trans_9 | Slinking about [OPEN]

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Slinking about [OPEN]

Sitting around and watching the ship's network wasn't achieving as much as it had done back home. There, he'd been able to keep a hand- er, cellphone -on the pulse of the city's population, and survey them without having to leave relative safety. Here, not only was he completely alone, but the population was irritatingly careful about their messaging. Cazali could have gone to get his 'information' from that Kamen Rider, but...he didn't want to seem dependent. Especially to someone who apparently knew about him. So, he had to go about gathering intel the old fashioned way- stalking.

Caz had intended to start from the bottom up, but a certain fixture had caught his eye. The sign for "Contagion Containment and Treatment ". He rarely would admit his wariness about Dr. Maki's presence, but...if the doctor would be anywhere (useful, anyway), then it would be in a lab. So, cautiously, Cazali poked his head in, trying to scan quickly for any sigh of the man and his creepy doll. Even if Maki wasn't around at all, science labs were practically a home away from home given how many times he'd frequented them, so it'd probably be a good place to start information gathering.

Eventually, his search lead him to the city, which was at least a more comfortable setting. The lack of population was a bit more shocking than he'd first anticipated- it would be harder to blend in here, especially with him fully decked out in normal clothes, not that stupid plant skin. No candroids, no OOOs, no Kougami stuff littering the streets, though he had spotted a ridevendor a ways back. He wouldn't be surprised if the riders tried to monitor his actions with the remote, so he opted against using it. Instead, he strolled about, trying to play casual.

After some time wandering the city, he'd crossed the park on almost instinct, admittedly a little too lost in thought to pay attention to where he was going. Only when he saw the familiar front of Maki's abandoned home did he react, shifting in to his Greeed form and daring to approach the building. It didn't make sense why it was here- the world was destroyed, or so said some idiotic human meat-sacks -and he really didn't need more reason to be paranoid. A cursory sweep of the home proved it was empty, left just how it had been when he'd last seen it, down to the chess set, soccer ball, and Maki's precious painting.

It took Cazali a good five minutes of staring at the painting before he acted- slowly opening the frame, and with all the shaking control he could manage, tearing the art in to strips, then the strips in to squares, then the squares in to confetti. He left the whole mess right where the purple drape has once hung, and went to his favorite spot on the stairs, his drape already waiting for him.

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Casual or not, Zouichi took notice of Cazali strolling around the streets of the City and pulled his bike (http://www.flickr.com/photos/56712133@N04/5347758813/) right up to the guy, letting it roll almost silently along at a matching pace.

"Getting acquainted with the place?" he asked.

Cazali's lope slowed to a crawl when he spotted the bike out of his peripherals- it was sort of fuzzy, but the major details didn't completely escape him. He tilted his head up and towards the rider with curiosity, but didn't stop. For all his luck, anyone on a motorcycle might as well have been a Kamen Rider.

"Slowly but surely~" He shifted his shoulders, and stuck his thumbs in his pocket. "You got a reason to be concerned?"

was he being followed was this a herotype did they know who he was should he attack first-

That got a raised eyebrow from Zouichi. "Planning on giving me a reason to be concerned?" He was mostly joking, though it might have been difficult to tell from his voice. Also because he was wearing a helmet.

He slowed his bike just as Cazali slowed his walk, continuing to keep pace.

"Not today~ Maybe tomorrow?" Likewise, Caz's tone was a bit too sing-songy to tell if that was normal, or just him being sarcastic. He knit his brows a bit under the brim of his hat, and tilted his head the other way.

"Place's bigger than I thought~ A bit tired, that's all...~!"

Edited 2011-10-09 02:13 (UTC)

"Yeah? Well, let me know before you cause any trouble. I can show up, you can break things, I can slap some cuffs on you... it's more convenient for everyone."

He paused. "Nice hat."

Of course. Cuffs probably meant cop, or whatever they were called- security? Which likewise lead to the realization that he had to enact his plan now, not at his leisure. Damnit.

"Not a fan of breaking things, actually~ More, ah, self defense. You know? An...a compatriot of mine has it out for me. Was hoping to lose him, and I guess it worked for now." Caz tossed his head over his shoulder, genuinely glancing around for Ankh. Nothing. Good, that'd complicate matters. "Ah, thank you~" The hat got tipped in the man's direction, then slapped back on Cazali's head.

