"Falco"

She followed the stranger out of the cell, keeping her attention on both where she was walking and the map displayed in front of her. It was better this way, since they would be able to navigate far easier, and it’d show their proximity to any guards they happened to run into. Easiest for them to avoid conflict. Well, she hoped they wouldn’t have to fight at all. She wasn’t a strain or anything, so the most she could do here in this strange virtual world was…her hacking skills. 

But perhaps if push came to shove she’d be able to create some sort of block to protect them, perhaps a wall between them and anyone who came at them? But coding something like that would definitely take time, and she wasn’t sure if she’d have enough time for something like that. She’d keep it on the back burner at least. It didn’t hurt to have contingency plans. 

Still…she was surprised at just how quiet it was. Even though she was trying to make as little noise as possible, the fact it was so silent felt…unnatural. The map didn’t display anything unusual, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be walking right into a trap. 

“It’s…a lot quieter than I expected,” she murmured, barely above a whisper as they ascended the steps. Then again, they were the only ones here. Had they given them lax security or something..?

Falco didn’t answer the girl’s observations, being able to see that himself. Plus, a response only made more noise in the uncanny silence, and he didn’t want to risk that. As he reached the top step, he peered around the corner of the stairwell. Nothing to the left. The right was the same.

The sound of a door opening in the distance, followed by the sounds of two, three sets of footsteps and a noise like something being dragged across the floor, caused Falco to duck back into the stairwell. “Shit,” he hissed under his breath.

“Yeah, best to assume most people we’ll encounter, especially in this building, aren’t going to be very friendly,” she nodded, grateful the odd situation at least gave her something else to focus on so she wasn’t preoccupied with the fact she had to interact with a total stranger. At the very least, with her mind focused on the information and planning, she felt calm. Well. Calmer than normal.

“It shouldn’t take us two hours at least. As long as we can get to this room here,” she gestured on the map, “we should be able to bypass most of the building. If I can alter the code, I can just make us a door, but it’s a bit harder to do it underground.” That’d involve either coding a tunnel or a new staircase and room, and she didn’t think they had the time for that. Disguises could be helpful though, so she’d keep that in mind if they happened to run into more.

“Alright then,” she nodded, her fingers flying over the keys to alter the coding for the security camera, looping the footage to give them enough time to start moving. A few more taps of the keys and the cell door swung open. As quickly as she could, she rose to her feet, keeping the map displayed to guide them.

“Okay, let’s go while we’ve got the cover.” This was…actually sort of cool. It felt like she was in some sort of spy movie, or anime. The tiniest of grins found its way onto her lips. Maybe this wouldn’t be that bad.

For as terrified as this girl seemed whenever she had first woken up, Falco was honestly a little surprised to see that she was so ready to take action to get out. She seemed the type to just curl up and accept her fate initially, but he couldn’t say he hated that she took his order fairly easily. As the cell door swung open, Falco stepped out into the open, looking up and down the rows of cells, listening for any sign of movement or life among the lines of bars.

None. It really was just them imprisoned down here. So were the rest of the people in this town brainwashed and yielding to the wills of those people? It was weird. And Falco had seen and experienced incredibly weird stuff in his lifetime, but even that seemed a bit much.

Uwahh, he definitely meant business, huh? He’d said something like that so easily. What was this, a movie?! Futaba swallowed hard, taking care to hold herself back from making comments like that. She had no idea if she could completely trust this guy, and there was no telling if making a comment like that would set him off or something. Best to just play it safe and keep those sort of things to herself. “Mm, well if you really want one, I probably could?” Maybe she should make one for herself too..

At his question, she turned her attention back to the keyboard, fingers flying across the keys once more as she searched. “It’s not actually that big. It’s mostly just branching hallways it looks like, more cells like this, but I don’t think there’s anyone in them. At least, it’s not showing anyone in them.” She lifted her finger to point at the display that appeared in the air above the keyboard, displaying a map of the floor they were currently on. Only one cell was marked. “This is where we are now. It’s lit up while the others are all grayed out, so that makes me think we’re the only ones here.” 

