Day 03

[shimmershimmer]

[Last night, the Night Watch heard sounds of movement around Kimblee and McDougal's cottage just before daybreak. If they checked inside, they would find McDougal appropriately asleep, but Kimblee missing.]

[As for everyone else, dawn brings the morning announcements from the Shimmering Lady:]

Takano Miyo and Mitsuko, two Sinners, are lost to dreams.
Shuu Tsukiyama, an ordinary villager, is lost to dreams.
Isaac McDougal, an Incubus, is lost to dreams. Please bring me his body that it may be purified, and we shall begin the mourning process for the man he once...

...Wait. Kimblee is McDougal's Soulmate. Why is he awake?

He shouldn't be awake. He lost fair and square. He's breaking the rules. He is a blasphemer and a demon and ugly. Bring him here. Bring him.

Bring him to me.

((Status & Role Distribution
Current Night Watch rotation

So. Wow. Okay. Here's a thing I did not in the least expect to occur this early in the game, because clearly I am a fool.. So we'll be playing this by ear, and day 3 might end up taking more than the scheduled 24 hours (I'll watch it closely and keep everyone updated), but no matter what crazy-ass thing Kimblee decides to do with this, it shouldn't be a gamebreaker. Shimmer won't let anybody die who hasn't already been officially taken out of the game. Unless they explicitly ask me for that to happen, I guess!

Whatever happens, bear in mind the brainwashing rule-of-thumb: You can doubt the words of the Lady/Gentleman, but unless explicitly told otherwise, you can't break out of the world view provided for you, especially if spoken to directly.

If you'd like to consult with the Lady, she's here.
If you'd like to confront Kimblee, that's here.
And if you just wanna run around being useless and angry, come join Cassius over here.))

Comments

The Temple

[shimmershimmer]

[Visit the Temple and you'll find Our Shimmering Lady rubbing her hind legs together pacing angrily.]

[lifescratched]

[Connor enters the Temple tentatively, and doesn't get too close to the lady, as if wary of provoking her anger further. Nonetheless, he steels himself enough to ask:]

Lady, how could this have happened? Even a demon should not be capable of this.

[shimmershimmer]

No. No, he should not.

Re: The Temple

[stringmealong]

Wait, someone finally took one of them out, and he's still awake anyway?!

Re: The Temple

[shimmershimmer]

Yes. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Re: The Temple

[defenceservice]

[watching her quietly, apparently unimpressed about something but conflicted in his feelings and unsure what to say about it]

Re: The Temple

[shimmershimmer]

...Yes?

[fauxlosophical]

[The first concern is when he wakes up well before Isaac does; that's certainly never happened before, and he's not entirely sure why it's happening now. It takes him a while of pacing around, of trying to work out exactly what had happened to wake him up like that, before it occurs to him to try shaking his partner awake.

The second concern is when Isaac doesn't wake up.

He knows immediately that this is bad; he can remember what's happened every morning when they've awakened to someone lost to dreams in perfect clarity – because his memory always has been good – and he can just imagine what's going to happen once the rest of the village wakes.

He can't be here at dawn. He needs to move. Now.

The lower floor of the cottage he'd shared with Isaac will provide him with everything he needs beforehand; there are benefits to being the resident chemical engineers, after all. It's almost surprising, how methodical he manages to be about packing it – several small black cases to take with him, nothing more. Outdoors movement is more difficult, but no less calculated.

There's one place where he thinks he'd be safe in this entire godforsaken complex, but he's not going to go there; he's neither an idiot nor a coward, after all, and he isn't going to remain in hiding for the rest of his life, however short that life may be fated to be. Putting his soul on the line one last time it is, then; after all, he's only gambling with his own now.

He steels himself. Runs. He has business with Oswin and Bulat, after all. He finds the room they're lying in easily, and when sets those cases on the desk, sitting down to get to work, it occurs to him darkly that there's a certain irony to this. He was supposed to stay here and take care of them today – because his gamble had worked, he was supposed to be fine...

But then, he'd pulled the same gambit twice and succeeded; surely he shouldn't be surprised that he was about to fail now because fate had to throw a goddamn wrench in.

He works steadily but not in silence, humming lightly and tunelessly under his breath to keep himself focused; this isn't going to be elegant, he can tell already. But then, he's not used to relying on chemicals to carry out his work, and he supposes it doesn't matter in the long run if it's beautiful. What matters is that it's enough.

He'll be there until dawn; he doesn't flinch at the "sound" of the Lady in his mind. He simply finishes his preparations and waits.

Kimblee can be found standing between those beds Oswin and Bulat are lying in, on level with the men's heads; the reasoning for that particular positioning is soon made clear by the good-sized glass cylinders he's holding, one in each hand, both containing some sort of transparent but darkly-colored fluid inside of them – if anyone enters to find him, his first move will be to hold them out to his sides over Oswin and Bulat's heads. Even if you don't know what's in them, it's obvious that you probably don't want him to drop them.

He has another of those volatile cocktails prepared as well, though the third is a bit harder to see; it's set on the stand behind him, well within easy reach should he need it.]

We can do this the easy way, or you can make it very difficult on everyone.

[His words are surprisingly calm, despite how utterly manic the look in his eyes is.]

