Participants:
| Scene Title | And Still Insists She Sees The Ghosts |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kaydence is visited by a vengeful spirit. |
| Date | March 2, 2021 |
Everything is dark, save for a blazing ring of red hovering over a glossy desk.
Recessed ceiling-mounted lights flicker and sputter. The touchscreen desk surface traces with scanlines and chromatic aberration. The panel for climate controls on the nearby wall reads an unending string of 8s.
A single kanji floats in the middle of the ring of light.
権
Authority. Power. Right.
And behind that symbol, a voice that emanates from the very walls as if the building itself were calling out.
K-k-k-k-kaydence.
Kimiko Nakamura’s voice, stuttering and electronic, lost and fragmented.
Is the i̶̢͚̦̜͓͈̳͊́͊̋͗̈́̐͜n̴̟̼͓̲̞̓̌̄̂͋̚͠͝h̸̠̩̖͉̭̃̔ẽ̵̳̟̭̭̗͓̟̩͎̈̾̍̅̕r̷͓̟̺̫̞̗̪̣̔͒́͜ï̷͇̹͎̅̀̉͒͠t̵͍̄̑̾̓̇̕͝a̶͙̘̲͈̙̾͒̂̐͌͝n̵̳͔͍͔͓̺͌̀͒͑̃͝c̵̡̡͖̖͓͓̦̠͐̑̀̐͐̋̕e̷̡̨̧̩̹͇̼̤̯̅̎̓͊́͑̀̏̎͠ safe?
Yamagato Fellowship Building
Director Damaris’ Office
March 2nd
10:03 am
“What.” Kay looks around her, head whipping this way and that, then doing a slower pass to note the details of the scene. Falling back on old instinct to bring her some calm. But if she hears Xanadu start to play…
“Ki— Kimiko?” Is any of this real? Has any of this been real? Was she rescued? Did she escape the facility? Or is she still in the machine? Maybe she can never leave it. “Am I dead?” she asks out loud without realizing.
d̷̝͋͆e̸̛̺̊a̵̼͂͜ṯ̶̗̉͠h̴̩͈͠
The single word reverberates through the room as the lights above continue to flicker.
Did they find the inheritance?
Kimiko’s voice has a distorted, digital quality to it.
Kaydence. Did you p̵̢̨̋̾r̷̩͊̍ò̴̗t̵̜̕ȩ̶͔͑̽c̵̪͊t̵̖͐ it?
“Ffffffuck.” Kay’s voice is little more than a juddery whisper as she watches the lights overhead for a protracted moment. Then, her attention turns back to the crimson presence over her desk with its confusing questions.
Her head gives a quick shake. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What inheritance? Who or what are you?”
Y̵̲͐̍̈́͝ͅo̶̧͚̒̒ŭ̴̬ ̵̮͉͚̉͜k̴̖̉ṅ̷̖̘͗ổ̸̤̼w̴̼̠͔͔̾̈̔ ̸͙͐͑̿͝w̶̤̝͓͋h̶͇͕͊ô̶͙͛͋̑ ̴͍̐͜I̴̢̖͂̕͜ ̷̗̞̆͝a̵̫̦͋̉m̶̥̦͊!̶̥͓͍͉̽͘
The agitated voice howls through the building. Lights flash on and off, automatic doors open and close, the temperature gradually begins to rise as heat rises up from the HVAC vents in the floor. It’s as if the entire building is possessed.
Daniel’s s̸̫̪͐e̸̡̊̓̊̚c̷̢̘̋̇͠r̶̠̥̤̍͑̚e̷͚͚̱̫͆̀́t̴̲̻͍̓͋͊͜.
That name makes Kay’s heart skip a beat.
What did you t̷̞̄e̷̻̘̫̜̿͑̓l̵̘̘͙̄͊̇l̴̹̆̓̆́ ̴̛̪t̴̻̎̑͂̉͜h̸̹̑̔͑̕ȇ̸̬͖̿ͅm̶͈͑͜?
Kay leans hard against the back of her chair. Her eyes track slowly down the console in front of her. This presence that should be Jiba, but claims to be— the impossible has to interface with the system. A shaky hand reaches out to rest on the desktop as if for stability in the face of the terror surrounding her.
“I was a fucking mook. There was nothing for me to tell,” the former detective-on-the take insists. “I sure as fuck wasn’t on a first name basis with Daniel fucking Linderman.” And it haunts her that now it’s more than just Lucien Crane that thinks she somehow did know that dead son of a bitch’s secrets. As she focuses on the console in front of her, she wonders if it’s her proximity to Kain Zarek that’s damning her now.
First, she’s going to take back control of the HVAC system in her office. She will not be made powerless in her own domain. Not by anyone. Even Kimiko Nakamura.
In the face of everything else going on, when the heaters stop blasting it might be a small victory, but it’s still a victory.
The d̸̨̬͖͙̓i̸͕̥̱͔̇̓̑̕ĉ̷̣̬̉̎͜t̷̢̥̾̍̚i̸̢͙̼̱̾̎o̸̥̠̪̊͐̀̆ͅn̵͖̯̰̋a̷̟̥̩̮̓́r̶͙̞͛y̴͈̦͠ hides a ģ̸̤̬͖̊̀́͗ŭ̵̖͘͝ṋ̵̖̗͊.
