Shinigami Savant Quest #66.5

You are Captain Kusajishi Riku, commanding officer of the Seireitei's Ninth Division and current point of contact with the spiritual realm of Valhalla. What little diplomatic “pull” you may have with the locals however is insufficient to talk your way out of the current situation though: a mirror image of your companion Shihōin Yoruichi is thought to have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Valhallan soldiers just within the last few days, seemingly part of a wider rebellion that has destabilized the political order here.

Last night you also learned something new about the region you've found yourself in: namely that the lack of powerful fighters here is not due to some sort of deficiency with the local inhabitants, but rather that your fellow shinigami's power is aberrant. The Soul Society has a higher density of spiritual particles, allowing for high-powered mutants such as yourself and the other Captains and Lieutenants to exist where such beings would be impossible elsewhere. This also suggests that in all likelihood Yoruichi's doppelganger hails from the Soul Society just as you do.

It also came to your attention that your progress towards resolving the Valhallan rebellion is being monitored very closely by the local deities, adding another layer of complexity to the situation.

“So this is gonna be pretty easy, you think?” Yoruichi muses as you put the final preparations on your morning meal: sausage, eggs, and toast with two einspänners in glasses included in the furnishings for your temporary quarters.

“I doubt anyone's ever needed to disguise their reiatsu around here,” you reply, passing her the glass of espresso and whipped cream. “It's more a problem of finding your clone, who's presumably got your skills at stealth.”

“That's going to be a tough order,” she admits. “Not to sound conceited or anything. You figure we could draw her out somehow?”
>1/2

“You know you, too smart for that,” you admit, taking a bite of toast. And it's a fair point: if this copy has anything approaching your wife's intelligence, she'll refuse to be lured out easily where you can engage her. “We may have to wait for her to make the first move, then respond.”

“The Valhallans aren't going to like that,” Yoruichi observes. “Last time she made a move hundreds of their guys bought it.”

“I think our best shot is to hope that she really IS connected to the Valhallans' science project. If so that's our only real chance at drawing her out.”

Yoruichi nods thoughtfully, before setting aside her fork. “I tend to agree. In any event we need to deal with that anyway.”

Once breakfast has been concluded you pull on your white haori, fasten its pale blue sash, and join Shunsui outside your rooms. It takes you all several moments to tuck your swords away properly, causing Shunsui to chuckle.

“For a long time Jūshirō and I were the only ones with two zanpakuto,” he muses, deeply amused at what he's seeing. “I almost feel less special now.”

“It's okay,” Yoruichi reassures him as she finishes wrapping the sheath for her two swords up in her own sash. “I never thought you were that special.”

“She's joking,” you tell him as he makes a show of pouting.

Now, time to take the next step.

>The three of us can probably use our senses to track down our targets.
>We should interview the locals, see if they can help us narrow down our search.
>We should split up, regroup only when we find something.
>Other?

>>We should interview the locals, see if they can help us narrow down our search.

>>The three of us can probably use our senses to track down our targets.

>The three of us can probably use our senses to track down our targets.

>>The three of us can probably use our senses to track down our targets.

>>We should split up, regroup only when we find something.

what could go wrong?

>The three of us can probably use our senses to track down our targets.

>>We should interview the locals, see if they can help us narrow down our search.

>We should interview the locals, see if they can help us narrow down our search.

>writing

>>We should interview the locals, see if they can help us narrow down our search.

“Shunsui, not that I don't like you,” you begin carefully, “but Yoruichi and I have better reiatsu-sensing abilities, and the locals aren't exactly fond of Yoruichi. So it might be better for you to interview witnesses and direct us in.”

Your fellow Captain rubs the back of his neck nervously. “I suppose that makes sense, even if I won't be literally keeping my eyes on you.”

“Call it a technicality, Shunsui,” Yoruichi suggests, clapping him on the shoulder. “Now, shall we?”

You and Yoruichi head out into the countryside, getting clear of the crowds of soldiers going about their business in town. Out here the old blocks of buildings and roads give way to farmhouses and hedgerows, until you finally come to a stop.

“Here looks like a good place to start,” Yoruichi suggests before closing her eyes.

You do the same.
>dice+3d10, DC 7

Rolled 8, 8, 2 = 18 (3d10)

Rolled 2, 7, 10 = 19 (3d10)

Rolled 6, 6, 4 = 16 (3d10)

>regular success: direction and strength discerned
>writing

A. I thought Shunsui was heading back east to research something.
B. How can Shunsui interview people when he doesn't speack english?
Or am I misunderstanding

You can feel something in the distance: four distinct presences to the east, each falling somewhere between the level of an average Lieutenant at full release and a Captain in something of a relaxed state. Not too dangerously powerful, but you can certainly see how this could be difficult for the local Valhallan soldiers.

