My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscripts

[Tokugawa Hanzo]

After moving what little belongings they had into their dilapidated apartment back in the Susukino District, Hanzo and one of his little brothers, Hachidoku, made their way to the fabled Bibliotheca Conscientiae. The library, being world renowned for the depth of its collections, was the perfect spot to look for potential information on their clan, new techniques, and just about a million other subjects. As Hanzo made his way up the steps and into the building he looked above him at the daunting scale of the architecture which had been laboriously constructed a great many years prior. Hanzo let his brother look at the directory and search for topics which garnered his attention. Hanzo, on the other hand, would wander. He would peruse the vast volumes which sprawled like a bustling civilization before him. One by one he sent out his kikai, subtle enough so that nobody would notice.

Hanzo loved to read and write. It was one of the few activities which provided a worthwhile outlet for his imagination. That is not to say that he thought of his pension for daydreaming as a waste of time. This preoccupation with the universe in his head, however, was not easy to convey to others. Reading others' thoughts and seeing how they put their own minds onto the page inspired Hanzo to do the same. He had a leg up on the competition however. He would send his kikai out to survey the landscape, and after he had found five texts which interested him, he would call them back home. Gathering a little intel on his surroundings, he could more easily traverse this elaborate structure not to mention find the quietest spots to read and study. After finding a nice seat, he would then open all five of his texts and set forth devoting his attention to the one which interested him most. He would assign groups of his kikai to 'read' the other works. Of course they could not readily comprehend the words in front of them, but they could relay the raw information back to Hanzo group by group and eventually a complete picture would be produced in his mind.

He could read five books at once, maybe even more though he had not yet tried. Regardless, his kikaichu were sent out and were exploring the vast reaches of the Bibliotheca Conscientiae. Perhaps they would find someplace truly interesting. If they did, Hanzo supposed he could let Hachidoku in on the secret. Unlike Ranmaru, Hachidoku knew better than to disturb his older brother's studious and creative habits.

 

[Tokugawa Hachidoku]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Hachidoku peered down to the directory in his hands. Having finally gained control of his kikai, Hachidoku's scholarly fire was lit. He wanted to discover all he could, and fast. This library was quite the architectural feat, so he knew what to expect. And yet, he was still taken aback by its shear grandeur. If it wasn't for this directory, he might never find his way in to the right sections, or worse, he might never find his way out! He scanned the directory more closely to find something of interest.


Directory (AkUrO kUnAsHi'S dIrEcTorY fOr DuMmIeS haaaah!)
General Works -------------------------------------------- A
Philosophy, psychology, and religion ---------------- B
History, General ------------------------------------------ C
History, Old World --------------------------------------- D
History, Lightning Country ----------------------------- E
History, Kumogakure ------------------------------------ F
Geography, anthropology, folklore, etc. ----------- G
Social sciences, economics, business, sociology -- H
Political Sciences ----------------------------------------- J
Law --------------------------------------------------------- K
Education -------------------------------------------------- L
Music ------------------------------------------------------- M
Fine arts --------------------------------------------------- N
Philology, linguistics, language, and literature --- P
Science ---------------------------------------------------- Q
Medicine --------------------------------------------------- R
Agriculture ------------------------------------------------ S
Technology ------------------------------------------------ T
Military Science ------------------------------------------ U
Naval science --------------------------------------------- V
Archives --------------------------------------------------- Z

*Hmm...What the...What's this graffiti all about? Huh, whatever. People can be so disrespectful sometimes. Let's see, 'Science' is in 'Q', okay...There might be some cool info about kikai there...or maybe even other bugs...I wonder if other clans have a different sort of parasitic colony. Wasps would be dope. 'Technology' in 'T' and 'Military Science' in 'U' would probably be pretty interesting too. I think I'll hit those up. Wait, where did Hanzo go?*

Hachidoku looked down the hall in time to notice Hanzo making his way off. He didn't want to pester his older brother, especially when he was going his own way. It never seemed to end well when you got in Hanzo's way when he was on the prowl. With his thumb in the air, Hachidoku sent word to Hanzo. "Hey bro, I'm headed to the Science section!"

