Missing Person?

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 This is Hitori Togusa, this name thing is annoying.
Alpha#02010681 Who else has been in contact with Zee recently? I can't get him, and I've only got the barest information to go on.
Alpha#02010681 He said that he was finding information in their system that was just plain wrong, and wanted to investigate something related to it. I think this meant leaving the city, but I can't verify it.
Alpha#02010681 The big clue, he said he wanted to generate something called a counterwave. He didn't elaborate.
Alpha#02010681 We have to find him, and either help him or stop him. He dropped off the network, I didn't even think that was possible!
Alpha#02010681 Does anybody else know anything? Can anyone else help search the city or the outlying areas?

Comments

[thisloveisjustice]

alpha#05011856 I haven't spoken to him, but if you need help looking, count me in. - Tatsuo

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 I'm going to see if I can find him within the city first. But. I don't know. If I try to spread myself too thin, I won't spend enough time in each location to really look.
Alpha#02010681 I'd appreciate the help.

[thisloveisjustice]

ALPHA#05011856 Where are you going to look in the city? We can divide that up first.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 Uh. Funny you should ask. I had a thought on that, if I can get a little time with our traffic cam system...

[thisloveisjustice]

ALPHA#05011856 If anyone could look through that much footage, it'd be you. My eyes would glaze over within 30 minutes.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 No...wait. That's a waste. Retrospec has Recolle covered. If they can't find him? It's a waste to look in the city.
Alpha#02010681 How do you feel about getting out for a bit?

[thisloveisjustice]

ALPHA#05011856 Just as long as it's not to Bosuma.

[screw forests with witches in them]

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 I was thinking a seaside getaway. Nobody seems to have a problem with that place.

[thisloveisjustice]

ALPHA#05011856 Who would? It's very relaxing. When are you thinking of going?

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 I can sneak off any time. Might even bring along a tagalong, since I've wanted to show her the city?

[The three of them are going to have to get this done BEFORE Togusa unexpectedly falls into a coma, then.]

[thisloveisjustice]

ALPHA#05011856 I'm mostly done with my classroom prep, so I'm free whenever. One last hurrah before school starts?

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 For all of us, I suppose. I'll look forward to it!

[godcards]

Alpha#03012216 Is it really that confusing? He's off the network, possibly to hide himself from Retrospec. And that's only if you take what he said at face value. People drop off the network all the time, after all.

[ Nah he's not tagging his name in there anywhere :) ]

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 If the message we all got was any clue? Retrospec can't find him, so they need us to do it.
Alpha#02010681 His account still exists, it's just not receiving anything. That makes me more worried.
Alpha#02010681 Can you help us look for him?

[godcards]

Alpha#03012216 You seem certain that Zee would even want your help. What information do you even have to go off of?
Alpha#03012216 Sometimes people don't want to be found. Retrospec is hardly trustworthy as it is... It seems odd that you're so eager to help them.
Alpha#03012216 However... If you happen to know of anyone that frequented his office or place of residence I can see what I can do.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 I've been to his office. Wouldn't say I was there that often, though.

[godcards]

Alpha#03012216 I was thinking more along the lines of a personal assistant... A manager, perhaps, unless Zee owns the entire building. Anyone who might have access to his office or would be able to get it.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 There's where we're in trouble. I've never seen anyone other than Zee in his offices. But he doesn't own the whole place, just his floor.
Alpha#02010681 You might find somebody not on the network who manages the Towers?

[godcards]

Alpha#03012216 That is enough for me to do a little research of my own... Give me some time to look into this and I will get back to you.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 Thank you. If you don't want to tell me who you are, I'll just write down your number.

[Since Togusa still doesn't actually know who is deciding to help out.]

[frostythehitman]

Alpha#03011183 where did you hear that about a counterwave
Alpha#03011183 that's the first i'm hearing about it

[ James, too, has conveniently decided to leave off his name. ]

[standalonehuman]

[All my friends are jerks.]

Alpha#02010681 Zee told me, directly. I was talking with him before he disappeared. But I don't know where he would go for it.
Alpha#02010681 Can you help look for him?

[frostythehitman]

Alpha#03011183 really
Alpha#03011183 how convenient that you only bring that talk up now
Alpha#03011183 after your source has gone missing
Alpha#03011183 i'm not going to further your agenda, you can look for him yourself

[ By which he means, James will also look for him for his own reasons...but he sure as hell isn't gonna tell Togusa about anything he finds.

God, he loves this name glitch. He can actually just say exactly what he's thinking for once, instead of constantly having to play the role of James Barnes any time he says anything. ]

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 'Source?' What agenda?
Alpha#02010681 He's a-

[And Togusa stops, before think-types that next word. What is Zee, to him? The urgency he's feeling about this, it's more than just about what is at stake to the program and Retrospec and the city.]

Alpha#02010681 He's a friend. And he could be in danger. I thought he'd be able to do whatever he's doing on his own, no need for help from us. But all signs point that he needs a hand.
Alpha#02010681 Maybe he doesn't know what he's doing, maybe something went wrong, I don't know. But I can't know until I find him.

