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jigokufever2022-02-22 06:06 pm
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-02-22 06:06 pm
Entry tags:
February 2022 Test Drive
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. ENTRY
It feels like a dream as you wake up in what appears to be a government office. It is remarkably mundane: white walls, small screens with the number that is being served and at what desk, chairs along the perimeter of the room, and pleasant music playing from unseen speakers. There's nothing out of the ordinary, right?
Then you take a look at the inhabitants in the office: Lost Souls and youkai alike make up the ranks of a never-ending line in front of a desk manned by an akaname in a suit. However, another youkai, a hyakume, is your first contact in this world. You're instructed to take a number and stand in the queue. Take a seat if you want– but you're reminded to be quick when your number is called or you'll be passed by.
Congratulations: you're in Hell.
If you're lucky, you're in line behind a fellow Lost Soul. If you're less lucky, you're stuck behind any number of youkai that may be disturbing to look at or ones that may actively try to harm you. The ones with long arms may even try to steal your ticket from further back in the line.
Make small talk, try not to freak out, and keep your ticket safe (or maybe try to steal a better one) as you make your way up in the line.
2. THE CITY
Once you've been processed through the line, you're given your assignment to one of the four possible clans with directions to their respective clan offices. The city itself looks remarkably similar to a modern Japanese city, complete with narrow alleyways connecting wider streets. Glaring neon signs advertising various businesses compete for your attention, even the most mundane businesses.
Once you tear your attention away from the myriad distractions, your task is to find your way to the office. The akaname didn't exactly give you clear directions, just a piece of paper with an address printed on it. You’re on your own to find your way there.Ask your fellow Lost Souls for directions or stubbornly find your way to the office all on your own. No matter how you get there, once you've made your way to the office you're given your lodgings (for rookies, it’s always the cheapest inn or apartment block in the area) and told to go out and get a feel for the city.
- Those assigned to the Shuten Clan are directed to the gambling district.
- The Tamamo Clan members are directed to the red light district.
- New members of the Sutoku Alliance are pointed to the entertainment district.
- Those assigned to The Department of the Enma are sent to the administrative district.
3. STREET FIGHT - SHUTEN TERRITORY
Scuffles break out all the time in Jigokucho, especially in the district dominated by the Shuten Clan. Whether it's a rival clan posturing over someone being on the wrong turf, shakedowns of all sorts, or just someone with a chip on their shoulder picking a fight: it always draws a crowd of onlookers.
No matter what street you're going down or what you're on your way to do, there always seems to be a fight to block the way. Take a look, take bets, or maybe you're the one caught in the brawl. Maybe someone decided they didn't like the way you looked at them or maybe they're trying to catch you in a petty scam. You may also feel the need to step in when fights are looking particularly one-sided.
Get used to this happening.
4. STICKY PAWS - SUTOKU TERRITORY
One of the more adorable features in the city is a cat cafe. Located within Sutoku territory, it always draws a steady crowd. If you're lured in by the adorable cats in the window, you're welcomed into a pleasant, cat-friendly environment with cats of every shape, color, and size lounging on various surfaces while being doted on by patrons. Of course not everything is as it seems: these are no ordinary cats. They're bakeneko in disguise and this cafe is a clever way to spirit away a few more coins for the Sutoku Alliance's coffers.
You may notice your wallet is a few (thousand) bills lighter at some point during your visit or your wallet may be missing entirely. Maybe it was one of your fellow patrons helping themselves while you were playing with a cat or maybe it was one of the cats. Who's to say? You quickly realize this place is not on the up and up; you have to do something about it.
Chase down one of the cats, confront your fellow patrons, or maybe try to shake down the owner for information. The latter won't get you very far, but maybe it'll make you feel better about losing your cash to a cute scam.
5. HELP WANTED - TAMAMO TERRITORY
CW: potentially NSFW, optional aphro
If you find yourself in the red light district, you might find yourself pulled into something else entirely. A scout in front of one of the numerous clubs drags you in off the street, assuming you're from the Tamamo Clan. It doesn't matter if you are or not, the scout is not listening to your protests. They say something about staffing shortages as you're shoved into the employee area of the club. The club manager then pushes some clothes at you and tells you to get out onto the floor once you're dressed. It might be a host club, it might be a bikini or banana bar, or maybe something even more salacious – whatever it is, you're working there for the night.