She didn’t really want to think about the fact there might have been more people and those shady guys had done something to them, so she was just going to shove it out of her mind. But at least, with a keyboard in front of her, she felt a bit more secure. At least reasonably comfortable enough that she could deal with a random stranger. “As for patrols..” A few more taps and another screen appeared on top of the map. “I found this schedule, and according to that I’d say we have fifteen minutes, give or take, before someone comes down here to check on us. It looks like they switch guards out every two hours too.” 

“That should at least be enough time for us to get up to the next floor. But before we hit the stairs, I’ll likely need to tamper with the security camera. If I loop the footage for a few seconds, we should be able to get by undetected, then we won’t have to worry about more guards coming down on top of us.”

Falco shrugged. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’m not sure how all of your technology stuff works, anyway.” Not that Falco anticipated getting shot or dying here in the first place, but he knew when he was outnumbered, and he liked stacking the odds in his favor as much as he could. Plus, he still had his ability he could use if it came down to it... but he would rather hold off on that, as well. That sort of thing was best kept under wraps.

Falco looked at the map and where the girl was pointing, listening to her explanation and formulating plans as he processed the information she was feeding to him. “Even if we weren’t the only ones here, I don’t know if anyone else would be out to help us. Use us, maybe.” Though that’s exactly what they were doing with each other, isn’t it? At the very least, this girl had a more valuable skill than Falco did, so if there was anyone else, Falco wouldn’t be much concern to them.

“Alright so... fifteen minutes to get to the next floor with new guards every two hours. Perhaps we could use the shift change to our advantage, but if this damn place is big enough to take us two hours to get out, we may be in over our heads. Unless we disguise ourselves or something.”

lovethatremains​:

Her eyes widened as she saw the man drop to the ground, hurriedly looking around for anyone she could call out to for help, but it didn’t look like anyone was around now. She bit her lip, drawing in a deep breath, knowing she only had a limited time if she wanted to make sure she saved this man’s life. There was no telling how deep the wound was. The best thing to do was to get him somewhere safe and then call for help.

With some effort, she managed, albeit a bit miraculously if she was being honest–thank goodness for the above average strength Strains had, to get him in the front door before rushing off to one of their neighbors that had medical knowledge. It was always a blessing whenever her grandfather had an issue, that there was someone nearby who could help, unless it was something serious. 

Thankfully, after a thorough examination, the wound was deemed non-life threatening. It had missed anything vital so he’d be fine with some stitches, though he’d lost a fair amount of blood, so it was probably better that he stayed put for a while, at least until he gained his strength back. With a relieved sigh, Akari thanked her neighbor and began to go about her usual routine.

She left some painkillers and a glass of water on the table nearby, knowing hte man would probably be too sore to move a whole lot when he regained consciousness. The next best thing she could do was prepare a good meal that’d help him get some energy back, but was light enough it wouldn’t cause an upset stomach. 

Rolling her sleeves up, she got to work, noting with amusement this was the second time she’d had to carry someone home.

“The city’s gotten a little more dangerous lately though, hasn’t it…” She’d have to make sure she kept a sharper eye out for her younger sisters…

Falco couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not. After he passed out, he was vaguely aware of someone looming above him, some speaking he couldn’t make out, a few other things that he was too hazy to process. He’d been drifting in and out of consciousness, but wasn’t able to remain fully awake. He’d lost all sense of time, but by the time he had fully woken up, the sun had gone down.

The room he had found himself in was wholly unfamiliar to him, but it definitely didn’t seem like a hospital ceiling. It seemed like a house, but who would be dumb enough to just take a random grown man into their house? Still, it was true that he had just collapsed in the street and it could’ve been a lot worse if he had just been left there. So perhaps a bit of gratitude was in order.

As he started to sit up, a strong ache ran through his body and he gritted his teeth, inhaling sharply. He looked around and spotted the pills and glass of water on the table. Wary, he examined the pills and chose not to take them or drink the water. Someone who took him in wouldn’t necessarily have reason to wish further harm upon him, but Falco learned not to trust appearances.