Next to you Yoruichi opens her eyes. “So they're in that direction,” she sighs. “Feels like a half-day's travel at a conservative pace.”

You produce your denreishinki and call Shunsui on it to inform him of what you've found.

“So quickly?” he muses. “I've made contact with a witness to the Shihōin-alike's attack, I'll see what sort of details we can scrape together.”

True to Yoruichi's estimates, it takes several hours to work your way across the countryside through several small towns to even get close to the location where you can feel your targets are holed up. It's a typical country estate, not particularly extraordinary from the outside except for a lovely little rose garden. You've seen that many of the Valhallan patrols never come out this far, so it's presumably a simple matter to hide away here.

“Here we are,” you mutter. “So how do we do this...”

>Level the house. Simple. Honest. Direct.
>Blast a hole in the wall and assault through it.
>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.
>Other?

>>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.

>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.

Translators are a thing (albeit difficult to work with), and the vote at the end of the last thread unless I was very much mistaken was in favor of keeping all hands on deck. One user also raised the point that neither the Valhallans nor the Central 46 would be particularly happy if Shunsui left Riku and Yoruichi to their own devices.

>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.

Fair enough.

>>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.

>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.

To be fair, someone else also suggested that Kommura would make for a suitable guard dog.

>Level the house. Simple. Honest. Direct.
Boom.

QUEST BOARD
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T

B
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>Try and sneak in unnoticed, learn as much as you can about these “dolls”.

I considered that a 9-foot-tall wolfman would be a bit too conspicuous, even if he went back to wearing the bucket.

>writing

Two floors, lots of windows here to sneak through, and even a few skylights here and there. It may be difficult or impossible to figure out the layout of the rooms from out here: you briefly contemplate simply blasting the whole building into rubble.

“Let's survey the situation,” you suggest, considering that you may want to know more about these “dolls” than what your contacts have told you. “Yoruichi, you take the... Yoruichi?”

She's already way ahead of you, having erased her spiritual presence and shifted form into a black cat. With a sigh you collect her swords and sling them over one shoulder, folding her clothing carefully as well and wrapping them up in her sleeveless haori. You tie up all the extra items with Yoruichi's yellow sash, then follow her lead after erasing your own reiatsu and blurring light around your body.

With a leap impossible for any actual cat Yoruichi reaches a second-floor windowframe that's been left open, pushing the window open and peering inside. After she hops inside you follow her, trying to make each step as gentle as possible. Yoruichi pads ahead silently, looks over her shoulder, and raises one paw as if telling you to wait. She then darts down a flight of stairs, towards a room where you can hear voices.

Shit.

The floorboards in this building are old, and more than a bit creaky. Each step you take is a calculated risk of being detected, and although you feel like you might be able to sneak in closer yourself one mistake might reveal your presence.

>Continue trying to sneak closer?
>Try to find an alternate route, possibly along the roof or through a skylight?
>Remain here, wait for Yoruichi to bring a report?
>Other?

>Remember that as a shinigami we can walk on air. Usually.

>Try to find an alternate route, possibly along the roof or through a skylight?

>Try to find an alternate route, possibly along the roof or through a skylight?

It usually does produce a gentle "whooshing" sound, to be fair, but it is still a valid strategy.

>Remain here, wait for Yoruichi to bring a report?

Hey they OP could always just post the thread on both boards at once, counting votes from both.

>>Try to find an alternate route, possibly along the roof or through a skylight?
>Remember that as a shinigami we can walk on air. Usually.

>>Try to find an alternate route, possibly along the roof or through a skylight?

Calling it now. They made copies of shinigami captains they met during the wars. One of them is an aizen copy and that's probably why they are rebelling.

The ambient reishi concentration might make that difficult in Valhallen lands.

>Calling it, will get to work writing

Also, I need a roll. Low DC, but a crit here could help.
>dice+3d10, DC 5

Rolled 2, 1, 5 = 8 (3d10)

Welp.

Rolled 7, 2, 8 = 17 (3d10)

Rolled 2, 9, 1 = 12 (3d10)

Rolled 3, 8, 3 = 14 (3d10)

Rolled 5, 7, 8 = 20 (3d10)

Rolled 9, 8, 3 = 20 (3d10)

Not great but better than the other two.