There are also barkers aggressively recruiting clients for these clubs, promising a good time for anyone who wants it. Whether it be the company of a pretty host or hostess, the lurid appeal of a strip show, or perhaps even other pleasures of the flesh: there's plenty to tempt even the most resistant.
Work at a club for the night or partake in the pleasures. Drinks flow like water, some with a little something extra to help things along. Everything is transactional here. As you have the money, you're bound to find something that tickles your fancy.
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no subject
The personalized torture of this place is distinct from the nightmares that van Zieks has long learned to live with. His dreams are pitch black darkness and the suffocating smell of copper and blood. Meanwhile, the bright bureaucratic nature of this town is completely antithetical to van Zieks' nature, even the nature of his dreams.
So, hell. God knows, Stronghart deserves to be there as well. It should be satisfying, then, to find him here - but van Zieks can't bring himself to be triumphant.
My... court date? He frowns, likewise putting his phone aside for the time being. ]
If I were to take a spontaneous vacation so soon after my return to duty, I would be certain to choose a more tranquil destination.
[ His court date... No, he won't acknowledge that statement right now and instead wait for Stronghart's reactions. Every encounter with the man is a dangerous game to play and he doesn't need to show his cards right now. ]
Not that it appears that we will be given any rest in this place.
slaps a warning for GAA2 spoilers on this thread
Putting that phrase back in context — it implies this improbable return has already happened, doesn't it?
...
There's no visible change in his expression, stony and unreadable as always — but he does watch van Zieks silently for a good [ .... ] four seconds before he responds again. ]
No, that does seem like it would be counterproductive to this place's intended purpose, if we're to believe what we've been told.
[ He's not much for relaxing in the first place, of course, and honestly, having nothing pressing to attend to might be a sort of hell in and of itself... but he's fairly certain that he'd take even that over having to work under someone else's direction again. So if it really does turn out that this isn't a dream...
He looks back down at his watch, making note this time of the fact that the numerals are perfectly clear and in their proper order, in contrast to the jumbled blur its face so often appears as in his more bothersome dreams.
Hm. ]
...On that note, I'd like to hear your initial evaluation of the situation. Opinions on the communications technology aside.
no subject
I do not have Albert... Professor Harebrayne's propensity for contemplating the various ways a human body can be disassembled and transported elsewhere, but there is a distinct chance that something of that nature has occurred.
I have no recollection of either of us shuffling off this mortal coil, so I see no reason to rely on the word of demons declaring us 'lost souls'.
[ Stronghart would be executed soon, certainly, but not yet. The one in front of van Zieks now doesn't seem like an apparition. ]
Forgive the blasphemy that lurks in referring to them as such, but I cannot think of a more fitting descriptor. [ And the blasphemy ship has probably sailed with the whole 'Reaper' business anyway. ] They have the game of temptation down pat.
Though the only thing they could offer me in their dealings is passage home. This... far Eastern city is not becoming for gentlemen of our standing.
no subject
A valid point. Given what we've seen of their inventions here so far, there's no reason to assume they haven't managed to perfect the ideas laid out in that faulty hypothesis.
[ Pointed though that last bit may seem, it isn't said with any change in his tone. Just casually demeaning, as usual. ]
Certainly more plausible than that "lost souls" rubbish, I'll agree. If this is really supposed to be some sort of Hell, there are several scores of deserving criminals I could specifically name whom I've yet to see.
[ And though he certainly isn't going to admit to it, he knows van Zieks isn't truly deserving of some great moral punishment at all (which does throw another little wrench into that dream theory which seems, to his dismay, to be being rapidly discredited). If this place really is what it claims to be, the management is utterly incompetent.
...Then again, he supposes they did make out like bandits on that joke of a contract. As far as he knows, the only things awaiting van Zieks back home are an inevitable guilty verdict and a ticket to the gallows. ]
...I suppose your reluctance to enter into an agreement with any breed of Japanese is hardly a surprise, but I think you could have set your sights a little higher than that.
[ He did, however, note that wording — "far Eastern" — and that slight pause, as if he purposefully stopped himself from using his usual favoured term. Interesting. ]
no subject
And where would that leave me?
[ It is so very like Stronghart to immediately consider profit. Whatever the demons have offered him is surely of much greater magnitude. But despite all else that has transpired, despite the hatred that courses through van Zieks' veins when he looks at the man now... he still finds himself hoping that at the very least Stronghart is not so easily bought. It seems that some of that respect he'd once felt for the man is fighting for its life even now.]