Shakily, he rose to his feet, trying to ignore the pain in his torso. He heard the sound of someone moving around in another room of the house, and he slowly tried to make his way to the source of it. There, he found a young woman in the kitchen, preparing food. She seemed a bit familiar, the first thing in this house that he could ever recall seeing. Which meant...

Send ‘Misfortune’s Calling’ for my muse to give yours a dark fortune from a misfortune cookie.

Well, it might not have been a smart idea, that was true. Especially when she definitely didn’t know this guy. He had a weird vibe about him as it was, so it would probably be a bad idea in any normal situation. She wasn’t sure if she could trust him yet, but at least here with a gun made of code, she could put a fail-safe into it. Something he wouldn’t know about. Well, of course, there were always ways around it, but at the very least, she’d made sure he wouldn’t be able to use that gun against her. 

“Do you want something else?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as her fingers hovered over the holographic keys. “I figured it was the most fitting for this situation.” Considering those suit guys probably had guns too, it just made more sense. Was probably safer too. She definitely didn’t trust herself to wield one, but she had a feeling he would be able to make better use of it than she would. 

If he tried anything, she could just zap him. Or mess with the code to trap him. But that was a bridge she’d cross when she got to it. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that at all, but she got the feeling she couldn’t be too careful. 

“That seems like the best course of action for now,” she agreed. At least he saw her skills as valuable, that meant her survival was secured. “Fair enough. I wouldn’t be able to get out of here on my own, so I’ll leave the fighting to you.” A tentative agreement, a shaky alliance to ensure their escape….it’d do for now. 

“Deal.” She hesitated for a moment before giving his hand a quick shake before withdrawing just as quickly. “We should at least be able to get out of this room without any issues. We can get to a flight of stairs to get onto the ground floor but from there that’s when it’s gonna get tricky. By then, they’ll probably have noticed we’ve escaped, since there’s a camera on the stairs. So we’re gonna have to move pretty fast.”

“No. I’ve got experience with a gun, and I’d rather take lives than lose mine.” He was sugarcoating it, but no matter. “Unless you want to fashion a bulletproof vest for me, I’m fine with just this.”

Falco couldn’t promise the girl’s safety once they had broken out of this place, but really... this entire situation was bizarre. He couldn’t even tell if this was reality or not, but either way, it was better to play it safe. The quick handshake sealed their alliance and he listened to the information that the girl fed him.

Wow, this guy was pretty rude, huh? Futaba bit her tongue, holding back a snarky comment. As if she’d have any idea what was going on when she woke up here, he didn’t have to be so blunt with his disappointment. She huffed out a breath, reasoning it wasn’t worth it to get worked up over a comment like that when there were more important things to worry about than that. 

“Of course I do,” she grumbled. “I want to go back home, in my room…I have daily logins I’ve got to get..” It was muttered more to herself than him, but she was sure he probably wouldn’t understand it anyway. Well, hopefully none of her login streaks would be broken by this….whatever this actually was. 

At his next question, she blinked and took in their surroundings, adjusting her glasses as she watched the weird flickering he was talking about. It was true, but there was…something else she was seeing there. It almost looked like she was seeing bits and pieces of coding flickering across the bars. She squinted and slowly shuffled over to the bars, trying to get a closer look. 

Sure enough, strings of coding flickered and ran over the surface of the bars. But not only the bars…everything in the room. “It’s coding,” she remarked, mystified. “Everything in here is covered in coding…Let me try something.” Well, not that she knew exactly how she was going to do it..

It took a bit of prodding, but she managed to select one of those code strings and highlight it, prompting a holographic keyboard to appear before her. Now she was in her element. Expertly, her fingers flew over the keys, seeking out commands and shortcuts. Now she’d know how to bring up that keyboard again without having to fight with the coding. But knowing that…it gave her an idea. She dove into the coding of the bars, changing certain lines, and just as she hit save, the bars flickered out of existence entirely. 