If you remain near the door and allow me to say my piece, I'll set these down properly and I'll come with you quietly. The Lady can destroy me at her leisure, since I'll admit that she does have a point – I've already lost this game fairly, and I'll allow her to claim her victory...after I've said what I need to say to you.

Or you can try to take me by force, in which case I'll pop both of these gentlemen's heads off like dandelions and you'll be left apprehending whatever remains of my body.

It's your choice. Kill one or kill three. It matters very little to me.

[genuine_human]

[Upon hearing the Lady's command, the Major is quick to act. Given that this is a fellow militiaman with a warrant on his head, it's only fitting for him to be the one to seek Kimblee out. There are only so many places where he could be. It's unlikely he fled the village, so he's somewhere still inside. By his lonesome, it certainly wasn't safe. The man would want leverage, something to guarantee him safety at least until the beginning of the trial.

It's a gamble for him as well and there were so many people in deep sleep to choose from. But what if he went for those closest to him, his fellow militiamen? The Major runs off by himself towards where Bulat and Oswin are... And there's Kimblee.

The Major calms down, pausing and holding his ground..]

... It's really a shame it had to come to this, Militiaman Kimblee. Though, whoever you are, you aren't Kimblee anymore, are you. Just what are you thinking of doing if you know how pointless this is?

[thefaceofjustice]

[Well, Connor seems to be handling the hostage negations in a... significantly more calming way than Bobby would. But he's hanging back to step in if Connor needs assistance. HE HAS HANDCUFFS...]

[defenceservice]

[Eliot finds Kimblee in the gap before the others return. He stays near the door when he notices the set up but seems irritated rather than worried]

How are you awake?

[irenicly]

[When the message awakens him in the morning, Banjou allows himself one long wail.

His brother, his dear brother, gone.

There's nothing he can do. He doesn't even have the will to hunt for the Incubus right now. Tsukiyama is gone, taken from him. He can't-- there's nothing--

Banjou only finally leaves his room to scrawl a note he places in the door: we're closed before he returns to the private rooms upstairs, taking a seat next to his brother's still form.

And that's where he'll be unless someone goes looking for him: watching over his brother, being the "shield" he failed to be.]

An angry mob

[vanillain]

[Cassius is standing on top of something (just a table this time, really) and wearing some kind of ridiculous cloak. That's not a porn star outfit, Cassius.]

All right, let's get that fucker! Who's with me?

Hostage negotiations

[lifescratched]

[Connor emerges from the cottage to address those gathered outside. He's standing in front of the entrance to the cottage, to ensure no one will be getting in -- or out -- without going through him.]

Villagers. I have spoken with Kimblee -- or the demon using his body as a host. He has two liquid vials he can use to end the lives of Oswin and Bulat at any moment. Do not enter the building without permission, and do not try to capture or attack him.

What he says is this: he asks that we spare his partner, Isaac McDougal. Though he is host to a demon, the demon can do no harm from where he is trapped in sleep, and when this is all over, the demon will leave the host's body willingly. Mr McDougal can be saved. The demon posssessing Kimblee claims Kimblee himself can also be saved, but that is more risky, given the present situation, and so he does not demand we spare his life as well.

If we spare his partner, at least, he will not take Oswin's and Bulat's lives, and he will surrender. In the interest of preserving innocent lives, I believe we should accept his terms... But before I deliver my decision to the demon, I wish to hear your views.

[genuine_human]

A demon will tell lies when convenient, for us, and truths when inconvenient, for us. There's no way to verify Kimblee's claims, that the demons will leave the bodies of our friends after this is over. Then what, indeed, is the point of all this?

However, we can't afford to lose Oswin and Bulat, and at this point, killing them is inconsequential to the demon, given his end has been determined. That is why I say that you're making the best decision here, my Chief.

Re: Hostage negotiations

[defenceservice]

What does the Lady have to say about it?

Re: Hostage negotiations

[microbrobotics]

...

Don't kill him. Either of them.

[stringmealong]

He's been pretty good at lying so far, so I'm not sure how much we should believe anything he says. But I'm not sure what the hell else we're supposed to do about it when he's got hostages.

[irenicly]

[Well, someone has finally decided to stop moping.]

I trust you'll make the right choice for us.

[skyentificmethod]

I agree...lock them both up. Demon or no, he's worth a heck of a lot more alive than dead.

Re: Hostage negotiations

[calefactioned]

... I agree. For the sake of the innocent lives, and for the sake of Kimblee's life as well. If he is not a danger, there's no reason to kill him.

[backdrafted]

[A little time after all that mess, Mustang - who is a bit out of breath from the sprint he broke into - is finding the biggest public gathering he can, anyone who hasn't headed home or isn't off on their own.]

Excuse me! Everyone!

Eliot and Parker Spencer just claimed to me they're the ones who took out our True Seer Lynne, as well as Issac MacDougal. And that though they are the Maddened, and took away our Seer, that makes them the most effective tools against the Demons present.

I thought you'd all like to know! And discuss this with them! I ran quickly out of patience for having that conversation in private alone with the two of them!

[thepawfectcrime]

[ is eating a quiche that someone rudely left behind ]

[thefaceofjustice]

...The Maddened having been the role that targeted Mr. Kimblee and Mr. MacDougal falls in line with my suspicions...

What do they want? Protection? We only have one Templar, and I can make use of my own role in figuring out who is or isn't a demon again tonight.

[defenceservice]

Do you feel better now?