Allow me to be forthright. I do not believe there is anything to be gained from engaging in transactions with monsters. A goal that is reached by piggybacking off illicit means is nothing but a fanciful illusion.
[ And how much he wishes that Stronghart could have understood this same thing years and years ago, before bringing ruin to everyone he touches. ]
As you have long known, I pride myself in facing each challenge posed to me straight on. I would not disgrace my ambitions here.
[ His 'ambitions'. That is perhaps a bit much said. What does he have left, now that everything has fallen to rubble around him? Without Stronghart's well-oiled machine, the London judiciary is a shell of its former self. Is it up to van Zieks to rebuild its power? Is that the only thing he can do to atone? ]
no subject
Over the course of van Zieks' ten years in (and out of) the prosecutor's office, Stronghart's relationship with him had, at least from his own perspective, changed very little. He'd always kept him at arm's length to ensure that he stayed firmly out of the loop when it came to everything he and his inner circle did in the shadows; but he was trusted, reliable, useful. Stronghart had been far more lenient with him than he ever would have been with any other subordinate, and van Zieks had a strong enough sense of obligation toward him that he'd rarely, if ever, speak up against him.
It had been a true shame that things had worked out the way they had that evening on Fresno Street, after everything Stronghart had done over the years to make sure none of the Reaper's actions could ever be pinned on the man who unwillingly bore its title — while making full use of the unsavoury reputation he'd built for him.
But even visiting him in that dreary prison cell yesterday — pretending to believe the accusations against him, making no effort to defend him despite his years of loyalty and unfailingly good character, and putting him at the mercy of the young man who held the deepest grudge against him — van Zieks had never spoken to him as impertinently as this. He's a little taken aback by it, truthfully, though he has no intention of letting it show; he'd come to take it for granted that this man who'd known him since his youth and who'd long held him in high regard would always remain docile toward him alone.
He's not certain what brought on this apparent change so quickly, and given the other slight oddities he's noted in this brief conversation, he feels a bit of unease about it. ...But, of more immediate importance — he doesn't like it.
His typical stony expression hardens further. ]
Your ambitions. [ Repeated slowly, with dry scepticism. ] I've seen no trace of them in years.
[ He shakes his head. ]
If one is forced into making a deal with a devil, he should at least seek to gain something of substantial value for it. There's any number of things you could have bargained for. The passing of a desired law, the dissolution of a criminal organisation. A hefty research grant for that hapless scientist friend of yours.
If the contract is broken by the other side and the reward you sought is, as you say, a fanciful illusion, things are no worse off than they already were. Can you really say your lofty morality benefits anyone?
no subject
Even if this place isn't literal hell, it might be giving the real deal a run for its money.
He crosses his arms slowly and shakes his head. ]
That, I cannot. But I can claim that it will not accelerate harm to them either. I do not enjoy the idea of invoking foreign evil powers to influence London, even in ways that would ultimately be beneficial to us.
[ And to an outsider, that is an ironic thing for Barok van Zieks to say, but then... even when he had feverishly made himself believe in the legend surrounding his own pseudonym, would he have ever called Klint's vengeful spirit a force of evil? Would he have brought himself to denounce the brother who stands above him like a dark guardian angel, passing just judgement? He doesn't know that he would have. ]
However, these are decisions each man must make for himself. I am not so impudent as to assume I have right or ability to change your mind.
[ But he does hope that even now, Klint's wish is holding true. That Stronghart is feeling the fangs of the beast around his neck at this very moment and that they dig into his throat each time he spouts his grandiose speeches. ]
no subject
[ A detrimental quality for anyone in law enforcement who cares about results, and, from van Zieks, something that's long brought Stronghart trouble. That five-year withdrawal from the courtroom when (at least as he sees it) van Zieks had bowed under the weight of the Reaper's mantle, and now the misguided search for the truth that had led him to that rented room in the slums and sealed his fate.
But what it isn't, admittedly, is a character flaw. Despite his often questionable judgement and a smattering of other failings, that annoying commitment to principle is what makes Barok van Zieks a fine and upstanding citizen, and if all Londoners had so strong a moral compass, there'd be no need for any of the rest of them to dirty their hands in the shadows. Stronghart respects him for that much, as he always has... albeit begrudgingly by this point.
There's still some derision in his voice, but it's not as sharp as it was a minute ago. ]
...So long as you're clear on that much.
