adropofjupiter | 4th ☆

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4th ☆

[Phone]

[Marisa's not exactly sounding like herself today. In fact, she sounds a little freaked out though her voice is quiet.]

Um... What, uh... What happens when... ah. What happens when drones, um.... die?

[1125 Taylor (action)]

[Anyone passing by 1125 Taylor might notice the front door is half open and there sun reflects off of something thick and red dripping slowly down it.

[OOC WARNING: Marisa is now suffering the Postman's Curse for breaking into the post office. Any characters coming to 1125 Taylor may be subjected to bodily injury should they have physical contact with Marisa. PM me for more details if needed.]

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[Seeing that she lives at 1127?

Yeaaah hard to miss an open door, much less--

--no, the scent of blood is what really caught her attention first. She was just on some minor grocery errand, so going to drop the bag by the front porch before she halts by the door. After knocking it thrice, she calls in.]

...Hello?

['Is anyone inside'? That's an useless question. If the 'hello' isn't answered, that much won't be either. 'Is everything alright'? This is definitely blood; of course things can't be if that's the case. Ah, she's tempted to just go straight in right now - she has the means to defend herself anyway, but for what common courtesy stands for, she'll try calling out just that first.]

[When Ciel gets close, she can see that the substance is indeed blood or a very realistic facsimile. There door shows a spray of it across the white paint and the floor has a pool. It's still fairly fresh, though there's no body in sight, but the blood goes into the house.

1. Push the door open more?
2. Leave well enough alone?
3. Call out?]

[1 and 3, yes. Like hell nosy people know what 2 means. Carefully sidestepping the puddle, she'll push the door open more and call out again, louder this time.]

Is anyone here? [The tone is stern. She'd ask what happened, but if she doesn't get any response after this, she'll definitely come further in and investigate herself.]

[NO ONE KNOWS 2 APPARENTLY.

With the door open, the body laying a ways in, face down, comes into sight. The pool of blood us connected to it in a way that indicated the body may have been dragged from it or something similar. It's ~~Nanami's drone~~ the 'mother' of the house from the look of it. And something is... wrong with the body.

But it's hard to put a finger on. There's no answer to the call.]

[Nosy neighborhood etc.

She'll briefly lean over to give it a quick check. ...The injury is definitely highly unusual, but she knows also that this is a drone; they do live on the same street, so this part of the neighborhood she's familiar with.

If it's still alive, she'll do the minimal and spend a few seconds to try to stabilize the drone's condition. If it works, great, going to lean her against a wall before proceeding. If not and it seems too out of hand, she'll just leave it there before coming in deeper into the house. This is still just a drone, after all; the... person that matters, must still be inside the house. Chalk it up to sixth sense, maybe; she has the distinct feeling that drone mother set aside, this house wasn't empty.

But enough calling. She'll try to take a look inside the living room first, then. Failing that, the kitchen; a quick checkup of the whole of first floor after.]

[Highly unusual? That's one way to put it as the drone's right arm appears to have been twisted completely off. The detached limb is back toward the door and the body's completely bled out. So sad - one dead drone.

But Ciel's instincts are right; the house isn't empty. Huddled under a decorative table on the far side of the living room is a blonde girl, arms hugging her knees to her chest, a black witch's hat on her head. Blood's splattered on her and she looks really freaked out.

No, she's not said anything, but watches Ciel moving through the room with barely visible eyes.]

[...The creepiest part is honestly that if this is left alone, the drone mother will wake up tomorrow morning and casually clean up this mess herself.

She'll leave the body behind, in that case. Given that Marisa wasn't trying her best to hide, she'll eventually be found.

...Ah, something's not right. If an external assailant killed the drone, this girl shouldn't be here. She should have fled or hid, if nothing else. But even if she was the one responsible, how she's huddled up there doesn't hint anything remotely to a killer.

Not like any of this mattered. Ciel didn't see anything, but she does see a girl who needs help right now. She may not be able to see Marisa's face very well, but the reverse may not apply, and her own expression is one that displayed concern.

She'll call out again, softly this time.]

...Miss?

[Marisa shrinks back a bit when Ciel sees her, but it's not like the witch chose the best place to hide. Once spotted, she couldn't do anything to avoid being seen or addressed. It takes her a moment to respond and when she does, her voice is shaky.]

I d-don't know what h-happened.

