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Who: Fuyuka Terasawa, Natalie Tamura
What: Infiltration and Revelation
Where: ThunderCorp compound and Natalie's apartment
When: June 23rd

Fuyuka was lucky.

She'd taken advantage of the hole in Thunder Corp's security, and successfully managed to get inside the compound. Whether this was due to potential outside distractions, or whether or not she was good at what she did, Fuyuka was still thankful that she'd gotten as far as she did without incident.

She reached the lower level by way of mugging, and then hiding the body of, an employee who she'd taken an ID off of. Once there, Fuyuka was astounded by what she'd found. More than just security, but technology she'd never seen before... and creatures she'd never imagined. She had taken great pains to avoid them as well... even with the new power afforded to her by Bardiche, she wasn't confident enough in her ability to use it in battle.

Besides, it would be best to avoid an incident.

Finally, after investigating one of the laboratories, Fuyuka found a computer terminal. She wasted no time in using the ID she'd stolen to get access to as much information as she could. What she discovered, frankly, was beyond belief... and unfortunately, some of her own understanding.

It was notes on the progress of something called "Project JUMP". It also included schematics of something she'd glimpsed on the upper levels, except this was different. Fuyuka wasn't sure of what she discovered, but the schematics seemed to convey a meaning and purpose beyond "clean energy"... and what's more, it seemed the device in the basement was connected to the device upstairs.

She wasn't a scientist. This wasn't something she could comprehend or explain, so Fuyuka began copying whatever she could into a flash drive. Once that was done, she decided it was time to stop pressing her luck... it was time to go.

That's when everything went wrong.

Before Fuyuka could even make it out of the laboratory, she was blindsided by something slamming into her from out of the darkness. Something made of glass. Fuyuka was stunned, and by the time she regained her wits about her and swung her arm, smashing what appeared to be... a walking beaker...?... she found a large, hairy-creature looming above her.

Fuyuka reacted on instinct. She pushed herself to her feet, and took out her gun, firing several shots at the creature. It didn't seem to do any good, and moments later, it raised one of its arms, slashing at her with a set of its needle-like claws. Fuyuka moved to dodge...

... she wasn't fast enough.

The detective let out a scream as the claws tore into her side, staining her clothes and the floor with her blood. It was all Fuyuka could do to remain on her feet and hurry out of the way. But the creature still pursued her.

There was only one more thing Fuyuka could think to do. She pulled out Bardiche.

Moments later, the intelligent device had converted into its weapon form. Fuyuka wasn't good with the thing yet, but she had figured out how to attack with it at least. Ignoring the pain and planting her foot down, she took unsteady aim, and...

"Plasma Lancer."

A magical circle formed around Fuyuka's feet, followed by several arrow-shaped bolts to appear around her. They shot off, wildly, some of them hitting the beast. It let out a roar of anger, and Fuyuka began to flee once again. However, something else happened, as suddenly, the laboratory itself seemed to come alive around her. Beakers throwing themselves at her and smashing against her, bunsen burners trying to singe her with flames...

... somehow, Fuyuka managed to get out of the room. But that wasn't the end of it. Though the beast didn't follow her out of the lower level, she didn't get out of the facility undiscovered, and though what security DID find her didn't seem keen to shoot at her (luckily, she didn't seem to have set off the whole compound), Fuyuka herself was under no such compulsion. It was difficult, but somehow, she managed to get out of the building without getting wrapped up in a massive amount of chaos.

Once she got out of the dead district, she immediately found where she'd hidden her car. She made a rushed effort to dress her wound, but there was a greater priority on her mind. The possibility she'd been identified was very real. She had to get home.

Natalie was potentially in danger, and Fuyuka would not let them use her against her. Even if it meant revealing to Natalie the extent of what she'd been up to.

Once she reached the apartment, she staggered to the door and knocked furiously. She hadn't brought - or had somehow lost - her key, so she called out, her voice strained, "Natalie! Natalie, it's me! Open up!"