[frostythehitman]

Alpha#03011183 a friend? or an accomplice?
Alpha#03011183 just because he needs a hand doesn't mean we should give him one
Alpha#03011183 who knows what his end game is
Alpha#03011183 who knows what YOUR end game is

[ Is he just being paranoid? Maybe. James honestly can't tell. Without a handler to point him in the right direction, he's spent the past two months trying to figure out what side he's supposed to be on and who he's working for, and he's no closer to understanding it. Every new piece of information just has him doubting his latest hunch. Plus, Togusa's a cop, which automatically makes him extremely suspicious. ]

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 I've never hidden my end game: bring Retrospec to justice for their crimes.
Alpha#02010681 But what Retrospec wants and what Zee wants are different. He was after something that he thought would fix what's happening now. If he was just trying to help?

[frostythehitman]

Alpha#03011183 and what are their crimes, exactly
Alpha#03011183 everyone's got a different grudge here. some people are saying retrospec is ruining their lives, others are saying they're just helping us cope with the inevitable, others are saying clarence vanderweele is the bad guy not retrospec
Alpha#03011183 do any of you even know what they want? or what YOU want from them?

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 The injuries they've given to people count as assault, even if it's hard to prove.
Alpha#02010681 But they've broken a lot of laws that fall under weapons trafficking, information security breaches, privacy laws. There's probably a lot of civil statutes that they've broken with how they run their business, too, but that's not my specialty.
Alpha#02010681 All I want out of Retrospec is for them to stop. And never start this again. The law is the best way I've got to make sure that happens.
Alpha#02010681 But helping their cause? Helping these lost souls? It's another way to make it happen. If it all turns out to be true?

[frostythehitman]

Alpha#03011183 what if the only way to "help these lost souls" IS to break the laws
Alpha#03011183 what if stopping them will only cause more problems and force them to commit "worse" crimes (since you're so obsessed with the law)
Alpha#03011183 all of you think it's so simple, that you can trust what you see just because it's there
Alpha#03011183 whether you think retrospec is the enemy or zee is your friend, you're a naive idiot

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 Then once this is over, they should know as well as we do that they are going to be subject to the law.
Alpha#02010681 It's why I've only been collecting evidence, but have been less forward about attacking them directly.
Alpha#02010681 What is it you're looking for, then? Safe to sit back and criticize other's ideas without explaining your own.

[frostythehitman]

Alpha#03011183 just because YOU'RE willing to explain your plans to anyone who can see this doesn't mean i'm going to too
Alpha#03011183 not when we don't know who's reading what for what purposes
Alpha#03011183 unlike you i actually have a sense of discretion

[ which is true, but also: Togusa is right, because he doesn't know what he's looking for. He can't figure out if he's meant to be working for or against Retrospec, and when he's undercover with no handler, it's not like he can suss it out himself. ]

[usurpers]

Beta#0901185204 Our world could end and you want to take Retrospec to court?

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 Eventually, yes.
Alpha#02010681 If we've got to let their plan play out first, then I'll help. If it's the only way to get the other souls back home, if that's actually what's going on.
Alpha#02010681 But afterwards? There has to be some measure of justice for what they've done.

[usurpers]

Beta#0901185204 “What they’ve done”.
What’s justice to you?

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 Doesn't matter what it is to me, it matters what it is to the system. I'm one of the only people responsible for upholding that system that can see what's happening here, so my job is to keep collecting evidence. It's not my job to pass judgement, it's my job to make sure that judgement is even possible.

[usurpers]

Beta#0901185204 You’re beating the dead horse that pulled your own wagon.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 We're getting off the point of this post.
Alpha#02010681 Zee is missing, one way or another. Looks like Tatsuo and I are going to take Pesgare. Whoever you are, can you help look for him?

[usurpers]

Beta#0901185204 I think I have faith in what Zee’s doing.
Beta#0901185204 He said from the start that it’d cause panic regardless of what he said to the network.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 I'm less worried about what he's doing, and more worried about him.
Alpha#02010681 You think he's going to come back okay?

[usurpers]

Beta#0901185204 To put him in jail alive or are you actually worried for him?

[ after a moment: ]

Beta#0901185204 I believe it, but only because I believe in him, and what he chooses to do to help. Again, he knows what he’s doing.
Beta#0901185204 That’s how I see it.

[standalonehuman]

Alpha#02010681 What? Of course not, I'm worried about him.
Alpha#02010681 He's not one of the people responsible for what we're going through. He's stuck in this just like us. I wouldn't want to come down on him, no.

Alpha#02010681 I know he knows better than we do, but what if the techs know something is going to happen and they can't communicate it to him now?

[usurpers]

Beta#0901185204 If that’s the case then your argument is completely biased. He’s consciously as much of a part of Retrospec as Joanne and Wendy, and “what they did to us” is personal.

Beta#0901185204 And that was his choice. If he did it because he wanted to help us, I’ll respect it and keep up my end so it isn’t in vain.
Beta#0901185204 That’s the only way things can resolve.