A grin tugged at her lips. “Perfect. There’s a map of this place too. Looks like we’re underground, so we’ll have to get out of this area. But I should be able to open a door once we get up there so we can get out without trying to get to the actual entrance. But just in case we run into those goons again..” A few more runs over the keyboard and she’d inputted an entirely new string of coding. With that, a gun appeared before him and a taser appeared for her. “Now we can fight back.”

Falco watched as the girl plucked a piece of code from the bars before them and materialized a keyboard out of nowhere. This whole situation had definitely gone far above his head, but all that mattered was that the two of them were free for now. So this girl definitely had more experience with technology than Falco himself did, so that was going to be a benefit to keeping her around. If the rest of this world functioned in the same way, then he would need her, as much as he preferred to work alone.

He nodded as she explained the map of the place. He briefly wondered if it would be better to follow her or take the charge and have her instruct him on where to go. Both were equally frustrating to Falco. He didn’t think about it too long before she procured a couple of weapons.

“Giving a gun to a stranger, huh?” Falco grabbed the gun and turned it over in his hands, examining it. It certainly looked and felt real enough, but there was only one way to find out if it would actually serve its purpose. But, of course, he’d just determined it was wiser to leave this girl alive for now, so he would just have to test it out on something else.

“Then I guess we’re sticking together for now. Those guys probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill us if they found us out of our cell, and it would be a problem for me if you died.” Falco smirked. “But I won’t hesitate to kill them to survive either. And as long as you can get us out of here with that hacking of yours, I’m willing to make sure you make it out of this place alive.”

Though the tinges of dissatisfaction remained in the pit of Date’s stomach, he knew a dead end when he reached one. Regardless of the sense of eerie dread he felt, he no doubt would have better luck searching elsewhere for his clues. Cementing this resolve with a sigh, Date turned around, rubbing the back of his head as he thought about his next steps in the investigation.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the man offering an unexpected tip. “Oh, a young man?” Immediately, he had to wonder how something like that didn’t come up sooner. But rather than dwelling on such ultimately unimportant details, it was definitely more urgent for him to investigate said young man. “Hmmm. Thanks for the info. I’ll go look into that.”

Trepidation clung heavy to Date as he set off to search for the mentioned storehouse down the street, hindering each step as it grew and festered in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn’t right. Well, of course it wasn’t. He wasn’t exactly out here on a leisure trip, after all. He was out here on an investigation, so it was only natural to assume that he’d stumble upon something ghastly.

Falco nodded as Date repeated the information that Falco had so graciously given the detective. “I can’t be sure if it’s related to the case you’re currently looking into, but I’m worried about what it could be... perhaps that’s why my niece was so shaken up,” he commented, feigning intrigue.

“Ah, but nevertheless, be careful, officer Date. You never know who’s out there, or what danger could lurk behind any given corner. It might even be right before your eyes.” Falco smiled at the detective, the false amicability obscuring the self-satisfied feelings swelling in the dark-haired man’s chest. “Have a good night, and good luck.”

Well, this wasn’t how she wanted her day to go. Maybe this was a sign she really should just never go outside. She’d at least wanted to try. She wanted to get to Akihabara but that wasn’t happening, but the little secondhand shop near LeBlanc had seemed more manageable…at least, until this happened. There were those weird guys in suits who suddenly came out of nowhere after the worst feeling of vertigo she’d ever had, and now this? Waking up in a cell because she’d refused to go with those creeps?

This was like some kind of movie, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what. She huffed and rubbed her eyes, slowly sitting up as she squinted at her surroundings. Damn, even smudging her glasses? She grumbled to herself for a moment as she did her  best to clean them with the bottom of her shirt. She was just sliding them onto her face when a new voice spoke up.

“UWAH!?” she jolted, her head whipping around to stare at the male. Had he been there the whole time? Well, at least she wasn’t alone, she supposed. But still…she didn’t do well with strangers. And by that, she didn’t “do” at all and avoided anyone and everyone (aside Sojiro) like the plague. 

