Okuu Quest Next - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Rin Kagamine]

> "I like crows, so I named a few of them that I see a lot.  After the cat seemed to respond to Orin's name, I thought the crow might react to one of those names."
> "Uh, anyone have any ideas for what to do next?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Actually, is the ghost visible in any old camera? Everyone who has a camera in their cell phone or something, take a picture of me with it."
>If the phone Parsee gave us has a camera, take a picture of ourself with it, too

[Hello Purvis]

>When WAS the last time we got our picture taken, as far as we can recall?

>You...aren't really sure. Probably a few months ago. You've not heard any stories about ghost birds on your head.

> "I like crows, so I named a few of them that I see a lot.  After the cat seemed to respond to Orin's name, I thought the crow might react to one of those names."
> "Uh, anyone have any ideas for what to do next?"

>"So that's why you had birdseed," says Parsee. "Didn't take you for that type."
>"That's kinda cute!" Maribel says. "How do you tell them apart?"
>You ask about what to do next. "Well...there's a few tests I'd like to run on this alley," says Renko, "But I don't think we're gonna find anything. You guys can probably just go if you wanted."
>"Send me a copy of those videos," Parsee says. "I wanna be able to look at them on my own time."
>"Too bad we won't be able to show 'em," says Renko, "Even if Utsuho's cool with it, it just makes everything look fake. But yeah, I'll send them as long as you keep it just for personal use."
>"We'll probably have some ideas by tomorrow," says Maribel, "We'll call you if we get anything good in mind."

>"Actually, is the ghost visible in any old camera? Everyone who has a camera in their cell phone or something, take a picture of me with it."
>If the phone Parsee gave us has a camera, take a picture of ourself with it, too

>"Let's see," says Renko, taking out her cell phone and snapping a picture. "Yep, there they are."
>Parsee does the same. "They're over here, too."
>Your phone lacks a camera.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Wait, the bird-like spirit on top of my ribbon, any... odd or intresting details about it's appearence or size, for what you can see with the camera? If it's a spirit, it might have something different."
> "No matter what, so long as the spirits mean us no harm, I don't think we need to worry about them."
> "Waiiit, i'm gonna try another name... Yatagarasu..." Wait a few seconds then say to the others "Anything?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Ok, here's an idea. We'd like to be able to see video or pictures of me from earlier, but recently, right? Well, no one's tried to INTENTIONALLY video me, but I've been in a bunch of places today that almost certainly have security cameras. The museum, for one. Probably the pawn shop. Some other places, maybe. Does Usami Investigations have any?"
>Does Kawashiro Heating and Air?

[Hello Purvis]

> "Wait, the bird-like spirit on top of my ribbon, any... odd or intresting details about it's appearence or size, for what you can see with the camera? If it's a spirit, it might have something different."
> "No matter what, so long as the spirits mean us no harm, I don't think we need to worry about them."
> "Waiiit, i'm gonna try another name... Yatagarasu..." Wait a few seconds then say to the others "Anything?"

>"Well, it does kinda look like a crow or a raven or something," says Maribel.
>"Here, you probably know them better than I do," Parsee says, showing you the picture. Looking at it, you quickly identify its shape as a crow. It's a strange sort of ash gray color, though, and translucent. Those things aside, it seems like a normal crow.
>"I'm worried," says Parsee, "I'm gonna have those things in my home! So they better behave."
>You try another name. "No reaction," says Maribel.

>"Ok, here's an idea. We'd like to be able to see video or pictures of me from earlier, but recently, right? Well, no one's tried to INTENTIONALLY video me, but I've been in a bunch of places today that almost certainly have security cameras. The museum, for one. Probably the pawn shop. Some other places, maybe. Does Usami Investigations have any?"
>Does Kawashiro Heating and Air?

>"Yeah..." says Parsee, "I was gonna kinda wait until we were alone before mentioning City Hall. Didn't want to cause a stir. I wonder if anyone was paying attention?"
>"I don't know about the pawn shop," says Renko, "But we sure don't. Our money goes into other stuff."
>You place of employment has no cameras.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Hmm, I thought it might react to that."
> Do we pray to any Gods, Goddesses or Deities of some sort? If so, which ones?

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmm... too bad you don't. Might be kind of hard to convince a stranger to let me look at their security footage. Mightn't hurt to try a few of those places tomorrow, though. Maybe I can come up with some sort of pretext, like saying someone stole something from me while I was in there, and would they be able to let me look at the records for that time to see if I recognized them. Maybe."

>"And yeah, maybe we should just head home. Probably not much else we can accomplish here tonight."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hmm, I thought it might react to that."
> Do we pray to any Gods, Goddesses or Deities of some sort? If so, which ones?

>You have never been particularly religious. The rare times you've played, it's been pretty much to whatever deity of whatever faith felt like listening.

