[Date: Friday April 2nd. Time: 7:45 p.m. ?] [Kaede found the address. What's he going to do now?] [Start!] (That was very Brett-like, Greg. I'm impressed. ^_~) (Thank you. ^_^) (No it wasn't. It didn't have the obligatory "You did stuff" line) (That's true. ;_;) (Anyhow, I think Haruko was talking ^^) * Haruko sighs. "I'm not going to try to analyze Saki. Anyways, we need to decide if we're going or not. I vote we don't and we trust Heirophant, but if I'm over ruled I'll help of course." * Taki blinks at Haruko in surprise, but repeats her question, "Where?" * Haruko looks back to Taki. "Kaede's looking for it, let's decide now." * Kaede sighs and looks up calmly at Taki, pushing his glasses up but saying nothing. * Satoshi looks uncertainly at Taki. * Taki looks... well, she isn't shaking visably, but she's definatly paler than usual, and doesn't seem to be all there right now, and is over controlling her voice, "I'm going." * Kaede closes the top of the laptop slightly and keeps gazing at Taki. "Going where?" * Haruko glances to Kaede for a moment then looks over to Taki. * Taki blinks in confusion, "Where Katie is." Do you think you're really going to help Katie in the state you're in? Taki, we don't even know that she's there. * Taki looks at her feet for a second and then up at Kaede, "I ...can't not go. You don't have to come with me, but I am going." I'm not letting you go alone. * Haruko looks to Taki. "So that's your rationale? Not that you'll actually help Katie more this way, but because your don't feel you have a choice?" I... * Satoshi repeats himself. "I'm not, but I want you to *think* about things before you do decide." * Kaede pushes his glasses up his nose and keeps looking at Taki and Satoshi, letting them work it out a little. * Kaede is also still closely guarding his laptop screen. (Smart guy.) * Taki starts to shiver again and shakes her head, "I...I've lost too much... just waiting. I can't anymore!" But is rushing into things in the state you're in going to be much better? It's something! We've lost a lot getting involved too. More than one of us has gone insane, Remi lost her hand, someone's dead because of us... And what if rushing in puts Katie in more danger? Or both of you? * Haruko nods. "Doing everything the opposite of the last mistake you made doesn’t fix things. You need to think Taki, not just react and listen to your emotions." * Kaede sighs and rests back against the bike. "We don't want to make things worse...I don't like sitting around any more than you do but we can't just rush in either..." * Taki glances at Satoshi, "Then I'll just run away! With her!" * Kaede rubs his forehead. "To where?" * Haruko looks at Taki. "Not everything can be fixed by teleportation. If the Heirophant is right, it won't be that easy. They'll have a field you can't jump out of or half a dozen other precautions that I can't anticipate." * Satoshi looks like he's thinking of another meaning for that phrase. "And if you can't escape for some reason?" * Taki starts to shake harder, "I'm still going." * Kaede looks at Taki with infinite patience. "You can't." * Haruko looks at Taki. "Even though Katie might get hurt because your in the midst of a breakdown?" * Satoshi reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Taki, please. Think about this for just a second." No! I'll... * Taki 's face goes blank for a moment as she realizes that she's run out of resources, and she turns to Kaede, "Where is she?!" * Satoshi gives Kaede a quick, pleading glance. * Haruko stares at Taki. "You haven't answered my question yet. You'll go even if that means things will be worse for Katie?" * Kaede starts to speak up then waits as Haruko says her peace. She...You... I don't know that! No! You don't! Neither do I. We're both guessing. You know how we figure out whose guess is better? We talk it out then make a decision. * Haruko isn't actually yelling so much as speaking forcefully, but Katie would still likely wince. * Kaede winces a little, but closes the laptop a little more. * Taki continues to shake and talk in forced calm, "Katie is in trouble. Somebody will get hurt if we act or not. They are differnt people. One person said no and went. I say go. Will you tell me where I'm going now?" But we don't *know* that going will stop Katie from being hurt entirely. We don't *know* that we can trade one of us for her. We don't *know* if we can't! * Kaede shakes his head slowly. "It may very well be she's the one who gets hurt if we do go..." * Haruko leans back against the wall of the construction site. "You're still taking the easy way out you know. Trying to get redemption for your screw up in one big stroke. Sure it might mean sacrifice, but no tough choices, no thinking." That...doesn't...matter! * Kaede sighs and stands up. Why doesn't it? What *does*? * Kaede looks over at Taki. "It matters in the fact that I'm not going to give you anything if I don't think you're competent enough at this point to handle the job." * Haruko