trans_9 | Purifying a Miasma... Maybe.

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Purifying a Miasma... Maybe.

It was a long, thoughtful walk to the Shrine. The odd, high-pitched whine of something Wrong had faded just as soon as she'd entered Religion Row, and Miku spent the rest of her time rubbing her ears to remove the tickle. It was hard to explain to other people the exact feelings that came with her ability.

But Cargn... understood. To a point, she supposed (considering, of course, that he didn't have eyes and hers were still very much attached). But even that point was much more than someone who had never experienced that plummet of heart and stomach, the loss of color from the world, or the shrill, lingering whine of getting closer and closer to something that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Miku sighed as she entered the Shrine of the Aquila and started looking for her sensei, and his little, strange helper.

"Viginti-san? Cargn-sensei? I'm here," Miku called, and her voice echoed oddly in the Shrine. No, she was never going to get used to how creepy that was.

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"Will both of you blow it out your asses? Can we focus on Miku and the ghost and not on Mr. Women's Lib and his hang-ups?"

The pain of the run had just hit Steve, it seemed, though he was doing his very best not to let it show.

Miku winced at Steve's language, and sighed at the three of them.

She was silent as she second-guessed her way through the City, their pace slow due to her bruised feet and Steve's sore bones. But eventually, deep into the winding streets, she stopped before the building.

"...I... I don't want to go in again. Must I?"

If he had any idea of who the Avengers were, he might be a little more impressed. After she openly threatens him, he just shakes his head and starts pointedly ignoring her. Obviously she was overcompensating.

When they arrive, he sniffs the air experimentally. The smell of blood doesn't immediately strike him, even with his enhanced senses. Miku may have been imagining it in the stress of the moment. "No. Go home and get some rest, you'll need some energy for tomorrow." At least he could trust Miku to avoid doing anything inappropriate.

That said, he goes up to the door and gives the knob a little test. If it was locked, he could pick it. Or just yank the knob off and open the door that way.

"I hope you sleep well, Miku." Though Wanda didn't believe she would.

As for the door, it was locked. When Wanda saw Kazami's failed attempt to open it she carefully aimed a hex bolt. And the lock clicked open.

Overcompensating indeed.

He gives her a dry look, but nods. "Thank you." There's no reason to be rude when she did actually save him a bit of time.

Kazami steps into the room, filling the doorway in case there was a trap or anyone was inside. He hadn't heard anyone, but he'd been taken by surprise before. After deciding that the room was safe, he steps in and takes a better look around. His nostrils flare as he takes a step in, a faint smell of old blood filling the room. If he hadn't had a cyborg's sense of smell, he might not have even noticed. The entire place is clean, there's not even disturbed dust in the air from when he opened the door. "It's safe."

He walks to the walls, tapping them to listen for any kind of secret doors. "There's no sign of anyone living here. The entire place is... clean." His tone of voice makes it clear that he seems offended by how clean it is. That, or just suspicious.

Wanda entered cautiously, despite Kazami having given the all clear. It wasn't that she didn't trust him but rather that she and her teammates had been surprised enough times after everything checked out that it seemed foolish not to be at least a little wary.

"Too clean, you mean?" She asked, quickly picking up on his meaning.

He nods. "There's no dust. Even if this place hadn't been used before, you've seen all of the other rooms in Stacy. Especially after the Nightmare King." Dusty. Dirty. In a state of disrepair. "It smells like blood, but I can't say it's recent."

He turns to her with narrowed eyes, hands balling into fists. This person, a boy judging by the 'Iron Lad' moniker, had tortured and killed a girl, not yet a woman. "It's suspicious enough for me to arrest Nathaniel Richards and hold him pending further investigation. Do you object, Councilwoman?" He was already convinced, with this and what Miku had told him. But the others would need more.

Wanda sighed, taking one final look around.

"Agreed. I'll alert the Captain through the comms. I think we should wait until he gives the all clear, or is at the least informed. In the meantime, if you can find any more clues..."

"All right." Kazami taps a few more times, squinting at the walls as if mentally ordering them to give up their secrets. There were no hidden entrances that he could find, not even a strand of hair lying around. The room was perfectly clean.

After a few minutes, he gives up. "There's nothing else I can do here. Are you done with the Captain?"

"Yes." Wanda said, turning to him. "He wants us to contact other members of Security and secure the area. Make sure no one comes in. Then wait while the Science Department looks for more clues."

Edited 2010-12-28 04:16 (UTC)

"And what about Richards?" The scene of the crime wasn't going anywhere. Nor was the remarkable cleanliness. But if the boy had already harmed one crewmate under everyone's noses, what would he be doing without being tracked?