"Oh yeah? So who's this compatriot of yours?" It was, after all, Zouichi's job to try and prevent crew members from coming into conflict with each other. Where 'coming into conflict' generally meant 'punching each others' faces in'. Regardless of how cartoonishly suspicious Cazali might be.

Awww, don't burst his bubble- he thinks he's all kinds of subtle. "Ankh. Tall guy-" Cazali made some sort of gesture off the side of his head; "One half of his hair's curly. Bad attitude. You'll know him 'cos he likes to throw tantrums~" A short laugh, and Caz rolled his neck. "I can defend myself, buuu~uuut...I wouldn't want other people to get dragged in to the mess, you know~?" Amazingly, that of all things was genuine. Other people meant his 'cover' would be blown.

"I see. I can't say I've run into him yet. Why, if I may ask, is he after you?" The ship's rules prevented holding someone accountable for their past behavior (accident waiting to happen, if you asked him), but it couldn't hurt to get some background information.

"And exactly what do you think he might do to the rest of the crew?"

...oh boy, how the hell to explain the Greeed infighting? See, this was why he preferred planning this stuff out. Spontaneity only caused more kinks.

"Well, to simply a complicated situation~ He took something very dear to me. I tried to get it back, and...well, lets say I 'died' because of it." A sigh, and he rapped his hand on his chest. "So, this is an improvement~ But with him still around, well..."

A pause, and Caz scoffed. The rest of the crew...? "He's got a bad temper, and he's quick to judge. Ankh, well...he's tried to dispose of his own friends before. But if nobody agitates him, everyone should be fine."

That... did not give Zouichi an awful lot to work with. "I hope you're not asking that I surveil someone based on 'stealing something one time from a dead guy who isn't dead right now'. Because the reports get plenty bizarre without adding that to the mix."

Honestly, why did everyone on the ship act like they had some earth-shattering secret that no one must know? Especially since they all ended up coming out anyway.

...touché. "Would you rather I be blunt, then~? I'm only a little concerned with that, considering I don't want to suddenly become the 'aggressor party' here, simply because of appearances. But, if you're going to be nice about it..." Caz sighed loudly, and took off his hat- a slew of yellow and coins coated over him, before revealing his Greeed form.

"I don't exactly look like an upstanding member of society like this, now do I~?" Caz twirled the hat on his paw. "He took part of my body. I don't know if he still has it, but I think I'm at least entitled to my equivalent organs and body parts."

"Of course. It's much easier to investigate crimes when the details are clear." Plus, Zouichi had enough of riddles from the ship itself. He watched with interest as Cazali changed forms, but didn't appear to be startled by the change. After all, both the ship and his world were full of those who could change form.

"It doesn't matter what you look like," he said at last. "Dragons, aliens, whatever. If he stole a part of your body, I'll see what I can do about getting it back. What did he take?"

Huh. The human didn't freak out. That was...sort of nice, actually. Caz seemed to relax, itching his cheek with a finger at Zouichi's evenness. "Huh~ Where I come from, that's not exactly upheld, so color me surprised."

It wasn't like Caz could show him his core medal- his body would rupture and he'd completely lose form. Hell, he was shocked he hadn't done so as it was. But with a flick of his wrist, a shiny metal coin popped out of his arm, which he caught and held up. "It's sort of like this, only yellow. There were eight of them, other than the one I have in me right now, but...I don't know how many he has." Caz flicked the coin back in to his chest cavity, which it absorbed with a plink sound. "Two have lions' heads on them. Three tiger, three cheetah."

Well, Cazali might be surprised at how many of the crew who looked human... weren't. "Well, as you probably got a chance to see for yourself, we have a lot of different species aboard this ship. That helps."

His gaze flickered to the coin; detachable coin body parts? That was a novelty. "I've got to admit I've never seen anything like that before. But if they belong to you, you've a right to them. So can I assume he's like you, then?"

"...I suppose." Caz was a bit tightlipped about that, mostly cos he could barely understand humans, so understanding things that weren't human was probably going to be beyond difficult. Less thought about it the better.