 

[Tokugawa Hanzo]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Hanzo heard a woman shush his brother some paces away as he set off to browse the library. He had picked up a book on horticulture called Sowing the Soul: Gardening and Spiritual Energy in the hopes that it would teach him about more medicinal herbs than were available in his destroyed home of Shimo Kimura. He also grabbed a romantic comedy play called The Stolen Kiss and a sociological text entitled Cultural Transmission Theory in the Habitus. Surely these disparate works would be interesting reads. He thought he would take it easy with three works this time around.

As his kikaichu came back in to home base, Hanzo had received information of a certain point of interest in the library. In a section containing old periodicals cataloged for later perusal, Hanzo's kikai had found a person. This person was completely immobile. Perhaps something was wrong with them. He took off immediately to investigate the situation, hoping he could make it to the isolated part of the grand library in time. Almost nobody would traverse the old periodicals section of the library. Even he, being from the country, knew that. Entering the section, not far from the archives, a slightly sweet yet musty smell began to emanate from somewhere nearby. Upon reaching the person's location things took a turn for the worse. It was the stench of death, and not a fresh one either.

Hanzo stared at the mostly dessicated corpse of a boy, maybe in his teens or just shy of them, as it hung attached to the large shelf by some piece of slightly degraded fabric due to the body's decomposition. Among volumes of journals from over three decades ago the body was hunched over ever so slightly, the head peering downward as it was thrust forward from some sort of final inertia. After a few minutes of investigating, Hanzo had found the culprit. It appeared the boy's foot was stuck in the shelf, and in some very bizarre accident he had tripped forward and was strangled. His clothes were covered in decomposed remains and were piled around the boy's ankles and shins most likely due to the body's loss of mass since death. The arms were stuck in a downward position as if trying to quickly grab for something that had fallen. It was an unfortunate sight, and he was not quite sure what to make of it. He sent out a few kikai to find Hachidoku with the order of ever so gently nudging his brother toward his direction. Maybe he could make heads or tails of this situation. Surely Hanzo could not.

 

[Tokugawa Hachidoku]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Hachidoku was perusing through the shelf when something caught his eye. There sat a rather large and tattered book. “A good bet”, he muttered. Upon the worn, green binding of the book, he saw the golden inscription ‘Insectlopedia’. Flipping through, it seemed there was a great deal of information on some rather peculiar bugs. Beating the book to the table, Hachidoku began to read. To his surprise, he found the most bizarre evolutionary adaptations, ranging from giant beetles with horns shooting explosive chemicals to small, seemingly harmless, floppy worms eating frogs. One ‘Dementor Wasp’ even feasted on zombiefied cockroaches!

He suddenly felt a familiar humming in his ears. It was similar to the usual hum of his kikai, but this one sounded so ever slightly different. He found the source of such scrutiny. It was indeed a kikai, but not his. As soon as the kikai garnished his attention, it flew two aerial loops and headed slowly down the aisle. His curiosity peaked, Hachidoku didn’t have time to put the book back onto the shelf, so instead he took it with him. His newly found guide gracefully twisted in and out of the aisles, delving deeper and deeper through the masses of book-covered walls. The section was dark. Dust was everywhere. It appeared this section hadn’t seen much attendance, if any at all in recent years. Just a few more yards ahead of him, Hachidoku could see the back of his brother.

Walking over a pile of scattered magazines, Hachidoku nearly slipped, ripping some of the covers in the process. Stuck to his shoe was a torn portion of one of those pages. Bending over to grab the scrap, Hachidoku’s nose was assaulted by the most pungent of smells. “Oh my god! Ugh! What is that smell?” Hachidoku exclaimed. He looked down to the scrap in his hand. Realizing he must have torn an aquatic periodical of some kind judging by the 3 purple squid tentacles, he promptly dropped the paper. He didn’t care much for aquatic creatures anyhow. Hanzo appeared unmoved by the commotion and approaching from behind, Hachidoku soon stumbled upon the cause of Hanzo’s paralysis. He too, was beheld in awe.

There it lay, the decrepit corpse…

 

[Tokugawa Hanzo]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Hanzo heard some shuffling behind him accompanied by the unpleasant sound of pages being torn as Hachidoku slipped on some of the periodicals strewn about the floor. Most likely these loose texts found their home on the shelf upon which the poor, deceased boy was hanged. Hanzo heard Hachidoku exclaim his astonishment, taken aback by the smell. Hanzo remembered the ribbing his little brother had received from the librarian, so he made sure to reinforce the quiet policy. "Quiet, brother. This is a library, remember? What do you make of this scene?" He motioned toward the body of the boy as it dangled on the shelf.