“U-uh, y…yeah,” she managed after a moment of fumbling. “I was..o-on my way to the secondhand shop near my house and then…this.” God, did she really have to talk? She was already feeling sick to her stomach. Please let this just be a fever dream, she begged. 

Just from the way she spoke, Falco could reason that she was scared out of her wits. The fact that she answered his question at all stunned him. He hadn’t even given her a reason to be scared yet, but maybe people found that just waking up in weird situations like this was enough to shake them. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t dislike the situation as it was, but probably for entirely different reasons than this girl.

“Huh. So asking you wasn’t helpful at all.” He figured as much, but he didn’t mask his disappointment. “Still, looks like it’s just you and me in here. So we’ll have to make this work if we want to get out of here. You do want to get out of here, right?” Falco had certain matters to attend to outside of this cell.

Ultimately, the notes he jotted down had little more than the man’s legal name, the nickname he’d thrown out there, the date and time Date had accosted him, and just the testimony he’d shared about his supposed niece. Honestly, the story itself fit the circumstances rather well. Still, just in case, he issued a quick internal order to his partner. “Thermal scan.” Once again, the image in his left eye shifted, this time giving way to a much more colorful view as Aiba activated her infrared sensors. What he was looking for, of course, was just any kind of large, uncommon spike in the heat pattern of the male’s body, as people’s temperature tended to rise when lying. However, he spotted no such anomalies, and had to concede that he appeared to be telling the truth.

His temperature is normal. He… doesn’t seem to be lying, Aiba reported as she switched the sensors back off, returning Date’s vision to normal again. This of course matched his own findings, but though it all seemed so water-tight, he still couldn’t shake the uncanny feeling that they were missing something important. But, well, if hadn’t found anything overtly suspicious by this point, maybe the man really had nothing to do with it.

“Thanks for your cooperation in giving your testimony.” The words came out stiff, but polite nevertheless. “Sorry to hold you up. There was an incident here I’ve been sent to investigate, and you’re a potential witness, being in the area. Just one more question, then. While walking with your niece, did you see anything or anyone unusual?”

Falco felt a surge of sadistic satisfaction as he realized that he had gotten away with his recent heinous acts. Of course, he’d spent years honing the skill of deception in several different ways, and his strain ability certainly helped with it. He knew that there was still at least an inkling of suspicion judging from the terseness of his words, but he had to commend the detective for remaining professional regardless. 

The corners of his lips began to turn upwards in a smirk, but Falco tried to shift the sordid smile into something that appeared more genuine. “I understand, officer. I’ve been familiar with the workings of law enforcement in the past,” he responded politely in kind. “Asking people for their time is just par for the course. As for someone suspicious...” He feigned mulling over the question before giving his answer. “I have not. I know that isn’t helpful.”

Then a sick idea popped into his head.

The dark-haired man slowly came to, sitting up carefully and rubbing his head, which was pounding so hard, he could’ve sworn it was going to burst right out of his skull. His memories were a bit fuzzy, until he looked around the room. It appeared he was in... a cell? That was a new one. But the circumstances of how he got there began to return to him.

He was minding his own business, as he usually tended to do. He had no reason to engage with others most of the time, but he was forced into interaction when two men in suits approached him and offered him... something. For him to join him. Well, turns out that he had other things on his agenda, so he turned them down. He knew better than to just go with shifty men with no explanation anyway.

And then he woke up here.

But it appeared he wasn’t alone. Movement in his peripheral caught his attention and he looked over to see a girl with long orange hair beginning to stir. Was she in the same situation he was in? It would do well to ask if she knew what was going on, but if she was just as disoriented as he was, then there was no point. He waited until she sat up fully before greeting her.

The feeling of unease nestled within Date’s stomach continued to grow and churn as the black-haired man spoke. There was something off-putting about him, to put it simply, though Date still couldn’t pinpoint what that “something” was. Something in his face maybe, or voice, or the coat bundled in his arms. Still, despite this, he had to at least appreciate the man’s cooperative attitude. So with a firm nod, Date pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket and prepared to take notes. “Okay, let’s start simple. What’s your name and what are you doing out here this time of night?”