Caz went back to twirling his hat, the yellow and medals coating over him again until his human guise was back up. "I'm a Greeed. We're...artificial." Why the hell was he telling a human that? "So yeah, they're me, so I guess they belong to me." At the last question, Caz just frowned, wrinkling his nose even. "He should be, but Ankh is special. He's hijacking a human body- any attack to him hurts the human, too. And other than that, he's..." Caz's face stopped looking comically frowny, and actually looked serious. "He's always been different from the rest of us."

"Well. Nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Zouichi. A Synthetic Human."

He frowned as Cazali got to the part about Ankh possessing a human body. "Hijacking meaning against the host's will, I'm assuming? That could pose a bit of a problem. There are other people like that aboard the ship... although they're no longer in possession of someone else's body. What do you mean, 'different from the rest of you'?"

Zouichi was not at all sure what would happen with this situation. The Council had made decisions in the past in regards to body-hijackers that he didn't agree with.

Synthetic...human? Caz dropped the falsified chill look and stared at Zouichi with no sense of tact, slowly working out of the stare. "...I'm Cazali." Synthetic? ...synthetic?

"Yeah, though he tries to justify it~ But he won't let that body go. I'm not even sure if the human is still alive~" Mostly because he didn't care to pay attention. Humans weren't a high priority. "We're the same nature- we naturally want to become whole again. But Ankh...he's worked against us from almost the beginning. Always sided with the humans, letting them use our core medals for their own uses." The bitter tone returned, and he sneered, putting his head down and tapping his forehead. "He doesn't want any of the Greeed to become whole but himself. And he's used humans to ensure that." A shrug; "I guess I shouldn't blame the humans directly, buuut...it's a bit concerning seeing some human running around recklessly with a part of your being."

Faced with open staring, Zouichi could only try and explain a little further. "Artificial life made to resemble a human. It's a bit of a long story, but I was created to solve a problem humans could not."

He crossed his arms. "So... once you have all these core medals, you will be complete? And what then?" ~~Do you get a cash prize~~

"I'm sort of failing to see what use a human would have for part of your body."

"You were created to resemble humans...? Psh, does their ego ever end...?" Caz shook his head, turning sideways and crossing his arms. "They created us so we could fight in some idiotic moron's war. He decided he didn't like us having free will after the fact. Nice guy." The sneer returned, if only because he figured this was the company that would understand that. He'd never met an artificial thing that wasn't a robot or another Greeed.

"I wish~" Caz hung his head, hunching his shoulders as well. "We originally had ten medals- for us to become sentient they took our tenth, leaving us with nine. Even if I gained the eight I'm missing, that last one is gone for good. No completion." He...wasn't going to get in to what completion would entail, since 'And then we consume everything' wouldn't sound very good. Plus, Cazali had more specific wants than the primal Greeed instinct.

Should he bring up Kamen Riders? They were always heroes, so it was a gamble, but...if he lied, the other riders might just correct him. "Kamen Rider OOOs. He can use our core medals to power himself up. His aim was to destroy all of us Greeed." Deadpanest deadpan of the century.

"Yes. It would be... more difficult to work with them if I had an alien appearance." Though Zouichi had a more or less benign regard for humans, he didn't at all approve of creating artificial life forms for war. In any case, he tapped out a quick series of messages on his Omnicomm (http://trans-channel.livejournal.com/394990.html), then looked back up at Cazali.

"All right. I believe what you need to do is go down to the Precinct and report your stolen medals. I can't guarantee anything, because the Council might get involved in this case..." Zouichi's expression pretty much said all he needed to on the topic of the Council. "...and I don't always agree with their decisions."

He did feel, however, that he owed it to Cazali to be as helpful as possible in this regard. "They've decided not to hold people accountable for crimes committed before coming aboard the ship. That doesn't mean, however, that Ankh is not in possession of stolen goods now. You will likely not be able to press for him to be tried, but you may be able to get your medals back.

"The process, as much as I understand it, is highly subject to the views of individual Councilors, and they have sided with crew members that have taken over the bodies of other crew before. I would recommend emphasizing that it is pieces of your body that Ankh is in possession of. I'm not sure who this Kamen Rider OOOs is, but it may also be in your favor to mention that there was a party attempting to destroy all of your kind. Regardless of your personality as individuals, I'm assuming."

Cazali took in all the information with a degree of awe- something he hadn't felt before was clouding his thought process a bit, so he simply seemed to stare off in to space without reacting. Someone was genuinely trying to be helpful and useful, without equal demands in return. And it wasn't a human.

