[accidental video]

[sf_girl_friday]

[Jan is at her makeshift desk...actually it had been her desk before she'd moved out of the clinic but now it was Christine's or maybe Simon's. One of her maps is spread out across the surface, colored symbols carefully drawn in, marking each reported sighting and attack. She mutters to herself as she consults her notes, her watch propped up

Comments

[Action --> Video: locked to Temper.]

[holmes_fanatic]

[Once freed from the cupboard, Conan's main priority is catching up with the situation. He only has to scan the watch to know that he's going to need help, and he wanders into the office to look for Jan. It's a surprise to see that she's not there ...

... but knowing Jan, he could hardly expect her to stay indoors and sheltered during a crisis. He tugs his watch out of his pocket, intending to send her a message, and catches sight of a crumpled lollipop wrapper on the floor.

Conan catches his breath. Neither Jan or Christine--

He turns again to his watch, hastily scrawling back through past transmissions. Now that he knows what he's looking for, it's easy enough to find -- a brief recording that has his stomach plummeting.

The Interloper and Watcher are bad enough but Temper -- Temper's an Unknown.

Grimly, Conan opens a video feed.]

Vale-san.

What have you done to Janice?

[Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

[Temper has a tendency to listen -- the little communicators offering a strangely intimate little look into lives sometimes. And they're interesting from time to time if nothing else. So the sound of his name isn't lost on him. Well then, one of the Watcher's favorite playthings. Interesting.]

Done to her? That sounds awfully malevolent. Miss Rand is my guest, of current.

[A pause, an ever so slightly tilt upward at one corner of his lips, almost imperceptible.] She needed a break.

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

[Did you have to use the word 'break'?]

How long are you keeping her?

[Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

[Oh but it's so appropriate. A low and quiet] Hmm. [is hummed quietly before he speaks.] I'm not entirely certain. For a while, while it's interesting.

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

Interesting? [So he is like the others.]

This battle isn't enough?

[Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

[He shakes his head.] I've seen enough battles in my years, I think. This one is... well, in the end it will all be the same. And it will be the same whether or not Miss Rand exhausts herself in the process or not. I'm hoping she has the opportunity to realize this.

Are you worried... young Mr. Edogawa, isn't it?

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

[Conan frowns, testing out the implications of that sentence.]

You're not -- helping her? [But no -- Jan's the type that needs to have purpose to feel useful. Taking her away in a crisis, saying it doesn't matter whether you're here or not--

Conan finds his fists have clenched. He forces himself to relax, answering cooly.]

Edogawa Conan.

[Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

[Another shadow of a smile.] Well, that remains to be seen, I expect. Time will be the one with the answer there. As it so often is.

[He inclines his head at the name though.] A pleasure to finally speak to you.

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

[ ... Really not reassuring.] What is she to you? An experiment? Game?

Likewise, Vale-san.

Re: [Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

A guest. I believe I said that. [He pauses.] But perhaps you could consider her a litmus test.

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

-- ha!?

[Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

There's no reason to worry for her too much. I have no intention of causing her any harm. [Physically.] And you can take my word in this case, if only because there's no reason for me to lie. If I wanted to injure her, there's nothing that you could do about it, I'm afraid. But I feel no hostility towards Miss Rand; she's given me no reason to.

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

[That's certainly true -- Conan knows from his own abduction that their captors have no reason to view them as a threat.

All the same -- to do nothing ...

Is the litmus test her or us?]

If my guess is right, asking you to pass on a message is out, right?

Re: [Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

[A slight lift of an eyebrow.] Not at all. What's your message. I'll be sure it's delivered to Miss Rand.

[Video -- Locked]

[holmes_fanatic]

'I've got Wyn.'

[Video -- Locked]

[tempervale_npc]

[Another slight nod, little more than a brief inclination of his head.] I'll be sure to pass it on to her, then.