Hanzo was not sure what to make of it himself, but he was hoping his brother might have some fresh perspective on the issue. Hopefully he would not be too startled by the appearance of a body in the library. Though Hanzo was resolute in his reticence, he did not wish to incur the wrath of the librarians. Nor did he wish to garner any unnecessary attention to the spectacle that lay before them. He hoped Hachidoku could compose himself as he examined the body with his brother.

 

[Tokugawa Hachidoku]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

"Sorry, sorry...it's just...gahhhd that smell...Let's see here." Hachidoku peered around the scene, trying to take in every detail he could. The boy looked rather young in age. Looking around, Hachidoku suddenly noticed strange markings on the floor next to the corpse's left leg. He bent down for a closer look, making sure to seal his nostrils from the pungeunt fumes. The floor beneath the body appeared to be stained with the fluids of rotting flesh. However, it appeared that some of those fluids were simply lying atop another stain, noticeable by the odd markings. About the width of a finger, it became increasingly apparent that these were likely left in the final remaining seconds of this poor boy's life. *This was too odd and coincidental to have been an accident.* Hachidoku began to stand upright, twisting as he rose to face his brother. He glanced back one last time at the markings to ensure their existence. "No freaking way..." Hachidoku approached the marks. Sure enough, just as he had suspected. These were no ordinary marks, they were letters.

Hachidoku had to know what they said. He dared ever closer to the rotted figure in hopes to make out the message. The marks were difficult to read due to their sloppy nature. One would probably need a black light to get a clear translation, but even then, the shades of light might be difficult to read. Still, Hachidoku would do the best he could to ensure the victim some closure, so that his spirit might find release. "Le...Let...Lets...Fig...Fighting...Lun...no...Love? Lets fighting love? What? That doesn't make any sense...Well, I can tell there is some sort of message here, but I can't read it." He looked to the handand noticed a strange white color emitting between the philanges. *What's this?* He reached toward the hand, careful not to touch the bone, and swiftly plucked the whiteness from its clutches. He examined the object. "Huh, it looks like some old sneezerag. Ew and it's stiff too, gross." He tossed the rag down and turned to Hanzo. "Dude, I don't know...but if this was suicide, this kid must have had some serious daddy issues."

 

[Tokugawa Hanzo]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

"Let's fighting love..." Hanzo's voice trailed off as he repeated the phrase. "Do not touch. We have to call this in to...to someone. Put that rag back. It may have been used to drug the boy."

Hanzo backed away from the scene a bit, resting his back against the opposite shelf from the body. As he backed up he bumped into something. His topknot had made contact with a piece of faded paper which had been crudely taped to the shelf. It would have been in the boy's field of vision at the time of death, and there was no way someone would just post this piece of paper here with a dead body and pay it no mind. This was definitely a clue as to what went down here.

"Look," Hanzo stated as he indicated the sheet with two outstretched fingers. He hoped his brother would get some insight from the piece of paper. Hanzo examined it briefly, making sure not to rustle it in any way. The paper had been folded in half many times it appeared as there were consistent crease lines both horizontally and vertically across the page. It appeared to be from another periodical; a popular issue apparently. On the page, faded as it was, was what appeared to be an orange octopus wrestling with a diver while a shark swam above. The crease lines made it difficult to determine exactly what the diver was doing, but the shark appeared to be simply observing the showdown between the other aquatic creature and the human. Perhaps this was a message to anyone who would come across the body. Maybe they had found a clue to some uncaught serial killer. Hanzo had to find out.

 

[Tokugawa Hachidoku]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Hachidoku quickly snatched the paper from Hanzo's hand eager to explore its secrets. To his dismay, it appeared to be just another stupid aquatic periodical. He visually scavanged every inch of the image, desperately searching for some sort of discrepency. He read the title to himself. 'Swimming With SeaMen' didn't seem too out of the ordinary, though it was a bit spunky for a periodical and the editor obviously messed up the spacing between Sea and Men. He glanced over the octupus. His eyes dove over the long, smooth tentacles. He observed how they hung, elegant and weightless, in the cool waters. He saw the way they gently wrapped around the shins of the diver, as if to pull him ever closer. For a moment, it was as if he was there watching...disgusted by it. He hated octopuses, they were gross. He hated the way the could somehow stretch past physically possible means. He hated how they always smelled so fishy. But most of all, he hated their awfully salty, slimy taste. It was like eating pure sweat.