That's okay, please don't push yourself. But as you are right now, it's not good to just stay huddled up there either. [She takes a few steps closer, but stops when she's about half a dozen feet away from Marisa.] More importantly, are you injured?

[She shakes her head. Despite being splattered with blood, she's physically fine.]

Not hurt.

She's dead...

[That's a good start. Bad situation, but small steps...]

...Mm. [She hums softly in confirmation.] But the drone will be fine again tomorrow, and act like nothing strange has happened. I don't mean to belittle death, but there isn't anything that can be done for her right now. [Her clear blue eyes are still on Marisa; there isn't anything anymore for the drone, but there definitely is still for this girl.]

You shouldn't stay here, miss. Can you stand? [She comes closer and leans over a bit.]

Yeah...

[And yet, Marisa doesn't move to get up. Her eyes move past Ciel back to the body, transfixed on it. Getting out from under the table meant having to get closer to... her.]

[The hesitation was easy to pick up. She glances sideways, following the smaller blonde girl's eyes.

...

Ah.]

A drone is an empty soulless shell of someone who used to be here. It may have been a person before, but it's just a moving doll now. Even knowing that... Does it still upset you?

They aren't soulless... just trapped.

[Marisa can't... can't accept that the drones were just dolls. Not deep down. Not with what the Postman had said to Rita and not knowing she used to be one of them.]

There's no proof for that, miss. The town can be suggesting the most horrifying possibilities to scare us, but it's a known fact that people have been droned before coming back again, claiming to have went back to their worlds in the meanwhile. In some instances, the same person would also come back without any memories of this place, like starting all over again with a blank state. They could have changed residence, and by that point, the body of their drone might have already been replaced too. Do you still think that all this would point to imprisonment? [Ah, it could be that a select few managed to escape, or the ones who claim to have left just have their memories reprogrammed. No matter how you think about this, a counter possibility exists.

But for the sake of the peace of mind of everyone, it's best to try to convince them otherwise, even if it's really a lie. Because after all in the end, wouldn't sugarcoating things still offer a sliver of hope, something that everyone can very much make use of in a town like this?]

I was here before... but I don't remember it. I used to be like that.

[She can't treat the drones like dolls; it didn't seem right to her. Like if she did, it would make her less than human - a horrible thing to think considering she loved a youkai.]

This place has powerful magic...

[...

She gives a small sigh though closed mouth, and heaves her shoulders a little.]

I understand. Would you feel better, if this body receives a proper sendoff rite? It would be a very crude one, I admit, but we can pray for the soul, and her body can be cremated in the backyard. ...I should be able to collect the ashes too, if you want.

Yeah.

[It really would make her feel better and she stops hugging herself, shifting to start to extricate herself out from under the table.]

Don't need ashes, though... That'd be really creepy to have tomorrow.

Alright. [Nodding, she straightens herself too.] Would you need help getting up, miss? [She can extend a hand over this.]

[Marisa reaches out for the help, but then stops short. She stares at her hand as it shakes for a bit before curling her fingers in and shaking her head.]

What if... No... I got it.

[She watches, and while that was a bit suspicious, she can let go of this for the moment. There's still definitely something off, but she's in no rush.]

Okay. The bed sheets, blankets, and towels are usually stored inside the cupboard dresser next to the bathroom, on the second floor. If that's the case for you also, may I take some for this... and for cleaning up?

Y-Yeah. I think so. [Marisa gets herself out from under the table, blatantly not looking at the body.] Go ahead.

Mm. [She nods, standing up and taking a step back.] ...You should sit down and get something to drink in the meanwhile. Washing your face may also help. Please try to relax a little; I'll be right back.

[That said, she'll disappear up the stairs, though the soft "thud" of her shoes against the wooden floor would tip off that she's going at a quick pace. She'll be back down with the stuff she needs, and will proceed to cover the body. ...Not before taking a quick peek to check on Marisa's condition, though?]

[When Ciel returns, Marisa is sitting at the kitchen table, staring into a glass of water. At least she appears to have taken a wet towel to her face.]

[Small reliefs...

Again, her footsteps made it no surprise that she's back down, provided that Marisa's got enough together to keep track of her surroundings. If she's not going to comment, Ciel will proceed to use the biggest bed sheet cover the body and wrap it up. That done, she'll pick the corpse up carefully and take a step towards the back door, before stopping to address at Marisa once more.

...]

Would you be okay with staying inside and rest while I take care of this in the back, miss? [She won't stop her if she wants to follow her, but preferably...]

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