who this person was -he'd seen their photo before. They clearly weren't apart of the common workforce. The suit gave it away.
These people clearly wore those clothes to just emphasis their position since their was probably already blood splatters on the hems by now.
He didn't have time to think about it though. Seeing Clocks moving behind the man, he followed suit, his small size making it all the easier to go unnoticed. Once outside, he breathed deeply, as if it would clear the taste and smell of rancid meat. It didn't. Instead he started choking on the thick particles of dust.
"Huh? oh..."He began to reply, clearly his throat as best he could. "Uuhm.. yeah. That's the not-very-code, code name for one of Leo's closer associates home. Well, one of his homes."He explained, "Though, when I say closer, not by much. He's too dim witted and nosey to keep his heart beating much longer. Sooner or later Leo will tire of some like him." He shrugged, it wasn't unusual, or his problem.
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