professorwolf: (Default)
Professor Randolph Lyall ([personal profile] professorwolf) wrote in [community profile] savetheearth2013-04-06 09:49 pm

5th Howl [Action]

Lyall spends the late afternoon pacing his classroom, laptop open just in case anyone has last-minutes contributions or problems, waiting for people to show up. He's early, in case anyone else is, and he's constantly poking his head out of the room to test the air for suspicious scents. Just to make sure none of those little monsters show up.

The blinds in his classroom are drawn to keep out the sunlight, but all the lights are on, so at least it's well-lit. He has his projector set up, probably to some consternation of the various students present.


Once everyone shows up, the first thing he does is make sure everyone's all right and doesn't need anything: no major questions, no obvious trauma, not in blatant trouble. Then he launches right into what's probably the most interesting part:

"I went to the police station this morning, with some trumped up allegations of arson at my 'favorite student's' house. No one suspected anything of me, as far as I could tell, but they didn't take me seriously, either, which was pretty much what I expected and hoped for. All I wanted was to get in there, and that I did. I interacted with a lot of the staff, and passed even more, and... many of them smell off. As in, not right, slightly like animals instead of people-- for those of you who don't know yet, my sense of smell has magnified into something at least at the dog's level, if not better. I don't know why, but it's useful."

He'll turn on the projector then, which shows an ink sketch of a pillar shaped like a snake with a heart atop it.

"I also saw this. It's at least as tall as I am and made of stone. I don't know what it is, or where it might have come from, but sociology is not my strong point. Being near it made me feel as if I were being-- prodded, in my head, to accept that nothing is wrong and the police chief is to be trusted. It feels rather like those visions I know some of us have been having, except not as powerful. It may be affecting others, as well, who don't recognize the feeling. I'm hoping I can get some of you to help me look into what this could be. I also have a contact working on getting me information on all three of the names mentioned in that video of poor Paul, to start looking into them directly."

That's the meat of his news. He explains a little of his frustrating experimentation on the vermini, which he's dubbed "dandelion sprites" and which have finally managed to suicide on him (he's got a slide for that, too, but it's much less useful), and a brief outline of similar safety tips to what Davin mentioned on the network (which he hasn't seen yet), though lacking the "destroy all records" bit. Then he asks: "What about you all? Anything you have found that I haven't, that might be useful in finding out more about this?"

((ooc: I went the summary route, since we're not getting the mutant storyline and it's more efficient for a large group thread. There are comments below for various threads at various times, and feel free to say your character interrupted with questions at any point in the mini-lecture!))

[personal profile] scramasax 2013-04-07 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
The tension that Anthony had felt the entire way from home to here as if in tiny, taut and cold metal coils all under the surface of his skin (which had gotten him thinking, even if only for an instant, of those tufty parasites and shuddering horribly, for no better) is steadily releasing.

He'd felt like he'd half-lied to explain his coming here in the first place - Mr. Lyall needed to see a few students in the biology room on a Saturday evening, he'd said, and it was true, but was it as implausible as it sounded, and as the circumstances really were? That was bad enough. Making his way had felt all-out foreboding for nothing; he'd made every turn and onto every block expecting to see more rats on two legs, maybe an entire horde this time, and seen not a single thing.

Finally, simply being at school on Saturday - silly, he knew - had made him feel somehow as if he was in trouble. And it was a feeling, even sillier, that he fed himself. He wore anxiety in his posture, and looked around him like a sentry rabbit at a warren, and whenever he found a hallway completely empty, the way it almost never was during school days, felt vulnerable enough to justify it. They had only just been made starkly aware, after all, that they didn't have nothing to hide from - nothing more wily or malevolent than bands of disfigured, infested animals, anyway. They'd killed a student from this school - and if they tracked them down, they'd surely gun down as many more as they needed to, no questions asked.

But he's here now at the room. The coast is clear, and once he's inside all of that stays shut out at the door; as much as he would like to get on inside, Anthony first gives a few sharp knocks.
chalicejoker: (Creeper)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2013-04-07 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Upon arrival, Hajime had staked out a quiet spot at the back of the classroom, in much the same way he'd preferred to choose a seat as a student. He didn't bother sitting down, just stood there with his arms crossed as he listened to everything.

When Lyall mentions the visions and the way that pillar was similar to them, he's interested. Very interested. "I could try to help you out there, but I'm not sure what I could do." He'd do as much as a guy whose biggest resources were all food-related could, at least. "Something tells me you can't just walk into a library and look this stuff up."
chalicejoker: (Dude no)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2013-04-07 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Still, legends about snakes and hearts--" Hajime would have had more to say, but as soon as the word "hearts" escape him, he feels that odd hollow sensation ring out in his head. There's an oddly familiar rippling feeling around his waist, and an odd belt appears around his waist on top of his clothing, as though someone came in there out of nowhere and slapped a strange belt onto him. Anyone watching might have thought it looked as though it was materializing out of a puddle of water.

There's a startled burst of swearing in Japanese once he realizes what's happened. The buckle's shaped a bit like a stylized heart, much to his confusion. What's worse, the belt feels like it's part of him, despite the fact that it appeared on top of his clothing. He swallows hard as he cautiously reaches out to touch it, and it looks as though he might need to sit down.
shiromadoushi: (Anime: wut)

[personal profile] shiromadoushi 2013-04-07 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"What the hell are you cursing about?" Bakura interjected in Japanese, having been keeping quiet until then. He hadn't been looking over and had missed the sudden appearance, having been idly doodling and lost in his own thoughts until the colourful language had caught his attention.
chalicejoker: (About to Snap)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2013-04-07 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Hajime had, by this point, grabbed onto the belt and started tugging. He was coming to realize that there was no way this thing would be coming off any time soon.

