Time [S+S]

[Kari]

She was sitting at the inn, sharing the table with a young appearing kid; he was tall and lanky in build, wearing a sleeveless shirt, revealing strange tattoos that probably meant more to the people in the area than to her. He was one of the several people she extended the offer to to search for any information they could on people who may know anything about these "time freezes" that had been occurring to her; she didn't know any better way to describe the phenomena, which was likely the reason for minimal success. It was also the reason she was surprised someone had actually come back with any kind of results.

"Well?" the guy asked, extending his bony hand, fingers outreaching. He demanded the Yen she had promised as reward for any decent information; what little she had would be gone with this transaction -- the information had better be worth something; she would be broke, she may have to resort to thievery, or worse, to survive -- she handed him the small cloth pouch. He shook it first, it jingled annoying loud in response; content with how it sounded, he then opened it and counted the coin. It wasn't much -- a few thousand Yen -- but it was all she had, and was as much as she was offering.

It was a bit amusing, how intent he was on not being cheated a single Yen he believed he desired. "Satisfied?" she finally asked, after giving the boy some time with his inconsequential sum of money, smirking all the while.

"Yeah," the guy responded slowly, his gaze still on the coin, likely counting it a second time before he was completely contended. "I think I am," he finally added, glancing up finally to her after some time. She didn't have his full attention, but he seemed as though he was finally ready to share whatever information he had found. This was the City of Merchants, after all; money was of the highest priority. The client came second.

"There's this doctor," he started, bagging the coin all the while, "well, researcher, more really. Goes by the name Hitoko; he lives in the city and I hear he's been looking into stuff that was explained to me like your 'time freezes.' I passed him your name and told'm to expect you sometime today--"

"Wait," Kimiko stopped the guy there, "you don't know my name, though. Who'd you tell him I was?"

"Yeah? I said some pretty girl about your height -- what are'ya? 'bout five an' a half? -- with long red hair would be coming to seem him. I don't expect he gets a lot of people like that. Or, ya'know, ladies," he chuckled quietly at his own jab. From one of his pockets, he withdrew a folded piece of paper; it was stained with some kind of brown fluid. "Here's directions to his place, figured I could get as much. Will'ya be needing anything else?"

Kimiko took the paper and unfolded it -- if he was going to be so particular, why couldn't she? -- it wasn't a map, but rather, written directions from the inn, where she told people to meet her, to the research facility the doctor could be found. The handwriting was difficult to read, but she could transcribe it well enough; he also had the courtesy to write in common rather than any kind of local dialect. "This will work just fine. Thanks, I'll call out to you if I need anything else done while I'm in the area," she bowed her head slightly.

"Well," he pushed his arms on the table to lift himself up, "if that's it, I'll be going. Thanks for the job," he thanked again and left.

He hadn't ordered anything while sitting with her in the inn; she hadn't ordered anything either. The whole meeting might've seemed strange, were she not a tenant of the place (perhaps it was even then!).

---

She didn't leave immediately; for a while, she wandered the inn, polling people more or less at random, asking them whether they knew this doctor or could point to where these directions pointed to on a map. The results were less than fruitful: it seemed the people who frequented these parts didn't care too much about scientific advancement, and, because of such, didn't follow any local researchers. Where they pointed her to was consistent, at the very least: it was a housing complex closer to the wall; it was perhaps an hour by foot, if she walked.

The town was no less busy than it ever was; there were people abound: your vendors and merchants shouting and dealing with the civilians and travelers, more than happen to pass a pouch of Yen for whatever trinkets and goods they had to offer. Guards were posted every few blocks, keeping a lazy eye out for any thievery, which seemed to happen rare enough that each attempt went unnoticed. There was a small caravan making its way down the road: three men, each with a large sword, fashioned in the shape of the other weapons in the area, at their hips. They carried a single wagon, with few crates. Farther down the road, there were musicians and entertainers attracting ever-growing crowds; the songs were drowned out with clatter of peoples' chatter and shouts and laughter and the constant cacophony of movement. The street was fragranted with the conflicting sweet scents of baked goods, underlined with more strange incense, and the putrid fecal matter which lined the streets from the ever-present horses and pack-animals which carried goods throughout the day.

That wasn't her destination.

