[ video/iPhone ]

[earnedmystripes]

[So he has been waffling over this for a day or two, taking sick leave off work which nobody questions because if Kotetsu is calling in sick, he must be dying of the plague or something, and he's just...sat around in his apartment, listening to and reading people's conversations over the network--people trying to pool information and help each other and try to find clues and establish the security of the network--and he feels useless, utterly useless not having contributed much of anything. There's not much he even has to offer, he thinks, and what little he does...he's not sure if anyone would be willing to accept it, or believe in his good intentions offering in the first place. Kotetsu certainly wouldn't blame them for not doing so.

But he's tired of doing nothing but feeling sick whenever he looks at his police uniform, at his own gun, and he punches in the number into his phone to at least try.]

...Uh. So uh. If...if one of us were to, uh, say that we're a cop, but had nothing to do with that shooting--

[whoops, his pitch involuntarily rose a bit there...toning it down, toning it down]

How...how likely would you be to believe them?

[The question hangs in the air for some thirty seconds before he scowls, decides to take the attempt at subtlety as a loss, and pushes on.]

I know no one has any reason to really trust me, but I've...[A swallow] been on the police force for twelve years, so. There's places I can get into there that regular people couldn't. I dunno, maybe I could...snoop around for anything weird, or related to the statue, or...something. I wanna help, somehow.

Don't wanna risk my family giving my real name over this thing, but if anyone wants to--find me and make sure I'm not lying or whatever, I'll be in the park downtown by the fountain. I won't be armed, I promise. You could even come in a big group or something, just to be sure.

Comments

[action]

[northless]

[He comes down to the fountain after watching this video, Ice the husky puppy trailing excitedly behind him. He's taking a chance, he knows, coming here--he's seen how Paul Ben died, after all. There's a chance he could go the same way.

But at the same time, he remembers his father, and he knows he wouldn't have stood for it. And while the police force may have gone downhill in recent years, there might still be people like his father there. Granted, in the days after seeing Paul's death his trust in the force is at an all-time low, but still.]

So, you're with the police. [He says it in a carefully neutral tone.]

[action]

[earnedmystripes]

I--[was. am. was. He hasn't been able to decide yet, torn between the moral outrage of what he saw and the almost-overwhelming panic that hits him in the gut whenever he even thinks of quitting his job.]

...yeah.

[True to his word, he's come unarmed. Kotetsu doesn't have his gun holster on him, and he takes a moment to show Robb that his pockets are quite empty, save for his wallet and cellphone--even takes off his hat to prove there's no knife or razor blade or any other potential weapon concealed underneath.]

I--I didn't know. I swear I didn't.

[You saw his first post, Robb. He was bitching about not being able to figure out how to place a phone call. Does that really sound like a guy who's involved in a governmental conspiracy about an invasion.]

[action]

[northless]

[True. He sighs, then holds up his own hands. The only thing he's holding is Ice's leash, but otherwise he has nothing as well.]

Okay. I believe you. [There are good people in the force, people like his father, something he's forgotten since things all went to hell, and he's trying to remind himself again.]

...the name's Robb.

video;

[comparative_insanity]

I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating: If those people who were in on the shooting had someone among them with access to this place, I have a feeling they wouldn't announce themselves.

[He smiles brightly.]

Oh, and they would probably have kicked in my door by now. So yes, I believe you.

video;

[earnedmystripes]

[He rubs at his neck, grateful that this hasn't begun with people yelling and freaking out at him like he'd been afraid of.]

Mm...I didn't even know this network thing existed until the other day.

[When he'd failed at ordering pizza. He even still has those damn coupons. They're going to expire soon, but he hasn't been much in the mood for it since this whole mess opened itself up to him.]

But thanks. Why you in particular, though?

video;

[comparative_insanity]

'Cause I've got my name and even my place of work out on the network.

[He shrugs, grinning a bit wryly.]

I don't know about you, sugar, but I somehow doubt there are that many people called "Fenn Forster" working as strippers in this city - mostly 'cause most people are kinder to their kids when it comes to naming 'em. And know there ain't no one else with that name at the club where I work.

What I mean is, it would be easy to find me.

[Action]

[shiromadoushi]

[[About five minutes after the post is made, Kotetsu may notice a teenager in a dark blue hoodie, hood up to attempt to cover a mess of white hair that still spills out around the sides, just watching him from across the way. Not saying anything, but just watching. Trying to determine if anything about this person is fake. He's not the best judge of character, but it's better than just walking over. He's already had one brush with things going sour that afternoon...]]

[Action x2]

[professorwolf]

[Given they both get off school around the same time, Lyall makes it here not long after Bakura. He's looking for Kotetsu, though, and doesn't catch the familiar scent... yet. He probably will before too long.

Whenever he spots the officer, though, he makes right for him. It's not obvious he's someone from the network yet, likely, since he's never shown his face, but it's possible Kotetsu recognizes the voice.]

Good afternoon.

[Action x2]

[earnedmystripes]

[Whether or not it sounds familiar, Kotetsu has a rather good idea for why a random stranger would be approaching him in the park in the middle of a workday.

But instead of saying anything outright, he just gets up and raises a hand in a wave. It serves a dual purpose: acknowledgment, and showing that he really is unarmed. While his clothes aren't overly tight, there's no possible way a gun could fit in his pockets without a considerable bulge either.]