>"Hmm... too bad you don't. Might be kind of hard to convince a stranger to let me look at their security footage. Mightn't hurt to try a few of those places tomorrow, though. Maybe I can come up with some sort of pretext, like saying someone stole something from me while I was in there, and would they be able to let me look at the records for that time to see if I recognized them. Maybe."

>"And yeah, maybe we should just head home. Probably not much else we can accomplish here tonight."

>"They probably wouldn't let you see it," says Parsee, "But it'd probably get them to look through it, for better or worse. And I wouldn't mind heading back, either."

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> Bid the investigators farewell and say you'll be in touch tomorrow.
> Head back to the bus stop with Parsee.
> "Sorry to drag you through something else again, but I'm really grateful you were there as well.  I really do owe you for this, big time.  Is there anything in particular I can do for you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Bid the investigators farewell and say you'll be in touch tomorrow.
> Head back to the bus stop with Parsee.
> "Sorry to drag you through something else again, but I'm really grateful you were there as well.  I really do owe you for this, big time.  Is there anything in particular I can do for you?"

>You bid them farewell, and promise to be in touch.
>Before you depart, Renko makes certain to get Parsee's contact information.
>You linger by the bus stop, then apologize to Parsee. "What are you apologizing for?" She asks. "That was only the opportunity of a lifetime. I mean...I don't like having to eat my own words, but it's no good to pretend it didn't happen. There's ghosts, or something like them out there. You don't know how much that pisses me off, to be honest. Well...maybe you do. We both have to rewrite how we look at things. Just I used to mock those kinds of people for being credulous idiots, and it turns out the bastards were right in some way or another. Ugh..."
>She pauses for a moment. "Oh. Um... Sorry you're haunted? Don't know what to say about that. Except it's kinda embarrassing to have had two extra people just lingering about us all day..."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I know what you mean, but... they don't really seem to care much about what we're doing, at least in the sense a person does. I wonder how aware they are of us, even?"
>"Besides..." try to smile a little, and take hold of her hand. "what do we have to feeling embarrassed about, anyway?"
>"Is... is it wrong of me to want to feel as if at least SOMETHING is normal, at the moment? If I always act as though some curse or something terrifying is constantly hanging over my shoulder.... well.... I'm just tired...."

[Rin Kagamine]

> "Well yeah, it was surprising for me too but I kinda feel obligate to apologize for showng you some scary shit."
> "Hm, maybe this is why I'm being followed?  At any rate, let's just deal with that in the morning."
> "Heh, they're not exactly people, so I doubt they'll really be in the way.  Not like you have to take care of an incorporeal house guest anyway, haha."
> Offer our hand to Parsee.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well yeah, it was surprising for me too but I kinda feel obligate to apologize for showng you some scary shit."
> "Hm, maybe this is why I'm being followed?  At any rate, let's just deal with that in the morning."
> "Heh, they're not exactly people, so I doubt they'll really be in the way.  Not like you have to take care of an incorporeal house guest anyway, haha."
> Offer our hand to Parsee.

>"Yeah, I know what you mean, but... they don't really seem to care much about what we're doing, at least in the sense a person does. I wonder how aware they are of us, even?"
>"Besides..." try to smile a little, and take hold of her hand. "what do we have to feeling embarrassed about, anyway?"
>"Is... is it wrong of me to want to feel as if at least SOMETHING is normal, at the moment? If I always act as though some curse or something terrifying is constantly hanging over my shoulder.... well.... I'm just tired...."

>You explain your apology. "I suppose," says Parsee. "I'll probably be jumpy for a bit. But, that's alright...It was worth it."
>You ponder if this is why you are being followed. "It could be why. But, who would know about it? I still think, though, the Research Institute is behind this, or the Military..."
>You propose that the ghosts aren't really people. "Maybe so, but it's about privacy, damn it!"
>You offer your hand. She takes it. "Like this, for instance. I really hate there's some ghost watching it like this is its business..."
>You suggest they aren't even paying attention, and there's nothing to be embarrassed about. "We don't know that, and even if they aren't, they're still there. And it's not embarrassment, it's privacy!"
>Talk about how you want something to be normal. "Well, no, there's nothing wrong with it.. But it's also no good to just lie to yourself and pretend like nothing's off."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"No, you're right. I can't lie to myself. I couldn't even if I wanted to. Even before tonight, I knew something was wrong more strongly than I have ever known anything in my life. And I WILL get to the bottom of this. I have to."
>"I just want to try and claim some little bit of peace in my own mind amid all this craziness. Or I think I might just lose it."

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "I need to feel that their is something normal, or ok, here. I could end up going off the deep end if something didn't even seem normal."
> "To be honest, having someone to talk to about this, and be around, really helps. You know the cheesy video game line "The Power of Friendship can overcome any obstacle" or however it went, well, it seems kinda true with how I'm feeling. This morning, I thought I was going insane, now though, I feel a lot more relaxed."

[Rin Kagamine]

> Briefly stare longingly into Parsee's eyes.