OOC: ((everything discovered here was discussed with and approved by a mod beforehand))

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At the time of the knock, Natalie had been busy cleaning dishes. Just to keep herself busy, as it wasn't a huge priority right then and there, but she was constantly seeking distraction since the blackouts. It made things easier, to not think about them. Or so she tried to tell herself. As such, her house had gotten every corner of it cleaned within the past couple weeks, at least three times over.

At the heavy beating and the sound in Fuyuka's voice however, fear immediately grips her once again. She rushes to the door and throws it open.

Then, she immediately stops. The way Fuyuka looks then and there, clear injuries...

She covers her mouth and takes a step back, trying to keep from screaming.

"Fuyuka...! Fuyuka, oh my god! What happened?!"

Fuyuka flinched, a look of anguish crossing her face for several moments. It's not due to the pain (though it certainly didn't help), but rather, Natalie's own expression.

What had she brought upon her?

"Has anyone been by here?!" she asked as she entered the apartment, moving to quickly close the door. "Have you heard anything suspicious in the halls?! Seen anything outside?!"

"What...?" Natalie just mumbles a bit as Fuyuka enters, standing... dumbstruck. It takes her a few moments for her brain to catch up to the situation at hand, before finally she reaches out, finding her hands shaking. "No! Fuyuka, I'm fine! But you- you're hurt! You're bleeding! What happened?! We need to call 911!"

"No, we can't!" she all but snapped, looking frantic. "Natalie, we can't trust anyone official right now! I..."

She took a deep breath, trying to suppress all her fear, anger, guilt, and worry.

"Natalie, I was at the Thunder Corp compound..."

"Don't be so stubborn!" she suddenly finds herself snapping, almost surprising herself at the volume and sense of actual control in her voice. "You're hurt! I- I don't know if I can..."

She gives a frustrated shake of her head. "I'm not just going to stand around here and argue while you bleed out! You--"

She stops talking, freezing. "Thunder Corp...? By yourself?!"

Natalie's words are like pointed daggers. By the time she's finished, Fuyuka is even more visibly upset.

"Yes, and that's why I came right back here! They might have identified me! Your life might be in danger, and-!"

This time, she froze, her voice chocking out:

"It's all my fault...! I can't let someone else get hurt because of me! Not someone I care about...!"

As she says that, her body sways and teeters, like she's struggling (and soon to be failing) to stand.

Edited 2014-06-28 05:34 (UTC)

Natalie feels... frantic, to say the least. She's scarcely focusing on anything that Fuyuka's saying, only noticing how she looks, and the swaying isn't doing much to help that. She sucks in a breath and reaches out, grabbing Fuyuka by the arm and trying to take her to sit down at her dining room table.

"J- just sit, okay?! Before you fall out!"

She looks around. She needs to get... well, everything she has in her medicine cabinet it looks like. "I don't care about any of that, right now! You're hurt, I can only do so much for that by myself, you know!"

"..."

Fuyuka gave in. She moved to sit down, holding her side. She didn't know what else to say... the only thing she could focus on was the look on Natalie's face right now.

"... I don't know what to do," she said, shaking. "I... I don't want you to pay for what I've done..."

"Stop it." The tone comes out much harsher all of a sudden, though she looks like she... has no idea what to really do. She sighs and takes off to another room for a minute or so, soon returning with an armful of first aid supplies, which she spreads out on the table.

Then looks at them blankly, and shakes her head. "...I don't know if this is going to be enough... You need help, Fuyuka..."

Fuyuka sits up with a start, before slowly nodding. Once Natalie returns, she appears deep in thought. Then, once she's finished talking...

"... I need to clean my wound and change my bandages at least," she said. "I didn't do a good job before I came here... can you... can you help me change them before we decide anything, Natalie? I'll tell you what to do..."

Natalie could probably get an idea of just how bad it was from the blood staining Fuyuka's clothes. Whatever was under there, it wouldn't be pretty.

Natalie sucks in a breath, but... nods. Fuyuka is right about that, at least. She needs to make sure the other woman isn't going to bleed out before help could arrive. She lets that breath out, and begins to sort out the first aid supplies.

