(no subject)

[i_am_your_host]

The door opens a crack, and Emcee hastily steps inside, relieved to have found Milliways.

Stepping to the bar, he begins to remove a folded up newspaper from inside his leather coat-- but he stops, glances up and around at the rafters, then around at the room. Stuffing the newspaper back into his coat, he quietly asks the bar for his room key and a manila envelope. When the items appear, he takes them and disappears upstairs.

He doesn't return for perhaps an hour or so. When he does, it's with just the manila envelope.

"For Abe no Seimei, please," he murmurs to the bar, and the envelope disappears. Tucked inside, there's someone's expired German passport, someone else's identification papers, and yet someone else's birth certificate, along with other forms and documents that might be useful. Also included is a sheet of paper on which is handwritten all the personal and descriptive information about four individuals, three women and a man.

Emcee is about to leave when the lights in the bar flicker. He hears a faint hiss from above and looks up, watching with wide eyes as a plume of gray smoke, seemingly moving on its own, surrounds a small, metal thing and zaps it.

Did the smoke just...kill a drone?

Huh.

Comments

[yinyangwizard]

Alas, Seimei and Emcee will not cross paths today because the mun will be busy this evening, but next time Emcee visits the Bar, he will get a note in familiar handwriting:

Emcee-san,

I appreciate your thoroughness, as do my forger friends (though they are somewhat perplexed by the whole affair). Documents for yourself and your friends are forthcoming.

Sincerely,
安倍 晴明
Abe no Seimei

[hadyougoing]

"Huh," Ava remarks. "Another one bites the dust."

She's on a fact-finding mission! That's why she's dressed incognito.

It looks just like her normal clothes, but that's because it's a state of mind, people.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee turns his attention away from the smoke in the rafters to the young woman who just spoke.

"That's a Queen song."

He just felt like pointing that out. He likes Queen. And he looks like someone who'd like Queen. But anyway.

"Hallo." He points upward. "Did you just see that?"

[hadyougoing]

He does look like someone who'd like Queen.

Ava follows his gesture, then nods.

"Yeah! That's what I meant. With the Queen reference."

She brings the fingers of one hand together, then spreads them outward while making a crackly pwohhh noise with her mouth.

[i_am_your_host]

He blinks.

Then, glancing between her and the rafters, he steps a little closer to her.

"Was that one of those little flying cameras?" he asks in a low voice.

[hadyougoing]

She wants to giggle, but assays to look serious.

"I think so?" she whispers. "Otherwise, a robot might be in trouble."

[i_am_your_host]

He blinks again, frowns, and shakes his head.

"I think a robot would have moved to escape that strange smoke," he whispers back.

this are srs bzns

[hadyougoing]

"Good point."

She nods several times, emphatically.

"Then--my vote's for the flying cameras, yeah."

[i_am_your_host]

"Agreed--"

He clears his throat and stops whispering.

"Um, yes."

Normal voice now.

"Do you know what caused the smoke? It looked as if someone was controlling it."

[hadyougoing]

Her brow furrows for half a moment.

"Oh--because it was changing direction?"

[i_am_your_host]

"It did seem to?" he says with a tilt of his head like an uncertain cat. "As if the smoke targeted the thing before it went pwohhh."

[hadyougoing]

"Yeah," she says curiously, "it did ..."

She glances left to right.

"Well--whatever happened, I'm kind of okay with it. Those things give me the creeps."

[i_am_your_host]

"I'm perfectly all right with it as well," he says nodding.

"I knew they were here for a while, but I didn't mind them at first. Whenever I saw one, I would just give it the finger or some other indecent gesture."

[heatherandsteel]

Quentin spots the smoke, since moving into the house, he's learned to keep an eye out as smoke alarms are awful.

Then it hits something and Emcee's close by so he asks, "What's that?"

[i_am_your_host]

"I have no idea," he murmurs, still staring up at the smoke as it clears.

"But I think it just put one of those hidden flying cameras out of commission."

[heatherandsteel]

"There are hidden cameras here?"

That's not a comforting thought and he tries to see what falls down and pulls out his phone to snap a picture. Maybe April will know what it is. He thought he was safer here but if someone has a camera then maybe he can't be as open. One hand goes through his hair and his pointed ear, others here are stranger but he has a lot of secrets.

[i_am_your_host]

"Yes," he says, lowering his voice. "Drones, but not like the sentient ones that are friends with Jay."

[heatherandsteel]

"Who controls them?" They don't seem like something any of the Barmen would approve of but they're here.

[i_am_your_host]

"Jim -- you know, the fellow who set fire to the stables?"

He rolls his eyes a little and shakes his head.

"I've known that he has them set up around here. At first I didn't mind, because why should I mind if I had nothing to hide? Whenever I saw one, I gave it a middle finger and moved on. But that doesn't mean other people don't have secrets. And more and more I felt the bar was not as safe a place as it used to be."

[heatherandsteel]

"I've talked to him once or twice and didn't like him. No, they don't fit here. I wonder who's sending the smoke to take them down,"

It went so quickly that he didn't get a chance to figure out what kind of magic it was.

[i_am_your_host]

"Who's sending the smoke?" he says with a blink and raised eyebrows. "Come to think of it, the smoke did seem rather-- magical."

[heatherandsteel]

"It looked kind of alive. Maybe if there's another one I can sense the kind of magic. And I might have to practice my illusion spells more while I'm here."

[i_am_your_host]

"Alive? Well. That's different."

He looks around at the rafters.

"I don't see any more wisps of smoke anywhere-- or drones, for that matter. Unless of course they're all hiding. But perhaps the smoke will seek them out."

Looking back at Quentin, he nods.

"And yes, it's unfortunate that you feel that you must keep up your illusions here. It's not a pleasant feeling to be constantly looking over your shoulder."

[heatherandsteel]

"They might not be but it looked like it moved in a purposeful way. No, I'm not going to start putting my disguise up again but I can practice the ones that help with hiding. If you want I can show you them. I need to learn how to hide multiple people,"

It almost made him think of Air Faeries.

[i_am_your_host]

"You can?" he says curiously. "If you'd like to practice, I certainly don't mind volunteering."