stands up again and walks closer to Taki. "So, if we go in, what precautions do we take against Heirophant being right? Do we try to get more allies to help us out? How do we best stay out of Saki's way if she's pulling it off? Most important are you in a state to consider any of that?" * Taki clenches one of her hands into a fist, "Katie mat....You? How do ... and... I!" She continues to sputter in sentance fragments. (Very eloquent, Taki. ;p) * Kaede nods at Taki's response, as if that makes things perfectly clear. "I've heard about enough." (Sorry, she's not all here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message...she still won't get back to you. ^^;) * Taki stops, and with visable effort speaks cohearently to Kaede, "What... do you...want me to do?" * Haruko keeps a close eye on Taki. * Kaede sighs and takes a deep breath. "I want you to prove to me that you're going to be able to think about what Katie NEEDS and not what you WANT." * Haruko nods. * Satoshi exhales and looks at Taki. "I agree with them." * Taki falls silent and closes her eyes- just shaking and breathing. * Satoshi still has his hand on her shoulder. * Haruko waits. * Kaede sighs and turns to Haruko, speaking low. "I need to find out what's close by to this place. It might help us know who we're dealing with." * Haruko nods her head slightly. * Taki doesn't open her eyes when she speaks, "I want... to save Katie. I want... her to be happy. She needs ... somebody, maybe not us, to go save her. She needs..." We all want to save Katie, Taki-san. * Taki opens her eyes and slumps again while muttering, "needspeoplewhocanhelpher." * Haruko nods. * Kaede nods slowly and starts a new search. Hurrah for mapquest. Okay, that's a start. Now, we can each say what we think, and then vote on whether we're the group she needs or if just Saki and Hirokazu are that group. Do you want to start Taki or should I go first? * Taki doesn't look up, "I want to go. I can't do it myself..." Without knowing where we're going? Without knowing who we're dealing with? Without knowing if we can even help or not? (Meanwhile in the real world Taki attempts the throttle RDM from the inside for pointing out that she missed Kaede giving a reason for going or three) (Heh.) * Haruko nods. "So do you think the Heirophant is wrong? Or do you think that we'll be good enough to make the difference even if she might be right?" (Kaede argues both sides.) (He's talented like that.) (He does. He's so devil's advocate-y) (Taki, when awake, can do a bit of it, but not right now ^^;) (He is the epitome of neutrality. His alignment says so.) We ... don't know either way. * Haruko nods. "So, since you can't know for sure, you want to go. Okay, Satoshi, what do you think?" * Satoshi exhales. "I don't think we should go. We don't know what we're getting into and we don't know if we're actually going to help. Maybe this is some crazy test of loyalty. I don't know. But my gut's telling me that this is a bad idea, and I'm going to listen to it this time." * Satoshi murmurs. "I just hope Katie understands, and that she can forgive us for this." * Taki closes her eyes again and takes a deep breath. (and passes out due to the sudden rush of O2, yay we can move on to the next day! >.<#) (*powersnerk*) * Haruko nods. "Okay. I think Heirophant has some good information and probably good intentions. She showed this by saving us when nobody knew we were in trouble. She even saved Katie. If she told us saving Katie was impossible I'd try anyways, but..." * Haruko pauses for a second. "That's not what she told us, she said a rescue mission could go, but that if we went along things would be worse. We don't have the best track record, so I can believe it. I vote no." * Haruko then looks to Kaede. * Kaede speaks simply as he types away at his computer. "The Heirophant is testing us." * Haruko shrugs slightly at that and waits. * Kaede still isn't looking up. "I don't know whether she's testing our resources, our trust in her, or our convictions, but either way, she didn't give us enough information to go on." It's possible she's wanted the Page all along. Rescuing us when Kyoko sent us over could simply have been a way to gain our trust as well as get the Page back into this side of reality. Two birds with one stone. * Satoshi looks rather startled at Kaede's choice of words. * Haruko looks at Kaede oddly for his use of 'the page.' She waits to see what side he comes down on. * Taki opens her eyes and looks at Kaede, there's a small ammount of hope in them. * Kaede pushes his glasses up his nose and continues typing. He's been talking fairly evenly and emotionlessly during this whole time. "However, the inclusion of Morikawa in this instance is a confounding factor. And she's one I think has proven won't be swayed on either side of the war." * Haruko looks as if Kaede's lost her, but she keeps watching to see which way he decides. Even if the Hierophant is up to nefariousness, unless there's some instance of mind