“Aiba, can you zoom in on that coat?” After making this request, the image displayed in his left eye changed. First, Aiba brought the coat in question into focus, and then zoomed in close enough to make out the creases and seams in the material. “Hmmm…” It looked normal, and of course, the act of merely carrying a coat around on its own wasn’t nearly enough to warrant undue suspicion. He still couldn’t help but feel that something was off as Aiba dragged his scope of vision over every visible inch of the material.

I don’t detect anything, Aiba reported back, matching his own conclusion.

“Guess it’s nothing, then.” Instead, for now, all he could do was rely on the testimony provided to him from the man’s own mouth.

Falco watched as Date procured a pen and paper and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Was he normally in the habit of stopping random passersby who just so happen to be out past most peoples’ bedtimes? The fact that Falco had, of course, been up to no good notwithstanding. Naturally, Falco took care not to have any visible blood on him. It would be a pain if he had been arrested before finishing what he had to do in the city.

Speaking of, he wasn’t sure what name to give “Date.” Clearly he hadn’t remembered yet, but would giving that name jog his memory at all? It would only add on to his suspicion if he gave the detective “his” code name, though. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

“I’m referred to as ‘Falco’ by everyone I know. I hear that name more often than my given name, if I’m being honest,” he answered, giving a light-hearted laugh to add to his facade. “Though my legal name is Hayato Yagyu. If you need to look me up in any systems, I should be under that name. As for what I’m doing out here, I received a call from my niece a little bit ago. She needed someone to walk her home, since she was out late with some friends at the local bar and felt unsafe returning on her own.” Falco was nothing if not proficient at lying on the spot.

Searing pain lanced through Subaru’s head as he slowly came to his senses. The room he found himself in was unfamiliar and, by the stripped walls, flickering overhanging light, and broken window, this place didn’t see much use. Besides that, there really wasn’t much here. No furnishings, the floorboards were covered with a thin layer of dirt, and the only other thing in here besides himself was a tall man with unkempt black hair boring into Subaru with dagger-like eyes.

A shiver raced through his body as he realized the situation, and he immediately sat up. As he moved, he felt resistance on his wrists. Looking down, he saw the rope binding them together. Even through the dim lighting, he could tell that the rope was not fastened securely, and certainly even someone like Subaru could break free pretty easily. However, even that being the case, he wasn’t foolish enough to think that would guarantee his escape. After all, he could see it in the man’s eyes… he was waiting. Anxiously waiting for… something. And that knife he held in his hand, it was unlikely to be for show.

“How am I feeling? Really, what kind of question is that? Aren’t you the one who dragged me here?” Subaru shot back at the man, though the energy he expended caused the pain in his head to flare up dizzyingly, and for a moment he thought he would black out again.

His fuzzy memories offered no pertinent clues. The last thing he remembered before waking was the convenience store. At some point, he must have been knocked unconscious by this man and dragged here. But really, maybe it was time to re-evaluate what time he chose to go to the store! It had never been really problematic before, even though his parents had certainly warned him that criminals were more active under the night sky, but lately he was beginning to see the true merit to those warnings.

“Anyways, I don’t know what you want. If it’s money, I don’t have much. If it’s a ransom, I’m afraid my parents don’t have much either. Sorry, but you’d be better off grabbing someone else for those types of things.” Not that he should really grab someone else either, but Subaru had a faint hope that maybe saying something like this would discourage the man and he would just let him go.

Money? That was just a laughable notion, and laughing was exactly what the young man’s abductor did. Anyone could tell just from looking at this kid that he didn’t have anything of note on his person to take, he was plain from head to toe.

“Yes, I’m the one who brought you here,” the man said as his cackling died down. “But not for money. To be honest with you, I didn’t single you out for any reason to do with you. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I’m afraid.”