Caz blinked harshly, shaking his head and placing a hand on his hat, tilting the brim in the line of his vision. This was weird, and he felt...strange, but it wouldn't due to be off-putting to a budding, potential...ally figure.

"...he's going to try and paint me as a malicious party, no doubt. Say I'm dangerous if I get my medals back. But if they can't hold someone accountable for the past..." His voice was soft, and completely lacked the mocking lilt. "There's Kamen Riders on the ship who are probably going to side with him-" The paranoia bubbled up in his tone, before he sighed and shrugged. "So, is it any better to fill out paperwork and go through red tape, or should I just hazard taking my core medals back by my own power?" Cazali was... genuinely asking. "I'm stronger-willed than most of my kind, but I don't know if I could stand being mandated by some- some rulers that my medals aren't my property anymore. Not a third time."

Zouichi merely waited for Cazali to begin speaking again. Cazali seemed so... taken aback. Were relations with humans that bad where he came from?

"If the past is any indication," Zouichi said dryly, "The Council won't take into account any complaints from people who knew you before. Or rather, they might interview one or two people before deciding to throw out what the witnesses say in favor of polishing up that golden rule of theirs. I think your best bet, honestly, is to deal with the red tape. If you try and take them back under your own power, you'll only be validating what Ankh says about you. If, on the other hand, you can get the Council to rule in your favor -- and I think you have a fair chance -- there won't be a thing Ankh can do about it."

"Oh, he's going to hate that. Me, using his precious humans against him." A pause, and Caz seemed to correct himself. "...assuming this council is mostly humans." Again he adjusted his hat, giving that sneer again. "This is going to take some getting used to~"

However, Cazali couldn't help but leech on to all that dry resentment, and stuck his thumbs back in his pocket, leaning against a street sign. "I take it you don't like the system? I suppose I should be glad, if I can use it to my favor, but..." Shrug. "Doesn't seem to be too good an idea for the bigger picture."

Like, if a certain doctor came out of that pod cavern. He'd be absolved of all previous wrongdoing too. Plus, the other Greeed could ruin his setup with a single yummy. "...there's worse people than Ankh that I know. They won't be willing to compromise or follow the rules. Ankh's not a problem if I get my medals back, but...Greeed are hungry. We don't stop wanting until we have what we want." Caz tossed his head to the side scrunching up the side of his mouth. "And they want a lot more than I do."

Zouichi crossed his arms, considering Cazali. "There are a number of humans on the Council, yes. But also some nonhumans."

He closed his eyes for a moment. "In theory, it's a good system. There are several Councilors to balance each other's opinions, there's a captain to take over when battle requires. However, in practice... I believe the laws here are applied unevenly, that law is sometimes adhered to even when it doesn't serve the people it governs, that the people who make and enforce the law often confuse authority with right, and that few people on board see a problem with this. The result is that a lot of the time verdicts are simply handed down with no real way of really understanding how decisions were made in the first place." Don't even get him started on the communication issues, Cazali. Seriously, don't.

"But for what it's worth, I agree with you. Having one blanket policy applied to all the people here has already hurt us, and yet it seems unlikely to change. At the very least, however, let me say that when someone physically threatens crew members here, the response is swift."

"I never understood human policy and government, to be blunt. I was created back in 1200, so adapting to modern society without monarchs is still a bit...weird~?" Ignoring he'd only been conscious for a total of two years tops. "So I tend to avoid this sort of thing if I can~ It makes blending in a bit hard."

Communication would actually be a topic Caz would love to get in to, hysterically. "It doesn't take a genius to know that case by case would be better." And a defeated shrug. "I'll be frank- I did attack people back home. We have to use humans as hosts to heal ourselves, basically~? I don't need to here, but...if they went by previous records, then I'd be just as 'bad' as Ankh." A dramatic headtoss, "Oh well~ I gotta make the best of it. If I have to fill out paperwork, so be it~"

"Most people tend to steer clear of the government. At least, that's what they did back home... bureaucracy and regulations made it difficult for ordinary people to get what they wanted done." Of course, by the time Zouichi had been picked up and put here, most of that bureaucracy had been gone.

"I'm afraid you won't be allowed to attack people on the ship. However, the head of the Medical department is a vampire; I don't think your background will necessarily be held against you."