[ ...Unfortunately, though, those phantom fangs have never really bothered him. He can admit he's made some errors, but he's still confident that his actions will always prove justified in the end. ]
no subject
He can imagine what they might have offered the man, but receiving confirmation of it would make him feel nothing but sick.
There is silence between them for a small moment as van Zieks studies Stronghart's expression. In this world, there is no evidence against him. It's van Zieks' word against Strongharts and between them, there is a clear winner in charisma. Whatever this is going to be, this time it won't be settled with an arrest. ]
I am going to assume you are also headed for the Department of the Enma?
[ As much as Stronghart is a vile criminal, a monster of the lowest kind, the powers that be would be dim-witted buffoons if they placed him in any other faction.
He makes a move as though he was turning to leave for the tower, but before taking a step he looks back over his shoulder. ]
You have been tasked with cleaning up a town even more rife with crime than the bustling capital of our Great Empire. Surely you are overjoyed with this development - returning to do what you do best, the slate wiped clean.
If this were hell, it might just be too good for you still.
1/2; ANOTHER MAJOR SPOILER WARNING FOR GOOD MEASURE
Stronghart had picked up on enough little incongruities before this that he'd started to wonder if he'd missed something — if van Zieks had somehow learned something he wasn't supposed to in the short time since he last saw him. The distance and unexplained vitriol apparent in his demeanour toward him, and the relative lack of it in his mention of the Japanese. This outburst seems to firmly solidify that worry, and pile on a few more besides. (Returning to what he does best, as if he'd ever walked away from it?)
He doesn't have nearly enough information about how this place works to know exactly what's possible. Was that "short time" not so short at all? Had time only progressed further for one of them? ...But even then, he still can't see how that adds up; the trial had already begun, so van Zieks should have only had a few weeks left before his execution, most of which would have been spent alone in a prison cell. There should have been no way for him to find out the truth — if, indeed, that was what had happened — at this point. There was hardly anyone still left alive from back then who could have even revealed it — he'd made damn sure of that.
Had he crossed paths with Dr. Sithe at the prison...? No, she's no fool, she wouldn't have dared implicate him in anything when she had her daughter's safety to worry about. Jigoku had a little less to lose, but he'd been bought so easily in the first place that Stronghart can't imagine him growing a spine and standing up to him now, not when he's enjoying the perks of his ministerial position with retirement still years away.
What in God's name could have happened, then? Ten years of silence, the cogs all moving in place just as they should have... only to have it come out now, when he was nearly home free, with no one left to betray him? Mr. Naruhodo may have an uncanny talent for digging up past truths that no one wants to see unburied, but he'd permitted Asogi's request to act as the prosecution in that trial for a reason. If there was anyone who could have crushed whatever advantage the defence may have had, it should have been him — the one person who was familiar enough with both the defence and the defendant to know how to manipulate the situation to his favour, and the one who had a strong enough (if misplaced) grudge against van Zieks that he would have gone to the ends of the earth to get that guilty verdict, blinded to all but his path of vengeance.
...But, ah, maybe he's overthinking all of this. Maybe this really is just some sort of personal hell after all. ]
2/2
But on the outside, with the distance between them — there's no visible crack in his calm facade. He's just going to play this off as always, feigning his own innocence and twisting things around to make it sound like his accusers are the misguided ones. ]
What's this about? Don't tell me one night behind bars rubbed off on you that much.
[ A dismissive shake of his head. ]
You're correct about my destination, in any event. I've little interest in reforming anyone else's territory, but I do intend to carry out my role as thoroughly and effectively as possible so long as I'm compelled to remain within it.
I hope your newfound anti-authoritarian streak doesn't get in the way of our fulfilling our obligations here.
no subject
There is more confirmation in those words than Stronghart may have intended to give. "One night behind bars" is it? Hell is being kinder to van Zieks than expected, giving him this much of an edge on the puppet master of the London justice system. Or maybe it's just that Stronghart's mind could handle his defeat as little as Asogi's could handle his faux-death? Has it reset him to the last time he'd felt truly in control of anything? That seems difficult to imagine. Even after a crushing defeat in flames such as the one Stronghart had suffered only few days ago from van Zieks' perspective, he can't see the man's spirit being broken quite that easily.
But if this place draws in individuals from all over with no regard to physical distance, plausibility or even reality of the place it pulls from... then what is to say that temporal distance couldn't be bridged as well? It's brainbreaking but not any more so than anything else about being here. ]
It seems that I have the great privilege of speaking to you like a harbinger of a future yet to pass. The 'Reaper' title you bestowed on me rearing its head once more... Keh... keh... keh...