Rolled 5, 9, 7 = 21 (3d10)

...

Relying heavily on hirenkyaku to generate a spiritual “cushion” at your feet, you manage to sneak your way back out the window you came in through. It's an easy jump to reach the roof and make your way along it to the first skylight, which opens up onto a bedroom. On the other side of the roofline however there's a skylight that shines down onto an open room where your four targets are meeting. Thankfully none of them seem like familiar faces.

Prying open the skylight allows you to slip into the building, while two disguised reishi chains keep you effortlessly suspended from the roof like an invisible, murderous chandelier. From this position, you listen in as one of the “dolls” speaks to the others.

“We can't stay here forever,” he tells them in a low, gravelly voice. You think you detect the faint traces of a French accent. “The search patterns are getting wider, it's only a matter of time until we are discovered once more.”

“Then we'll fight 'em off again!” a blonde woman insists in a thicker Scots accent. “It worked the last three times, ken what I mean?”

“To what end?” the first man replies skeptically. “What does that accomplish?”

“It keeps us free,” a second man replies in a neutral tone. “Isn't that what we agreed when Seven died?”

There are a few moments of deep silence shared between them. Seven... is that the designation of one of their comrades? What was the cause of their death?

Listening in may provide more clues.

“Miss Shihōin will return this evening,” the second man continues: jackpot. “When she does we should coordinate another move with her.”

So Yoruichi's doppelganger will be here later on in the evening, which is a stroke of luck if you ever saw one. All that remains is deciding how to deal with her when she arrives.

>Withdraw, prepare for the other Yoruichi's arrival.
>Regroup with your Yoruichi, issue a contact report, and wait.
>Remain, listen for more information.
>Other?

>>Remain, listen for more information.

>Withdraw, prepare for the other Yoruichi's arrival.

This is great btw:
>suspended from the roof like an invisible, murderous chandelier.

>Remain, listen for more information.

...

>Remain, listen for more information.

>Withdraw, prepare for the other Yoruichi's arrival

>>Remain, listen for more information.

>Withdraw, prepare for the other Yoruichi's arrival

>writing

You continue to listen to their conversation for the next fifteen minutes or so, learning a few more interesting facts about these people. They seem to know enough to call themselves by the Japanese term “reigai”, and are aware that they were created in a lab by Valhallan experts. However the turning point seems to have been the death of “Seven”, a male reigai who was subjected to a pre-operation stress test that turned out to be fatal. After his death the remaining reigai petitioned their supervisors to cease experiments into further augmenting their abilities through dangerous operations, which was rejected. The Valhallans held that as artificial beings the lives of their reigai soldiers were to be considered expendable: like an artillery shell or a jeep.

That was when they staged their revolt, not only destroying the laboratory where they were being kept but engaging the regular Valhallan forces in a brutal but short conflict. Subsequent casualties seem to have mainly been inflicted in self-defense.

It's not entirely clear what role the false “Yoruichi” played in the whole process, other than the fact that these reigai have been reporting to her on a regular basis since their escape two weeks ago.

Eventually you withdraw to meet up with your own Yoruichi near a hedgerow in the field adjacent the reigai's current hideout, where she returns to human form.

“So you caught most of that, right?” she asks as you pass her clothing back to her.

You nod. “I did. And what did I tell you about leaving your clothes lying around?”

“Not to do it, I know,” Yoruichi replies as she dresses behind the hedgerow.
>1/2

“So now we wait,” you conclude. “Ambush your copy when she arrives.”

“Only question is whether we want to interrogate her,” Yoruichi muses. “Personally I wanna finish her off, interrogate the other reigai afterward. Another me is too dangerous to be left alive."

>You have a point. Leaving the other you alive is just too much of a risk.
>It's up to you then. I don't know that I have the stomach for it.
>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.
>Other?

>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.
>After all she seems to be reporting to someone as well.

>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.

>>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.

>You have a point. Leaving the other you alive is just too much of a risk.

>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.

>>You have a point. Leaving the other you alive is just too much of a risk.

>You have a point. Leaving the other you alive is just too much of a risk.
But
>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.
So we should probably interrogate her before killing her.

>It's up to you then. I don't know that I have the stomach for it.

>She sounds better-connected than this lot. Her intel may be useful.

how do we know this is our yoruichi?

Do we have any names? It might be a good idea to track down the creators, ask them what the capabilities of these guys are.

Maybe also ask them why they would do something that amounts to staring down the barrel of a sentient chaingun and calling it a faggot.