"Just... tell me then."

She turns to her, antiseptic in hand. Her expression is surprising stern, as if addressing a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar. "Not what to do, I know first aid. But I'm not just going to do whatever when you're keeping things from me. What happened, Fuyuka?"

Fuyuka nodded, slowly. "I will..."

As Natalie began to tend to her wound, Fuyuka began to explain, and for once, she didn't leave anything out. She told her about everything she'd done in the compound, everything she'd seen, and her subsequent escape. It was far more open than anything she'd described regarding her job beforehand, as Fuyuka felt it was important she be 100 % forthcoming this time.

Edited 2014-07-09 05:03 (UTC)

Natalie tries her best to keep herself steady as she cleans the wound. Both because she needs to be careful not to hurt Fuyuka more and because... she doesn't really want to show everything racing through her head as everything is described to her. For what it's worth, whether it's from the distraction of Fuyuka's story or her own focus, Natalie works rather fast and is soon working on covering the cut up.

"Why," is all she manages for a moment, finally.

"Why would you do that all on your own?"

"..."

Fuyuka took a deep breath before answering. When she did, her voice was... cold. Almost-mechanical sounding. As if this were something she'd practiced, knowing she'd be saying this one day.

"Because I couldn't get someone else involved."

She continued. "I never told you about the case I was on before I started staying here. I told you I was stressed, but not why. When I was on that investigation, I was in a shoot out... and a security guard died."

She sighed, quickly, before continuing.

"I was never able to see that through. But I couldn't get someone else involved. That's what I told myself. Because... as long as I was here, as long as I was staying with you, and we were both numbered..."

The discipline and firmness of her voice had begun to crack now. Her hands started shaking slightly.

"I couldn't let it be you, Natalie. I couldn't risk you of all people being hurt..."

Natalie stares as Fuyuka explains, in all too much detail, just what had happened in the past. Just what had brought her to make these choices that could very well have just cost her everything. She pulls her own hands away for a moment, trying to steady them. It's hard to doctor a wound if one can't do that much, at least. She clenches her eyes shut, allowing herself a moment or two more to absorb everything...

She lets out a long breath.

"...keeping all of that from me..." she murmurs. "How can you think that would put me in any less danger?"

"... Because," she said. "Because I made a mistake. I assumed your peace of mine was the same as your safety. Because... because I couldn't bear to see you unhappy or worried or terrified, and in the end... it ended up crashing into us anyway, in a way that would have been a thousand times worse than if I'd just been honest from the start..."

Fuyuka looked down, tears beading at the corners of her eyes.

"Natalie, I've... I've lived in secrecy for so long. Both in the way I went about my work, and in my every day life. I had to hold my head up, and tell everyone I was fine, even after losing my parents. As a detective, I had to be responsible for everyone's secrets, both in uncovering and protecting them..."

She grit her teeth. "And for so long... for so many years, I had to hide the kind of woman I was, for fear of being judged. Natalie, I've lived with secrets for so long, I... I'm starting to realize... they've become how I live my life."

A long sigh, and Natalie avoids eye contact with her. She continues to silently treat the wound for a little while, trying to collect her thoughts some more. She understands why Fuyuka did these things. She doesn't agree with it, and a part of her is somewhat angry for being kept in the dark so much. She isn't a child that needs to be protected; she's a grown woman. She's survived on her own well enough all this time.

Finally she speaks up, but still doesn't meet Fuyuka's gaze.

"Of anyone, I'd think you would have known you can trust me..."

"... I don't even trust myself," Fuyuka replied.

And with that, the armor came down. The steeled, disciplined demeanor evaporated, and Fuyuka sat there, looking more vulnerable than any time Natalie had known her.

That is, save for one moment before: the death of her parents.

"You've always supported me. Trusted me. And I... I never returned it, did I?" she replied, the tears now rolling down her cheeks. "All the justification I just gave... what you must think of me... how could you even believe me if I told you just how much I cared about you?!"

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