The voice says with a warbling, uneven quality. It sounds like a drunk person screaming into a dial-up modem.
p̷̯̹̍̈́ͅī̶̳l̶̺͛̓l̷̢͍̬̖̏ă̶̳̲r̵̥͔͌ͅ
A crackle, a sputter of the lights.
m̴̻̲̞̋̔̕͘ a̷̙͑̅̔͐ s̶̖̙̫̼̓͑̂͌ k̵͍̼͎͗̾̿ͅ
And as a whisper:
y̴̼̑ õ̵̢̙̮͍̇̈́͝ ǘ̵̡̼͘
Then—
{Good morning Kay, it is currently thirty-nine degrees and raining.} Jiba’s voice fills the air in the same moment all the lights come back on. Kay’s desk flickers to life, showing email notifications and missed calls. The auto-tinting windows brighten and become transparent, showing the neon-lit cityscape beyond.
{Shall I start some coffee?}
Her heart is still racing. If it was a nightmare, she’s only just awoken.
There’s a stunned silence that Kay sits in while she listens to the report after all those words she understands the meaning of, but not the context. “Yes, please. That would be fantastic,” she manages, staring vacantly ahead, not really sure she’s said anything at all.
When she finally shakes her head to bring herself back to the present she removes her hat, setting it aside on her desk and rakes her fingers through what remains of her long hair. She hasn’t yet decided what to do with it. “Jiba? Can you do me a couple of favors? First, can you tell me what time I left President Kawahara’s office and what time I arrived here?” A wave of her hand brings up the clock from her desk to the display in front of her.
Across the spacious office, a coffee pot springs to life and begins percolating.
{I’m sorry Kay,} Jiba says in an apologetic tone, {I have no security authorization in the Executive Floor. I can tell you that you left the Executive Floor at 8:37 am and departed the Yamagato Building lobby by 8:43 am.
There’s a pause, however brief, as Jiba collects more points of data. {After accessing street-side cameras, I can determine that you accessed your car at 8:47 am, and remained in your car until 9:53 am.}
{Then, you disembarked your car without having left the parking lot, and crossed the campus to the Fellowship Building. You badged in at 9:57 am, accessed the elevator at 9:58 am, and arrived here in your office at 10:01 am.} Jiba continues, having no trouble tracking Kay’s every movement within the Fellowship office. {The time is now 10:10 am.}
“That’s perfect, Jiba.” So, all of that happened. It isn’t some sort of malfunction of whatever the fuck it is that was implanted in her brain. She probably didn’t hallucinate. “Thank you.” With one last smoothing motion of her hand over her hair, she replaces her hat.
“Second request, I would like you to confirm that Eizen Erizawa made his flight and arrived in Japan.” There’s a vise around her heart and that pisses her off. But for all that she remains furious for what Eizen allowed while she was abducted, he is the one that pushed for her recovery. She didn’t get over herself and thank him. Especially after she nearly got him killed for his efforts.
Maybe that made them even.
“If that man so much as sneezes, I want to hear about it.” Kay makes the command sound terse, like she’s annoyed with the one who allowed her to be taken on his watch. No doubt certain communications from here on will be monitored. If Erizawa isn’t a buzzword, she’ll call them all fools.
Kay slides her burner phone out of her pocket and stares at the screen again.
A. Tetsuyama
We need to meet. Tell me where.
Never mind that the number will be unknown. She has to try.
“Sorry, Jiba. One more thing. Can you please request an appointment with Dr. Wenyi? I’m following up.”
{Mr. Erizawa’s flight departed from Floyd Bennet Airfield at 6:12 am. He is expected to land in roughly nine hours at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.}
The sound of rain gently pattering on the windows of Kay’s office creates a gentle background noise where there was once something—someone—screeching in the darkness. Now, even the sounds of rain and coffee percolating are all that accompanies the beating of her heart.
{I do not have access to areas outside of Yamagato Park for surveillance purposes.} Jiba states plainly. {But if any publicly accessible information on Mr. Erizawa’s status arises, you will be the first to know.}
In a way, it feels like Kay has manacles around her wrists. Freed from Renautas-Weiss, but still shackled to something else. Invisible bonds of corporate restrictions, limited resources, and domineering overseers. She had always been in a cage, she had just been unable to see the bars. Kimiko gilded them well.
{Your appointment with Doctor Wenyi has been scheduled for 2:15 pm tomorrow. I have set up a reminder across your Yamagato platforms.}
“That’s all I ask,” Kay confirms with a sigh. “I don’t have time to comb every headline for signs of him. Your assistance in this matter—” She catches herself. The formality isn’t the tone she wants to set. “Thank you, Jiba, for helping me. I appreciate it more than you can realize.” She offers a sad smile, one she isn’t sure Jiba can really see, but hopes is understood in some way.
Pushing up from her desk, the blonde approaches the windows with her hands folded behind her back. She watched Nisatta do this a thousand times during their meetings. She wonders if she had tears in her eyes as well. If she felt this small and this powerless. From the moment she took this position, she knew there was only one way she’d leave it. Only she never counted on outliving Kimiko.
Kaydence Lee watches her reflection breathing raggedly, threatening to break down all over again.
“Jiba? Please collect all files on the Weiss acquisition of Renautas. And hold my calls. If it isn’t from the Executive offices, Major Housen, or my daughter, send it through to my assistant.” Lips purse and her reflection now shows resolve. She’ll be damned if that misogynist fossil sitting on Kimiko’s throne will get the better of her.
“I have work to do.”