Almost as soon as she had joined it, she broke from the crowd, bringing her into a far less crowded secondary road. It was dim here; compared to the lively merchant's street she had just been, this place seemed like a slum -- perhaps it was! Sitting, back against one of the bricked walls, an older man was unconscious; his clothing was tattered, and a jacket she presumed was his he used as a blanket; in the hand farthest from her, he held, with dear life, a bottle in hand. Its contents likely some kind of alcohol. Bins of rubbish and boxes that had yet to be opened sat together by locked doors.She quietly passed through, cutting into the road that would lead her to one which would bring her directly into the housing district and closer to the complex this doctor was working from -- she had yet to question why he didn't have any think tank facility or hospital or a research facility of any kind; that would be something she would ask him directly, no bother letting her imagination work itself up -- it was the closest way to it without crossing any rooftops. She had yet to show herself as a shinobi -- ex-shinobi, actually -- so seeming more civilian-esque required her to travel normally.

The sun had just set underneath the wall when she reached the complex. It was a large building, perhaps three stories, several rooms in either direction. The entrance was locked and only had a buzzer to enter. Was this really just some kind of apartment complex? What kind of shoddy work did this guy do?

She left her thoughts behind and buzzed for the doctor.

Part 1 - Fin
WC: 1221​

 

[Kari]

The sun had just set underneath the wall; the block was illuminated by the evening sun and the block lights were just springing into life. The building itself had lights on in most rooms, but remained quiet enough that she couldn't tell if anyone was actually around -- of course there were, but the idea still held. The building was bricked, like all the others around; the door was a natural wood, windowless. To its side was an old-appearing simple electronic switch: a buzzer, one of those up and coming things that people were starting to grab for their own convenience.

She pressed and held the button for a moment; it lit itself and vibrated. From inside, she could hear the buzzing noise, a grating noise that would attract the attention of anyone, awake or asleep.

No immediate answer.

She released the button and waited, hugging her other arm and turning her attention to the empty street. Were it as busy as the one the inn, the two streets may've been indistinguishable. Where vendors had been, houses lay in a perfect row, each identical to the prior. In place of packages and the homeless were some kids playing in the small alleyways, alongside bins of rubbish. It was quiet and peaceful; much nicer than the merchant district of the city were you to live here.

Her observations were interrupted by loud footsteps; she turned around and the door was opening. She was met with an elderly woman, shooting at her some kindly, expectant smile. Her hair was wispy over a scalp pink from ceaseless contact with a bed; each step she made seemed uncertain and carefully placed, as though any step now would be her last; she was thin in face and stared at Kimiko with dark, beady brown eyes behind thick spectacles. She wore a clean, white robe akin to what was offered to patients at a hospital. "Are you here to see my son?" she asked, voice shaky.

Son? Was this the doctor's mother? She hesitated on answering, before asking the inevitable question. "Dr. Hitoko is your son?" Was this researcher truly doing his work at his mother's residence?

"Oh no, my Kei isn't a doctor. Little Hitoko helps out with the caretakers here. You're here to see him? Come in, come in," the woman pulled the door further open, revealing a dark hallway, befitting a home of apparent elderly. She stepped away from the door slowly, uncertainly; Kimiko stepped inside, following her lead, but staying close, as she hadn't confidence in the woman caring for herself.

It was a dark building; most doors were closed; the few that weren't revealed elderly men and women eating and preparing for bed with their various rituals. Paintings of scenery of distant landscapes and assorted baskets of flowers. The hall wasn't long; it lasted until the building's center, at which was a staircase going only a single floor up.

"I'm afraid I don't have it in me to take the stairs, but he's the only room there. I hope you're the girl he was waiting on, you're a pretty one," the woman gave some kind of wink and patted her on the back softly once they reached the hall's end. Kimiko mumbled a thanks and started up the staircase, stopping a few steps up to watch the elderly woman leave to her room before finishing the short travel needed to meet this doctor.

She didn't knock; she didn't wait when she approached the sole door on the floor. She pushed it open: directly before her was a child -- young teen, perhaps? Yet to have reached puberty, or was at its beginning -- facing a plethora of scattered papers. He was hunched, referencing several papers in sequence, mumbling to himself something unintelligible. The room was entirely un-illuminated safe for a lamp at the desk the kid worked from; stacks of papers and cabinets filled the room.

It was no doubt the entrance was loud; however, the kid seemed engrossed in his work. He entirely ignored her, or was good at hiding any semblance of surprise without facing her. He didn't turn, he kept his attention towards whatever information the papers held. Kimiko wasn't sure how to react. Where was the doctor? Who was this kid?

WC: 711​