[ He can't help but laugh a little, though it's thoroughly devoid of any real amusement. ]
But you needn't worry about our duties here. It is my obligations to you that have met a violent end, not my obligations to truth and justice.
no subject
But no; he's not going to start letting the blood get on his own hands after all this time. Anyway, who knows if it's even possible to permanently silence anyone in this grotesque mockery of reality? He's just going to maintain his denial as long as he can. There's no one to disprove him. ]
That I bestowed upon you?
[ There's a chuckle from him as well, equally humourless. ]
Well, whether you think you were given that moniker by me or the public or the Devil himself, it matters little. It's plain to see you've finally cracked under its pressure.
A shame, truly. A part of me had still been holding out hope for you.
no subject
... and an investigation behind the scenes, running on and on without ever suspecting Stronghart, without ever putting so much as a scratch into the loyalty he was made to feel for him. Never questioning him for more than a second, just like he had never questioned Klint... Barok's luck with men he looks up to seems to have been abysmal all his life. ]
That does not flatter me in the slightest. A symbol like I was takes time and effort to build, it would have been such an inconvenience to have to toss it.
Then again, throwing people away is what you do best lately.
no subject
[ He taps the end of his cane against his palm in a steady rhythm. ]
That reputation you so loathe did indeed serve the people of London very well. Naturally, I wouldn't relish losing that. I had also long considered you the finest prosecutor I had, and a man of unfailingly good character, despite your numerous flaws.
[ Though even approaching from this angle, he can't resist putting a little more emphasis on numerous than he really needs to. ]
My declining to speak out against your charges was no personal slight, but it seems you've regrettably taken it as such, and allowed your resentment toward me to manifest in this elaborate and troublesome self-delusion.
Again, a shame. But I won't stand for being slandered. I would advise you to be careful about what you say.
no subject
So he looks Stronghart in the eyes like he might look at a witness in the stand. Certain. ]
Unlike certain defense attorneys, I am not in the habit of throwing out accusations without evidence.
[ Ryunosuke Naruhodo may have saved his soul and have unwavering and complete integrity but he can also say some dumbass shit in court. ]
You know well as I that nothing of the sort has come along with you. Your misdeeds are out of reach now - those from London, that is. For this chapter of your life meanwhile... well. It has been said that there are a great many Reapers around. Know that at least one will always have his eyes on you.
[ If anybody had ever deserved the wrath he's been accused of, if anybody should ever fall to the Reaper's curse by Barok van Zieks' own hands... it would be Chief Justice Mael Stronghart. But van Zieks remembers Klint, remembers Kazuma Asogi and even Ashley Graydon... and he knows that he cannot allow himself to become the very monster he loathes most. ]
no subject
That's why you won all your cases against him, I suppose.
[ But good. Good to know that same unshakable commitment to principle that's helped to turn van Zieks against him is also what's going to ensure his silence. Though he does wonder if it's really that unshakable — if he really wouldn't consider forging evidence against him if a fitting opportunity arose. ]
I do.
[ He knows it very well indeed; it's precisely why he's not even going to validate the charges against him by acknowledging them as reality. He has no reason to defend his motives when he could just avoid admitting to anything. ]
As I've said, I will carry out my role thoroughly and effectively. As I always do. I don't foresee any complaints.
[ Having punctuated that last sentence very clearly, he snaps open his pocket watch to check the time. He may not have a schedule yet, but he still wants to know where each of his minutes is going. ]
...Anyway, that's enough for now; I want to gather a few more details before I report in. I'll catch up with you shortly.
[ With a bow that comes off as anything but deferential — ]
I shall look forward to working with you once more.
no subject
[ It's a strange feeling to abandon his deferential politeness towards Stronghart and exchange it for the discourteous bluntness with which he treats most everyone he encounters in his workday.
Though they are headed in roughly the same direction, van Zieks remains frozen in place as he watches Stronghart's head off into this garish town with his unfailingly even, heavy steps.
He'd never been naive enough to expect anything like shame or repentance, but Stronghart's unshakable calm still leaves van Zieks with a sense of uncomfortable foreboding. What is torment to van Zieks is merely an opportunity to Stronghart, and he's never been known for wasting those.
Once Stronghart is out of sight, van Zieks kicks a wall so hard that he'll feel the ache of it for the rest of the day. It does not make him feel any better.]