"I guess government is something we'll just have to leave to the oh-so-capable others, then~?" The sarcasm wasn't just dripping, it was practically gushing.

"I shouldn't need to- if Ankh can keep to himself, and a few other choice individuals don't show up." Cazali wasn't usually very...peaceful, but strategies had called for stranger things out of him. "I'll just have to see what I can do about this...paperwork. Maybe go donate myself to science while I'm at it~ Maybe if they let me feed under their little microscope I'll be allowed." Likewise, his tone spoke volumes for his less than cuddly feelings towards science.

"Indeed." He gave Cazali an appraising look. "I doubt they'll be interested in the intricacies of your feeding processes, but I'm sure that the Science department would be interested in you should they find out. I believe it may be Medical you'll be more familiar with, since they require physicals for all crew members."

Science was awesome! It was way better than magic, which made no sense.

"I worked with a scientist back home~ I'm used to the labcoat types." Caz looked up, debating, but in the end decided to keep his trap shut. He'd told this guy a lot already- no use talking about personal matters.

"Though, I have to ask, if you don't mind me being nosy~ You're security, right?" And a pause for formality. "Why the career move when you're less than enthused with our illustrious leaders...?" Part of him was just testing something- could non-humans have enough desire for a Greeed to even feed on? He wasn't planning on doing any more than trying to bait a reaction, but...he had already palmed one of his cell medals. Just a reflex, or so he wanted to tell himself.

Science was awesome when magic couldn't solve your problems.

"Same here." Like Cazali, he didn't really see a reason to elaborate. He was a Synthetic Human -- of course he'd worked with scientists before.

Zouichi shook his head at the question. "I am part of Security. And I do it to protect the people aboard. If that means I have to work with people I'm not always enthused about, that's fine. Besides, if everyone thought like that, Security and all the rest would only be made up of people who agreed with the leadership. I don't think that's necessarily a good thing."

...huh. No medal slot. Maybe synthetics weren't able to be hosts? Or, his desire was elsewhere...? Probably not good to toy with it- it'd just come off as suspicious.

"Valid point~ I hadn't thought of it that way." It didn't completely make sense to the Greeed, but being agreeable was the name of the game. Caz stepped away from the sign he'd been leaning on, stretching lazily. "I guess this won't be so bad, but..." He cast his eyes down the road. "I shoulda taken that train~ You don't mind giving me a lift to the station, do you? I might as well go do that paperwork stuff now, rather than letting it sit~"

For what it's worth, Cazali, Zouichi has made a lifetime endeavor out of ignoring his own desires. He wouldn't be so keen on someone trying to figure out if they could feed on them, though.

Zouichi tossed Cazalli the spare motorcycle helmet; a casual, practiced gesture. "Sure. Get on."

Cazali caught the helmet with no problem, but seemed to overanalyze it as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. On one hand, he had no skull to cave in. On the other...it'd help block his face off and probably make him not get so motion sick. Vehicles and Caz never did go together too well.

He took his hat off and slung it around the metal chain at his hip, slipping the helmet on less than gracefully. He even approached the bike, but...seemed to hesitate, giving a laugh under the helmet.

"You're sure a trusting guy~" It wasn't meant to be suspicious, actually. Caz sat himself on the back of the bike, looking around like he was expecting handles. This was far from the cycles he was used to seeing. Aw, screw it. He didn't need to hold anything. "Okay~"

Zouichi glanced over his shoulder at Cazali. "Maybe because I can afford to be." Which was at least partially true; if he were human, Cazali would no doubt present a greater threat. But part of it was that he just naturally tended to give people the benefit of the doubt.

At least before he started spending time on this ship. He gunned the accelerator, sending them surging off in the direction of the station.

Oh geez. All the medals inside Caz seemed to lurch, plinking against each other once the Zouichi hit the throttle. Cazali was the lightest greeed by quite a bit, in part due to his wind/light affinity, so motion felt like it was going right through him. He immediately snapped his eyes closed, actually grateful for the helmet. Though to say the ride made him clam up abruptly would be a bit of an understatement.

The only reason his eighty-pound self didn't go flying off the cycle entirely was probably due to him using his own wind powers to counterbalance the speed. Or, he was trying to.

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Slinking about [OPEN]

The City

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