"What the hell do you think I'm cursing about?" came the angry response also in Japanese. Hajime wasn't paying much attention to what Bakura might or might not have been doing, but his voice maintained that edge of confusion trying not to slip into panic, along with a side of attempting to pretend like everything was just fine.
Edited 2013-04-07 23:33 (UTC)
shiromadoushi: (As grr as it gets)

[personal profile] shiromadoushi 2013-04-07 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"If I knew, I wouldn't have asked, idiot!" Bakura snapped in return. "...Why are you trying to undress?"

What had he missed?
chalicejoker: (Tense)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2013-04-08 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm not trying to undress, I'm trying to--" Hajime trailed off in a slight grumble and took a couple of deep breaths as Lyall stepped in. The teacher voice worked; there was some part of Hajime's brain that was still reminding him that his parents would be called if his behavior didn't shape up.

He pointed at the belt he was still wearing and switched back to English. "This thing just...I had one of those, I dunno, that feeling in my head. And when it passed, this just kind of...showed up around my waist." He tugged a bit more at it. "And now it won't come off." He swallowed again at the realization that was coming with this. "It feels like it's not supposed to come off."
shiromadoushi: (Watching like Thief King)

[personal profile] shiromadoushi 2013-04-08 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
Bakura similarly backed off, shoulders hunching in just a touch at being reprimanded before he blinked at Hajime's explanation.

Not supposed to...

His left hand moved unconsciously to his chest as fragments of the memory that had been floating around in his head like the string of numbers had resurfaced. The words were a jumble, the same voice-- his voice-- arguing with itself, but he remembered that part of the argument had been over something that one side of him had gloated that the other could never take off.

Was this like that...?
chalicejoker: (Uncertain about that shirt)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2013-04-08 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, sure..." Hajime raised his hands in an awkward attempt to get out of the way of investigating the belt. He'd started to calm down a bit; admitting he felt like it wasn't supposed to be removable had helped in some strange way.

He was wracking his brain trying to figure out what the belt was or why it had appeared there like that. What am I becoming? The belt and the green blood on their own were bad enough. But that memory? Where he was being talked about like he was some monster that needed to be put down? He didn't like where this was going at all.

[personal profile] scramasax 2013-04-08 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Hello." Anthony returns the smile - and halts, taking a concerned look through the doorway. "I'm - I'm not too early, am I?"
reckless_fire: (a word please)

Wasn't sure where to jump in, so...

[personal profile] reckless_fire 2013-04-08 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Due to swim practice running a trifle overtime, Kenji didn't arrive until just a few moments before Lyall began his presentation. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he slouched over to a seat near the back of the room and sat down.

He still didn't know much about what was going on--practically nothing, in fact--and he had hoped that this meeting would provide him with some answers. Instead, what he heard just confused him even more. Maybe if he just sat here long enough, some of this would start to make sense.

reckless_fire: (sweatdrop)

Re: Totally fine :)

[personal profile] reckless_fire 2013-04-08 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Kenji observed the business with the mysteriously appearing belt, but didn't say anything or get involved. While he could definitely sympathize with weird, random things happening, this definitely came under the heading of Someone Else's Problem...and right now, he had more than enough problems of his own to contend with.

When Lyall called for questions, a wry laugh welled up from Kenji. "Man, I got nothing but questions. This shit more or less blindsided me, and I'm still trying to figure out what the hell's going on, y'know?"

He nodded over in Bakura's direction. "I mean, he told me a little yesterday, but I still feel like I just fell down the goddamn rabbit hole. Especially since last night--I mean, did you see that? What they did to that kid?! I didn't even know him, but what the hell, man?! And that hallucination, or whatever it was--What the fuck is this shit?!"

Ordinarily, he wouldn't swear like that around a teacher, or any adult for that matter, but he was more than a little stressed at the moment. So it was either swear like a sailor or run the risk of blowing up another locker--and he'd really rather avoid doing that again.
Edited 2013-04-08 19:16 (UTC)
argents: you give me nothing. (the words are empty air)

[personal profile] argents 2013-04-08 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Banagher's not really a quiet person by any means, and even less shy. But throughout the duration of the lecture, where he's done nothing but try to line up things as sequentially in his head as he's able to, he's remained uncharacteristically tight-lipped. Understanding what's happened is different from understanding its intrinsic value, the value of the sum of all the events, and at this point Banagher's not even sure he really wants to.

So he simply lists, hands tense, in quiet frustration—memories, number, network, others, animals, help, murder, cover-up, invasion, fighting, statue—because he's used to knowing things. What he can do and what he can't do, what was going to happen the next day, and the one after that.

Now, he doesn't know any of that. All the tomorrows look foreign, and he dislikes it.
chalicejoker: (Grumpy)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2013-04-08 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"You said something about hearts and ancient cultures and other beings and stuff...and I got to thinking..." Hajime kind of trailed off as he traced a finger over the small angular gold heart that adorned the small box attached to the belt at his right hip. He flipped the box open, only to find it unsurprisingly empty. He flicked it closed again. "I guess I thought too much on it, and then this happened. I didn't see anything with it."

Upon closer inspection, the belt would appear to be both very old and in very good condition. Scent-wise, it was made of some sort of ancient metal, though the alloy wasn't anything that would be easy to identify. There was still the hint of something insect-like about the scent, and if Lyall had spent enough time around bugs to pick up their individual scents, the scent was closest to that of the cockroach. Hajime's own scent likely changed permanently upon attaining it, owing to its nonremovable nature.

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