>paranoia intensifies

Sorry, something came up for a minute or two there.
>writing

“I know it's a bit of a risk,” you reply, carefully weighing Yoruichi's clear preferences against your own judgment, “but I don't think we can give up the potential intelligence. After all, it sounded like even this Yoruichi is in turn reporting to someone.”

“And if it's anything like me she won't cooperate,” Yoruichi contends. “I see your point, but I still don't like putting your life at risk on the off chance I'm wrong. So I'll try and accommodate you on this one, but if it looks like more trouble than it's worth I'm killing her.”

“That's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?”

Yoruichi's expression softens. “Afraid so, Riku.”

“Fine. We'll see if we can capture, but I guess kill was always in the cards and nothing's going to change that.”

Your wife nods solemnly. “Alight. Now then, when it comes right down to it how are we going to deal with this?”

Yoruichi facing herself in a mirror match may get to be rather dangerous, but then again if you involve yourself in a battle between foes you can't tell apart there's always chance you might hit the wrong Yoruichi by mistake. Even if you could find it in yourself to strike at a fake Yoruichi, the risk of making such a mistake would weigh heavily on your mind throughout the fight. You also have to consider the Valhallan reigai: whether you would rather restrain them quickly or join the fight between the Yoruichis and try to track them down after they flee.

>I'll help you fight your clone. For better or worse, right?
>Involving myself in that fight is too risky. It's all on you.
>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?

Also,
>I'll deal with the Valhallan reigai myself
>We'll save the Valhallan reigai for later

Ask her what we ate at arrival and who gave it to us

>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?
>We'll save the Valhallan reigai for later

>>I'll help you fight your clone. For better or worse, right?
Give her our sash to tell them apart more easily

>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?
If she doesnt want our help
>I'll deal with the Valhallan reigai myself

>>I'll deal with the Valhallan reigai myself
>I'll help you fight your clone. For better or worse, right?
>How about we change you into some new clothes that she wouldn't be wearing. Would make it easier to tell apart.

>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?
>We'll save the Valhallan reigai for later
I mean, the reigai might have an off switch or something the valhallans never got to use. Also they might not be evil. We need more info.

My vote's for questioning valhallan higher-ups before engaging the reigai.

>>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?
>Also,
>>I'll deal with the Valhallan reigai myself

>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?
>We'll save the Valhallan reigai for later

>>I'll deal with the Valhallan reigai myself
>Is there some way you can think of for me to help?

>writing
Also, coming up on the point I'd wanted to reach last night, so I may pack it in after the next few updates.

This is the 1st time Yoru has called us Riku in at least 3 threads. Take that how you will.

Clearly we need to use more pet names outside of the bedroom.

wait. Doesn't Yoruichi usually address us without calling us by name? But now she calls us by name all the time. That is very fishy.

Eeeeeh, Riku isn't much of a pet name. When she throws out a 'honey' or whatever, I'll take note.

You ask your wife if there's anything you can do to help her face down herself, to which she shakes her head.

“I don't want you to have to fight me,” she admits quietly. “If things were different and I had to fight a copy of you, I don't think I could attack without hesitation. To my mind asking you to do the same isn't just cruel, it could be dangerous because of that hesitation.”

Without a word of response, you unfasten your blue sash and pass it to her. She accepts it, giving you a quizzical look.

“Swapping gives us one clear visual hint,” you explain. “Just in case.”

“I figured that much,” she responds, passing you her yellow sash in return. “But why an actual swap? You don't think that...”

“I couldn't tell you for sure,” you tell her calmly, “but we can't rule out that worst-case scenario. For the short term I'll contain the Valhallan reigai while you fight.”

“Understood,” she nods.

Another hour passes before you see movement in front of the house: the other Yoruichi has arrived, wearing an identical uniform to your own aside from the swapped sashes and carrying an identical pair of blades. The resemblance is perfect, from her height and build right down to her cheekbones and nose. You have no doubt that were it not for the sash trick you would never be able to tell them apart from looks alone.

Now is the moment to apprehend your targets.
>dice+3d10

Rolled 10, 9, 2 = 21 (3d10)

Rolled 4, 1, 5 = 10 (3d10)

Rolled 9, 5, 4 = 18 (3d10)

welp

Rolled 8, 8, 7 = 23 (3d10)

The real sketchy thing would be if she started using honorifics and proper forms of address. The tone in this thread has been more to indicate that there was a rare disagreement going on, in which instance she tends to speak a little less casually.