[Kasu]

> Ponder if a tape recorder may be able to pick up some sound from the ghosts.

[Hello Purvis]

>"No, you're right. I can't lie to myself. I couldn't even if I wanted to. Even before tonight, I knew something was wrong more strongly than I have ever known anything in my life. And I WILL get to the bottom of this. I have to."
>"I just want to try and claim some little bit of peace in my own mind amid all this craziness. Or I think I might just lose it."

>She nods. "Yeah, that's something you have to worry about when you get into my line of business." She gives the aluminum armband she's wearing a tap.

> "I need to feel that their is something normal, or ok, here. I could end up going off the deep end if something didn't even seem normal."
> "To be honest, having someone to talk to about this, and be around, really helps. You know the cheesy video game line "The Power of Friendship can overcome any obstacle" or however it went, well, it seems kinda true with how I'm feeling. This morning, I thought I was going insane, now though, I feel a lot more relaxed."

>"Nothing cheesy about that," says Parsee, "It's just basic psychology. It's kinda why conspiracy theorists love the internet so much, let's them share their fears. Don't feel too bad about that. Trust me, even if everything you said was entirely in your own head, it's still not worse than some of the things I've run into. So don't feel bad about telling me things.

> Briefly stare longingly into Parsee's eyes.

>You give her a brief longing glance in her eyes. She chuckles and squeezes you hand. "Don't worry, unless you or your ghosts start trying to trash my apartment, I'm not going to kick you to the curb or anything."

> Ponder if a tape recorder may be able to pick up some sound from the ghosts.

>That's not a bad idea! But at the same time, you don't remember the Forest Spirit or the Cat Shadow making any noises even when you could see them.

>_

[Kasu]

> Just because we couldn't hear anything doesn't mean the recorder won't pick something up.
> Pitch the tape recorder idea to Parsee.

[Hello Purvis]

> Just because we couldn't hear anything doesn't mean the recorder won't pick something up.
> Pitch the tape recorder idea to Parsee.

>"Hey, that's worth a try," says Parsee. "I don't have one laying around, though."
>The bus approaches.

>_

[Kasu]

> Make a note in our notepad to pick up a tape recorder at the pawnshop tomorrow.
> Head back to Parsee's and catch some Z's.

[Hello Purvis]

> Make a note in our notepad to pick up a tape recorder at the pawnshop tomorrow.
> Head back to Parsee's and catch some Z's.

>You make a note to find a tape recorder.
>You board the the bus, finding it empty, and ride back to the Industrial Park. Thankfully, this trip is many times shouter, due to getting a bus on a route going the way you want. Within a short time, you are back in Parsee's neighborhood. Parsee has fallen quiet, seemingly lost in thought. You note, though, that she is making a concentrated effort to stay on your right side at all times.
>You get back to her apartment without troubles. After locking the door, she goes over to her computer and types something; probably updating her blog. After a minute, she stands up and says. "I...think I'm going to bed. Have a good night. I don't know if I'll actually be going to class after all, trig seems kinda inconsequential in comparison right now. Anyways, feel free to use whatever, but use the laptop if you want on the internet."

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> "You seemed quite lost in thought on the way back, is there anything you want to talk about before you head off to bed?  I'm not exactly tired yet anyway."
> Current time

[Hello Purvis]

> "You seemed quite lost in thought on the way back, is there anything you want to talk about before you head off to bed?  I'm not exactly tired yet anyway."
> Current time

>"Just pondering what I'm going to say to people," says Parsee. "I've got a good amount of recanting to do."
>It's about 12:30 AM.

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> "People?  Like give a report on what you saw?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "People?  Like give a report on what you saw?"

>"I do a lot of reporting on conspiracy stuff online," says Parsee, "And...well, it can get nasty when people clash. And I was kinda on the no supernatural side of things..."
>She shrugs.

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> "Ah, so you've got some dedicated readers that are going to wonder what inspired the sudden change of mind?  I see, that might be a touch stressful."
> "Well, since you've already decided to skip class tomorrow, would you like to work on an explanation together?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Ah, so you've got some dedicated readers that are going to wonder what inspired the sudden change of mind?  I see, that might be a touch stressful."
> "Well, since you've already decided to skip class tomorrow, would you like to work on an explanation together?"

>"Yeah," she says. "Not to mention the pride aspect, to be honest. I've got a lot of crow I'm gonna have to eat..."
>"Maybe. Right now I just want to rest. I've put up a placeholder, so if the worst happens at least it'll be known. ...Although...that video with you in it? Would you mind if I posted that?"

>_

[Rin Kagamine]

> "I'd rather not have that posted right now.  Besides, posting it wouldn't really help your purpose since they never came out too clearly on the camera.  Plus, you'd be showing a video like that to other conspiracy enthusiasts, the first thing they'll want to do is prove it fake."
> "It's been a long day, so resting does sound good.  What are your plans for tomorrow without class?"
> Find some kind of alarm to set for tomorrow morning