control, which if she could I doubt she'd need to fall into this ruse, I don't think that she would do anything against Katie against her will. * Kaede keeps typing. "It wouldn't hurt to get more information. But until we do, I don't believe we should go after her until we KNOW what we're getting into." * Haruko nods at Kaede's earlier comment, looking as if she's following him again. She then nods at his final comment, but actually looks somewhat surprised. How? ...How can we know without going? We can't... So we might have to observe what we're dealing with, won't we? * Kaede finally looks up from his typing. * Taki stares at Kaede blankly, and then starts to giggle before claping both hands over her mouth. * Haruko had looked like Kaede had lost her again, but then follows. She looks torn but no longer looks surprised. * Satoshi is startled by Taki and involuntarily squeezes her shoulder. (So, what's the tiebreaker? :P) (Get in here and vote that we've taken too long!) (You showing up and saving us all the trouble. ^_~) That has it's risks, but I'm sure it has at least two votes. My gut still says no and that even this may change things, but... In a tie I'll go with spying. * Kaede stands up slowly and looks at Taki. "Keep in mind, this means even if you see something you don't like, you'll have to stay put. We're not going to save Katie. We're simply going to find out what the hell is going on with our friend." * Satoshi nods. "I'll agree to that as well." * Taki nods rapidly, with her hands still over her mouth. I think in case this goes badly, we may want to call and see if we can get back up from Matthais. If this is a test or a trick, I'd prefer not to play fair. * Kaede nods to Haruko. "Good idea." ( But then wouldn't you fail? :P ) ( Fail the test, yeah, might save Katie though. ) (Katie > destiny of cards... Taki would make a lousy Yu Gi Oh player.) * Haruko gets out her phone and makes the call to Matthais. ( And the more people we have, the greater the spread of probability of people who may get hurt. Damn you, quit being so analytical.) * Haruko scowls. "Dang it, no answer. I can try Akemi, she might be able to call him. There anyone else we can potentially call in?" * Haruko calls Akemi, trying her cell first and the shop if that doesn't work. I can't think of anyone. * Kaede deadpans. "Remi." Like I said, I can't think of anyone. * Kaede snorts at Satoshi. * Haruko nods to that. "Too many variables already." * Taki cautiosly lowers her hands to reveal a large smile. (And she has officially completely lost it.) * Satoshi blinks at Taki. (Hey, she thought she was going to get voted down and Katie hurt and couldn't do a thing about it. and now things are looking much better and nobody is obviously moving against her) (Kaede's argumentation rocks.) * Haruko smiles. "Hey Akemi, know how to get a hold of Matthais? He's not answering his phone and I wanted to ask him if he'd be willing to back us up on something." Sure? Dang. We're going for checking out the place Katie might be held, and we could really use some independent advice at least. * Taki looks up at Satoshi, "I know I shouldn't be feeling this good right now, but I thought that I couldn't do anything at all and now I can, and I know I just said I wouldn't do anything without the rest of you and I won't but now we're going to at least see if we can help and maybe all of you will come with me then too and I'm sorry about all this and it's all." * Haruko sighs. "Thanks. I assume you wouldn't be up for it? Even if you aren't a fighter we could use a check on our judgment." (I don't need a check!) * Kaede blows out a breath and looks off to the side, mumbling. "If nothing else, she'd be a great distraction." ( Admit it, Satoshi, you wouldn't mind being checked by Akemi. Um. Uh. Um. *blush*) * Haruko nods. "You can hang back, just give us advice whether to go or not. Supposedly we're going to make a mistake, so better if we have somewhat with a clue that isn't one of us to help." * Kaede snorts. * Haruko covers the earpiece for a moment and looks to Kaede. "Either way, pick the spying location and figure out whether Taki can port there, if I should drive her, or if we should take the subway." * Kaede nods and looks at his maps, surveying the location. * Haruko looks to Kaede. "She's willing to come. Is there a place she can watch from that you're sure is safe?" I'm checking... * Kaede sighs and looks up. "It's a residential district..there's not really anything I can see..." * Haruko speaks back into the phone. "Dang, we're just going to have to try to be subtle. I may call, but I can't guarantee your safety. Thanks for being willing." * Kaede closes his computer. "I think it'd probably be best to drive there. Maybe Akemi can wait in the car." * Taki looks at Kaede and then Haruko. * Haruko shakes her head. "We'll put the phone on speaker and leave it in the car. I don't want to push it." Haruko then finds a safe place to leave Kyon's bike and starts scouting for a car.