fifth evocation ✧ orthrus

[complementing]

Minako Arisato June 9th near Birch Hills

Hi everyone, it's me again. I'll try and keep it short and sweet this time. First. Last month, during that week when everyone was super tiny, there were a lot of people who wandered into the woods because they heard voices calling out to them. It doesn't seem like whatever was calling to us is there anymore, thankfully, but I think this is a perfect chance to go back and go deeper into the forest, as deep as we can go to see if we can find the source of those voices, or anything else that might be there. I'm planning this thing for the 18th, and I wanted to know if anyone else wanted to come with. Keep in mind that even if nothing is likely to lure us in again, there's still a potential for danger. So in my opinion, the bigger the group, the better. We can all watch each other's backs. Which brings me to my next point. I know a lot of people have been exploring all the weird places in the city, and eventually I'd like to get accounts from you guys to compile together-- but for now, I wanted to ask if we could make a more concerted effort to explore together, instead of splitting up into our own tiny groups. The main reason being: Jim is constantly watching our movements and reading our posts. He's the only one we have any kind of contact with from Retrospec, and he's shown us in the past couple of months that he likes commenting on what we do and how we act. There's no telling if anything he says might be able to help us down the line, but in order to get him to talk at all, we have to get his attention. And a big group of people poking around for information on Retrospec is a lot more comment-worthy than tiny groups. Obviously there's a risk of exposing ourselves too much to him (though I'd argue we're pretty exposed as it is already). And I can't stop people from exploring on their own. I just wanted to put the idea out there that it might be better to do it together. There's one last thing I want to mention. Yosuke recently suggested that my dog Koromaru should try sniffing out a Retrospec employee by smelling something that was sent by mail. I'm not sure if it'll work, but me and Koromaru are willing to give it a try, so if you get something in the mail from Retrospec and want to let us have a go at it, text me any time of the day or night, I'll come running. Oh, and just to be safe, don't touch the box or wrapping it comes in. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll have something more fun to talk about the next time I post here.

[ooc: the open log for this mini expedition will be up on the 18th, for anyone who would like to have their character join! Nothing too exciting other than getting stuck in an infinite loop and attempting to escape said infinite loop will happen...probably ;3 I decided against making a post in the OOC comm for this so if you have any questions, feel free to PM me!]

Comments

[complementing]

ooh

mind if Korochan and I come to check it out?

[toushiro]

That, and if the weird voices are still there, you'll need to come up with a way to drown them out when you're ready to go back.

[complementing]

hehe no worries, I'm covered on that front

headphones and a music player are all we need to take care of that!

[toushiro]

Then I guess I don't have much else to tell you, unless you had any specific questions?

[skald]

All I got was a coat, so... normal enough, even if the timing is weird. But tracker dogs are good at sniffing clothing in the movies, right? Maybe it's better that way, haha.

How about in an hour or so?

[true_noir]

Probably. this is more a suggestion for when you have the chance to do it. It won't be closed forever.

[cattack]

A good motto.
I don't have any, but if you tell me what I need to get, I can get it quickly.

[commandertoolbelt]

nnnno but i can probably grab some tools and stuff that might be good to have just in case
maybe a first aid kit?

[commandertoolbelt]

i don't need a chaperone, pen!
what kind of trouble do you think i get into?

[mincingminuet]

I understand that, because you and Freya are about the only people that really know about my little hellion. Freya probably more than most.

then that's settled. I trust Leo, too. He's at least seen the little goof.

[mincingminuet]

Did I say chaperone?

I want to make sure you stay safe. We're friends, goof. And I've got a gun and a spear and a tomato monster.

[commandertoolbelt]

you said you wanted to keep me out of trouble
that sure sounds like a chaperone to me

...where did you get a gun?
and why would we need weapons like that just to explore the woods? what do you think is going to happen out there?

[mincingminuet]

If I was wanting to chaperone you, I'd keep you home.

And I bought it? Leo, my parents were soldiers, my brother Frank is a Marine captain. I learned to shoot when I was ten. Guns are just a part of my life.

I don't know what I expect to happen. Everything has been really weird lately, and I don't want to to take chances where I don't have to. Don't you remember the flowers? What if there's something worse? I don't want to say there is, but I don't want to risk not having a way to defend myself and everyone else.

Minako agrees.

[commandertoolbelt]

you couldn't keep me home if you tried

well, yeah, but i didn't know you had one of your own
it's not like it comes up that often

okay i know the flowers were pretty bad for some people but weren't they just voices?
nothing really happened besides it being really creepy, right?
it doesn't seem like retrospec really wants to hurt any of us
but i guess it doesn't hurt to be prepared

[mincingminuet]

Good thing I had no intention of doing so, huh?

It was something I bought when I was a kid.  I bought another, a handgun, not too long ago too.  It's not really anything special, I'm not an enthusiast or anything, I just am taking my family's advice to heart.  I don't talk about it because so many of my friends come from the city and get skittish, and I'm from the suburbs in Phoenix so I grew up around guns.  They're locked up in my place though, and I've trained in firearm safety.

And yes the flowers were just voices, but they hit me hard.  I don't really want to talk about what they said.  It hurt.  A lot.  Also I nearly got eaten by an owl, and since then I've been kind of against taking chances. Murphy's Law. 

I've had some bad memories come back too.  Not stuff I want to talk about on the network, but if you wanna come by, you can.

Maybe that's making me paranoid?  But better safe that sorry because again, who knows anymore.

[commandertoolbelt]

makes sense
at least you know how to use it i guess
that’s better than just getting it in the mail one day

[ ...oh. he’d heard about some people nearly getting eaten by something or other, but dismissed it as a fluke of being that small, not a direct effort to hurt them on retrospec’s part. the rest of it though…? ]

i’m sorry, i didn’t know it was that bad
i haven’t really gotten any bad memories either, just some stuff that doesn’t make a lot of sense…
maybe i’ll drop by after work
sorry, pen

[mincingminuet]

No worries. My door is always open. Well. Most of the time.

I'll see you later.

[potentite]

Me too! It seems you have a knack for attracting good sorts of people.
I think its your natural charisma.
Do you have points of interest that youre considering for the exploration?

[adoringpast]

How would you know if it's safe enough to go back there?

If anything, this all sounds like a suicide pact to me.

[longwei2go]

be my guest
police didnt have any good leads on the last one
this ideas as good as any

[strawberrypunch]

Well watch each other
Its not just you
Were in this together

[Don’t fret too much, Minako! They’ll figure something out… probably.]

[seeker]

strength in numbers. i like your reasoning. facing all of this alone would be nuts.

i can bring what i can fit into my car. my dad won't mind if i borrow some of his gear, either.

if we weren't going on a reality-questioning scavenging hunt,
this would almost sound fun.

[belligerentwarrior]

sounds great. count me in. i'll bring my backpacking stuff just in case.

['Cause, you know, hunting evil devil-whisper flowers is the same as hiking. Totally.]

[complementing]

hopefully you won't need to bring him out but yeah, we'll know what to expect if you call for him

though speaking of which I guess I should let you know I can summon some guys too?

hopefully I won't need them either

[complementing]

no it won't

not even if we have to pry open the doors somehow

but for now we have plenty inside the city to explore so it can wait, I hope