"We're to wait until we have physical evidence to connect him to the murder." Wanda said, frowning. "Until then we're to leave him alone. He doesn't want the rest of the crew to find out about this either. Our priority right now is to secure the scene and find Big Zero's body." She didn't much like the thought of leaving Nathaniel alone for now either but those were their orders.

He narrows his eyes at that, then shakes his head. "Unacceptable. He's obviously not thinking it through." Three people had seen the ghost. Miku said that Richards had done it. And there was the room. That was enough for him. "It's too dangerous letting a suspected murderer stay loose on the ship. I can understand not wanting a panic, but this..." He shakes his head again, then moves for the door.

Screw orders. This was common sense. This was justice.

"He is thinking it through." Wanda said, following him. "Kazami!" She drew close enough to place a hand on his shoulder. "He explicitly said to leave Nathaniel alone. We need more evidence first. I know the boy, and if it is him then I believe no one else is currently in any danger. Or I would've tried to find him right away."

He shakes her off, but turns and points into the room. "You know him. Did you think he was at all capable of this kind of thing? You don't do this to someone on a whim, not if you're sane. And you don't go far enough to hide the body and clean the crime scene if you didn't think you'd get away with it. She was a girl, Councilwoman."

"And he is just a boy, not that it excuses what he's done. Now from what I know of her," And rather regretfully she had run into the woman several times. "Big Zero was deliberately antagonistic and insulting, especially about Cassie Lang, who Nathaniel was dating. This was planned for Big Zero and Big Zero alone. Furthermore, if he is responsible we need to handle this carefully. He has a full powered armor that can possibly rival Iron Man's." Oh, if she had any idea. "If we go in without backup and without proof, if we charge in just like you're doing, this can blow up in our faces."

He didn't know who Iron Man was. American comic books just weren't a huge priority for him.

"That doesn't excuse his actions. We can come up to him before he gets the armor on. Look for any kind of markings. Something. But we can't let him just wander free." He crosses his arms. "If he's really innocent, he'll cooperate. If not, a suit of armor wouldn't be that big a factor."

The idea of a suit of powered armor being half as powerful as the Iron Man outfits doesn't even cross his mind.

Wanda put her hands on her hips. "Are you joking? You obviously have no idea what that suit is capable of. May I also remind you of the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty.' We need more evidence. Right now the only thing we have linking him to the crime is Miku's word, and while I believe here, it's just not enough."

He just gives her a confused look, then waves his hand. "This isn't America. American values obviously don't matter much in this place." He turns to leave again, shooting off another line over his shoulder. "If you believe her, then that should be enough."

"Except we were given orders. And orders do matter more here. We were given a direct order from the Captain and I will not let you disobey. Not only that but you have no idea how powerful that suit is. He could seriously injure you and I won't let that to happen either." Wanda ran up to him and put her hand on his shoulder again, grasping him firmly. She wouldn't be so easy to shake off this time. "Stop now."

"A suit's only as strong as the person inside it. And these aren't the actions of a strong man." No one deserving to be called a man would ever do something like this.

It probably says something about Kazami that a smidgen a proof and a girl's word, and he's firmly believing in Nate's wrongdoing. "I'm going to do what's right, Councilwoman."

"This isn't just a suit of armor. It can deliver strong blasts and it allows him to fly. God knows what else it can do." The ignorance was overwhelming. "This isn't right, you've gone ahead and convicted him all ready in your mind. Big Zero might have been lying about who did it as one final way to get back at somebody." She stepped closer to him, staring straight into his eyes. "Let me make this clear: I am not letting you go after Mr. Richards. I am ordering you to stay here and help me follow Captain Kennedy's orders."

"So he has some kind of armor straight out of a manga." He's utterly unconcerned about this. "Ghosts don't lie. They have no reason to, they're already dead." He crosses his arms and frowns down at her. "Captain Kennedy, with all due respect to the man, is wrong. We have the victim's word, we have a scene that's been carefully cleaned. How much more evidence will be lost while we sit here and let him do what he wants? Anything like scratch marks or bruises she might have given him will fade, especially with the medical technology here, any tools he might have used will be getting cleaned or disposed of, and he could be setting up an alibi right now. We can't sit here and let him prepare for us, innocent or guilty!"

"If you think the Captain is wrong then you take it up with him and convince him. We have a job to do and right now you're wasting what time we have."

"A single room? We only need one person." He slips out his omnicomm and starts typing. "I'd call it secured right now. There's no other entrances."

...This is gonna take a while. He's a two fingered typist.

Purifying a Miasma... Maybe.

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