Yo.

[Action]

[earnedmystripes]

[Kotetsu doesn't notice the kid at first, distracted by his own thoughts, but eventually Bakura catches his eye. Even then, he doesn't say anything at first--he's not self-absorbed enough to assume the boy is staring at him, but he looks over again some minutes later, and the kid is...still there, not having really moved or looked away, and Kotetsu's mind goes right to what he said on the network.

...Of course, he can't ask outright if the kid's from the network, so instead he gets up, walks over, and offers a small, tentative smile.]

Hey, kid. Can I help you with something?

[Action]

[shiromadoushi]

That depends if you're who I think you are.

[[As Kotetsu gets closer, he might notice a faded scar under Bakura's right eye, a single line running under it, crossed by two others. Not the sort of scar that you'd expect a 16 year old to have, but you wouldn't expect white hair from a kid that age either.]]

[voice, smart phone]

[wordsgate]

Honestly? I don't know. They know about the Network now, so I can see them trying to get onto it.

Then again...I don't see how they could force their way onto it, considering the way we get our numbers.

[voice, smart phone]

[earnedmystripes]

[Kotetsu didn't even know that the people involved in killing Paul did know about it, but it's really rather pointless to say it, under the circumstances.]

I had no idea any of this existed until I punched in those numbers by accident the other day. The only networking stuff I knew about before that are like, Facebook and...uh, Tweeter? And one that was spelled weird, something about falling, maybe...

[...Tumblr. He means tumblr.]

[voice, smart phone]

[wordsgate]

[he can't help but laugh, although he tries to keep it short and polite.] Twitter, sir. And I think the other one is tumblr? I've never used that but I used to have a girlfriend that was into it.

Action

[icy_heavens]

[Crap, crap, crap. He'd been feeding info to a cop? But then . . . why would one out himself when it's pretty obvious they don't trust cops? Could still be a trick, though. Just because old people are bad with technology doesn't mean they're bad at everything.

[The safest thing for him to do would be to stay away. But maybe he can test this out in a way that the others can't. The guy is going to be at the park, right? What's less suspicious than a middle-schooler at the park?

[So after some internal debate, Toushirou grabs his soccer ball, tells Granny he's going out to practice. And he'll spend several minutes off to the side, just working on his ball control, working up his courage. Just some small blond kid practicing. It's not out of place.

[He's one of the better players on his team. He's got good control. Good enough to not let the ball get away from him by accident -- but he can make it look like it does. And heading for the side of the cop's head, too.

[Yep, just all accidents, here. Not fishing for information at all.]

Action 1/2

[earnedmystripes]

[If Kotetsu were paying attention, he might have been able to dodge that. But he's distracted, mind far from young children not-so innocently playing.

So the soccer ball thwacks him right in the head, and he yelps in shock, rubbing at his head]

Oi! Watch where you're--

Action

[earnedmystripes]

[...oh, it's a kid. Kotetsu's expression softens immediately, and he bends down to pick up the ball from where it fell, offering it back to the boy with a small smile.]

Be a little more careful, huh?

[Audio]

[twopercent]

Are you serious?

[Audio]

[earnedmystripes]

...Pretty serious, yeah. Kinda hard not to be, under the circumstances.

[GUESS WHO DOESN'T RECOGNIZE YOUR VOICE, JACK. WHOOPS. DID SOMEONE ORDER AN AWKWARD SANDWICH WITH EXTRA AWKWARD ON TOP?]

[dorkytracksuit]

That was not smart.

[earnedmystripes]

People've already seen my face. Short of *quitting* my job, someone would find out eventually, and then I'd have a target on my back from both sides.

Better to put it out in the open and let people decide for themselves if they think I'm their enemy or not.

[Action]

[espigeonage]

[Julien feels a kind of instant sympathy for him, clearer with video than it had been in text. He entertains the idea, as he goes, that this is like someone he might be in a number of years. If Julien wasn't so aimless, and showed it better when he was upset... it's a silly thing to think about someone he doesn't really know, but silly's rarely stopped him before, has it?]

[It's not that far, but Julien's been having this increasing shortness of breath over the past few days, whenever he exerts himself. It's annoying, and pretty much the opposite of what's supposed to happen when one starts regular exercise, so he tries to ignore it and push harder, the end result being that he has to stop at a park bench and pant, glassy-eyed, with one hand just under his throat.]

[Action]

[earnedmystripes]

[Kotetsu hadn't exactly been paying that much attention to his surroundings--somewhat distracted by his thoughts and the whole situation with the network, but that panting catches his ear, and he turns his head...to find someone who looks less like they're panting because they're tired, and more like they're having trouble breathing.

But it seems a bit premature to call for an ambulance for a total stranger without being sure of the situation, and Kotetsu scans around quickly, and is pleased to find a vending machine nearby.

He stops and crouches beside Julien, and uncaps the bottle of water he's purchased, offering it to him.]

Here.

text

[struckout]

You have got to be kidding.

[ If it were possible to growl in text, you can be sure that the trait would all over a particular, very distrustful young woman's words right now. Rest assured that every letter was typed extremely deliberately even if it doesn't show. ]

Stubbornly video :T

[earnedmystripes]

I'm not.

[Kotetsu's expression is grim, and he looks about as jar from kidding as one could possibly be.]