He handed the paper back to Hanzo, and delivered a shrug. He had no idea where to go with this lead and he certainly didn't want it to take him to the same destination it may have taken the victim. "I have no idea where we even are...and I really gotta pee." He pulled the Directory from his back pocket and noticed even more graffiti on the back. His curiosity peaked, he quickly scanned it. It was a poem. Just another seemingly meaningless, unrelated strand of mumbo jumbo. "Seriously, graffiti in the library is so unimaginitive. Like this crap.

'If at first one reads and does not see: try, try again,
For every ten words recieved, lies a treasure therein.'

It's so pointless. Anyways, I really need to find the restroom and return this Insectlopedia book. It has worn out its welcome in my arms at this point. Seems to be useless as a reference now."

 

[Tokugawa Hanzo]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

"Hmmm..." was all Hanzo could say in response to his brother's abrupt commentary after he briefly analyzed the paper. "Go on then. I will take care of this," he told the teenager as he continued to survey the scene. Hanzo could just not quite piece together what had happened here, and his kikaichu had given him as much information as they could. Regardless, he had absolutely no jurisdiction in this matter. In fact, it was probably best that the two siblings kept their distance from this forensics nightmare lest they contaminate the area even more. There was just one last thing he had to do. He reached in one of the deceased's pockets and retrieved a card of some kind. Perhaps it was his library card. Hanzo quickly scanned the small piece of cardstock for information. He was not disappointed. "It appears he is Ryu...Chig...su...this is incomplete." The fluids from the decomposing corpse had tainted the card, and combined with the wrinkles the two forces had eroded a great portion of the ink. He quickly replaced the card in the boy's pocket.

Moving to quickly catch up with his younger brother Hanzo made a quick note to him, "I think it best we leave." And with that, Hanzo made his way to the front desk to speak with the head librarian.

 

[Tokugawa Hachidoku]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Getting out of this situation was actually the first thing on Hachidoku's mind. Well, that and he really did have to pee. Killing two birds with one stone was actually one of Hachidoku's favorite moves. He hated wasting energy, so convenience and conservation were on the priority list. Heading toward the exit in a brisk pace, Hachidoku kept his peripherals on an important task -Locate and lock down the first restroom you see. His eyes finally found their target and his feet soon followed in pursuit. Making a beeline for the porcelein, he veered from his brother's path. His anxiety grew as he neared the bathroom entrance. His gut reaffirmed the stress with quivers of pain. A few more strides in, Hachidoku made it, and just in time too. After a bit of business, he emerged from the stall door, carrying his now weightless frame, and headed to the sink to finish the job. A little soap, a bit of water, and a dry towel sent Hachidoku on his way. He ventured forth to the front entrance of the bibliotecha to use it's identical exit. If he pressed the button right, he would soon stimulate the erect door open, and release himself into the wide open world before him. He did it, with a figuratively wagging tail. Ahh, the day was good.

OoC: Topic Left, homies

 

[Tokugawa Hanzo]

Re: My Magnum Opus: The Mystery of the Malodorous Manuscript

Hanzo approached, with some apprehension, the front desk of the vast Bibliotheca Conscientiae. This was going to be a difficult sell, but he had a strategy. A few moments before entering within sight of the desk, Hanzo had pulled a transformation maneuver donning the appearance of a farmer from his old village. The librarian surely would not know such an obscure person, and it would help Hanzo and his brother make a clean getaway.

As he finally made it to the front desk, Hanzo noticed that there stood a beautiful woman with brown hair and glass wearing a nametag that said, "Amaya." It was too bad he could not reveal his true identity to her; not like he would have any idea what to say to her at a time like this. "Excuse me...Amaya, is it? I think there is something you really need to see near the archives in the old periodicals section. It is quite urgent." That was all Hanzo said as he briskly walked toward the entrance, pushed open the door, and made his way to the closest alley he could find.

After releasing his transformation jutsu, he left the alley and proceeded home. This was quite the adventure. He would need to get his library card some other time.

Topic Left, Topic Dead (Unless ANBU wants to take it over)