~thirty-six~ [event!]

[glowing_science]

[Ema's still shaking off death number four--probably the worst one yet, given that Klavier was right behind her when she took the bullet to her head and probably ended up with no small amount of her blood on him--but the town is spiraling into chaos and she feels like she needs to do something. If not because it's the Right Thing to Do, which is

Comments

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[socklessliving]

[Not much emotion enters his flat tone most of the time, unless he wants it to, but in this case the faint note of approval is real.]

It's a good idea. It was too chaotic, earlier, for any kind of effective investigation, but the rush should have died down by now. You'll have to take that into consideration: some of the possible evidence has probably been eroded by now.

One question, though--are you armed?

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[glowing_science]

Thank you. And I'm aware that some of the evidence is likely gone or contaminated by now, but it's better to investigate and see what we can find instead of just giving up on it.

I hope to be armed when I get there. Standard issue police pistol.

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[quarter_english]

Yes. I agree. Look for places that wouldn't have interested crowds much--lightbulbs, handles in the washroom, and so on.

What's standard for you? Semi-automatic, I hope. Someone will be able to cover you beforehand?

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[glowing_science]

9mm Glock. And... I have no idea if anyone who's meeting me there will be similarly armed. [She hadn't thought that far ahead, actually.]

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[quarter_english]

Good.

[He prefers his own Walther to the Glock, but either should be more than adequate for basic self-defense. Anyone on the receiving end of a rocket won't be able to help themselves with a bullet anyway; they will be better served by fast evasion. Although it probably won't work.

It would be easier, and safer, to let someone else investigate this. He doubts that anything anyone finds in the post office will be the key to freedom, although any clues acquired there might be useful and interesting. He certainly doesn't want to be set up as a guard for the rest of the group... in fact, it would be better if nobody knew he had the gun to begin with. All in all, it's been difficult for him to decide where to place his energies: he wants to be effective, but he also wants to live to get out of this place, and without his usual resources, the chances of that are much more slim than he likes.]

Maybe you can find out.

[It sounds more like a suggestion than a simple remark.]Or--is anyone going who might usually have been armed before

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[glowing_science]

I'll do that before we get started.

[The suggestion is noted, but Ema doesn't go too far out of her way considering it. Appealing for a bodyguard would be ideal, but chances are that trying to do so would be a waste of time; the fighting types are swarming around the Dairy.]

I don't know, to be honest. Several of the volunteers are people I've never heard from before.

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[quarter_english]

[There's a pause, a space of dead air, before he says anything. If this were a social situation, it would be awkward.]

Hm. It's possible that you can't trust them. If you have the numbers, my advice is to divide them into teams: a person you know with a person you don't. It would make it more difficult for anyone to sabotage the investigation.

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[glowing_science]

I know. Trust me, I've learned what trusting the wrong person here can do. It's not ideal, but... it's all I have to work with.

I'll be doing all of the data analysis myself and I'm going to insist on several samples from everyone, myself included. That should minimize some of the effects of any potential sabotage, scientifically speaking.

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[quarter_english]

[This fact is noted and tucked away. He's curious about who the "wrong person" is, in this instance, but finding out is not urgent.]

Yes, that sounds like it should be effective--at least as much as we can hope for under the current circumstances. I'll be curious to hear about the results.

[It occurs to him that he can't just call his contacts and ask to have results sent to one of his drops--she is his contact, as much as he has one. It's one of the most intense frustrations of his current situation: rather than commanding any authority, he has to hope that people will cooperate with him for whatever reason they choose, and that those who don't want to cooperate won't actively attempt to thwart his inquiries. Still, she's seemed amenable to sharing information so far.]

Good luck.

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[glowing_science]

[Sharing information is what she's used to doing, luckily.] Once I analyze everything we find, I'll let you know what our conclusions end up being, if any.

Thank you.