Not a dream after all... [Social, Closed/Taka]

[Raphael Laurent]

He didn’t remember much, not much at all. At one point he was standing tall, having just exerted himself in a way that he’d never though that he ever would before. In a way that he couldn’t really fathom, or understand. A fight against monsters didn’t require normal people, such a fight needed heroes like the one that had helped him and where…where was Mike…? Why did his body feel so heavy…? Wh… There was an instant, a second or two of hesitation and suddenly he collapsed, head hitting the ground and consciousness completely gone.



Screams exploded all around his ears; light as bright as burning magnesium and yet as cold to the touch as glaciers appeared before him. He couldn’t think or plan, couldn’t figure out what in the hell what was going on. He could see himself and watched slowly. Reaching out to the other him he touched glass. It was blue and smelled like the sea, shining like a sapphire in the light of day. Blue reflected into the distance before exploding into ruby light, turning the world around him a deep purple. He drifted through time and the world, on a bed of amber glass, time, space and depth losing all meaning as he went. People he’d met… Who were they? That was known. What was he? That was unknown. Yet somewhere out there was an answer. Sh…Shi…z… Names and reasoning danced on the end of his mind, demanding to be made known, but his mind refused to do so. Masked abominations and samurai warriors clashed for, what seemed like, unending ages. It was long and hard, but finally time and darkness exploded; form and shape once again had meaning and definition and it felt like a long dream was finally at an end.



He opened his eyes, slowly and began to test his limbs, flexing his fingers first and, after that, his arms and legs. His legs, however, weren’t as willing to work with him as his arms were, and it took a bit more work and coaxing to get them to move. Oh but did his joints and muscles and limbs ache… It felt like he’d not been awake for years. Nothing of the sort could be true, though. He probably just slept wrong. Painfully, he forced himself to sit up, forcing himself to come to terms with where he was, but where exactly was that? He could’ve sworn he’d seen this place in his dream. He and Mike had gone out to this weird club, Mike had been told he couldn’t come in and… The realization slowly began dawning on him. He HADN’T dreamt it and, somehow, he was sitting in a world of monsters and super powered beings.



Suddenly, the thought of slowly bringing himself around no longer applied and he was sitting up in the bed, glancing briefly around. Mike was nowhere to be found. If he’d been kidnapped by some weird gang, or maybe they’d only taken Raph. Or maybe still… It didn’t matter. For now he had to figure out where he was, and if anyone was keeping an eye on him. He was a human, after all. Sure he could see spirits but…he wasn’t super powered. But he’d helped kill those things hadn’t he? No. That…that had been a dream. It had to be. If it wasn’t…then what did that mean?



“H-Hello?” Raphael said into the space around him. “Where am I?”

["Taka" Sar]

The Text was....unexpected. An old name, an old situation. It wasn't too uncommon for people to be injured around the club, sometimes it was a little worse for some. It made sense for Zaluu to open up a little facility for taking care of them. Initially it had just been taking care of those from the club, but of course, as it would turn out, there was a lot of business to be had with helping the spiritually inclined with their injuries that otherwise wouldn't be treatable by some normal hospital.

But of course, Raph was.... one of the special cases. A case in which her own negligence had been personally involved in his condition. Even when he had slipped into some sort of Coma, she had insisted that he be cared for at the facility. Even now as she drove to the place, she was....anxious. Past security, and finally into the facility itself. Of course, like most of the more...important facilities it was a bit more hidden. A means of ensuring that random terrorism wouldn't be an issue.

So by the time that Zaluu finally walked into that room, Raph would have been awake for a while, the doctors were still discussing what might have been the problem, but Zaluu didn't mind any of that. She strode into the room and paused in the doorway as she saw the young man looking around, with clear confusion on his face. "Well well....you made it after all..." She murmured, sounding a little as if she didn't believe it herself.

She made her way over and took a seat to the side, next to the window. Raph would be able to see right out to the ocean. "I have to admit. I'm not sure if you're especially frail, or especially durable. Never had anyone go into a coma just from tusseling with soem hollows before." She murmured softly, drumming her fingers as she watched him. "Well....not from anyone who never actually got hurt." She pointed out, folding her hands in her lap as she watched him.

She hesitated. "You remember me any?" She decided to ask. No real way to know how badly the kiddo had been bonked after all. She didn't know if he'd have memory loss or something similar to that. The Docs had said it had something to do with his soul, not his body. And well, that made things all kinds of messy. Everyone's soul was different, so one never really could anticipate how things could go there. All the same, she definitely hoped this wouldn't be anything serious for the poor kid.

[Raphael Laurent]

His head was still fuzzy and his vision was still a little blurry, trying to reconnect with the real world. Words ran through his head at a breakneck pace, people somewhere far away, talking about soul and not body. Suddenly there was an odd combination about some kind of loop overwhelming his senses and knocking him unconscious. Then there was a familiar voice, fragmented memories, a monster attack and everything came flooding back at once as he turned and looked at Ms. Taka. He’d met her before…on the night that it had all happened! The hollow had attacked and they’d beaten it and it’s spawn and then… There’d been an odd ringing sensation and he’d lost consciousness.

She was speaking, but the words were indistinguishable from the background noise that was the static in his head. What… Focus. He shook his head and watched her, trying his best to force recognition and his hippocampus to bring back what all had happened and what she was saying. It dawned on him that she was talking about the fact that she’d never seen anyone, who wasn’t injured, pass out after fighting a hollow. Normally he would taken it as a compliment, but in his currently addled state he could barely process it. Then she asked if he knew who she was.

After a few minutes he nodded, looking directly at her. “I… I do remember you, Ms. Taka.” He paused for another few minutes watching her, as if she was going to do something that he didn’t expect. “I’m…sorry, Ms. Taka, that I caused you such trouble…” He looked at her for a second or two as the world seemed to blur for a second again. “There was a ringing noise and…” He shook his head. “Next thing I knew I was falling.” He pulled his knees up into his arms, getting into something of a fetal position. “Dreams were strange… I’m sorry, but I don’t know what happened. I only remember beating the hollow with you. After that everything’s a blur.” He frowned, and watched her. "I could hear voices of all kinds calling to me. Barely distinguishable from background noise, but they were there.” He frowned for a second, thinking to himself. “How long have I been out?”

["Taka" Sar]

The recognition was a good thing. At least he wasn't brain damaged. Or at least not in any immediately-apparent manner. All the same, she waited patiently as he went on to apologize, pleased to see that he was taking this calmly enough. And with humility. He didn't try blaming her for this, even if perhaps she did hold some blame. He was naturally a man that shouldered responsibility, and that was an honorable quality. She gently pulled a long cylinder from her waist and flipped it through her fingers, gently tapping it against the couch as she seemed to think for a while, watching him as he seemed to have his attention float a little.

"It's nobody's fault. Neither of us could have known your body would give out like it did. As for your dreams, I have some physicians who specialize in the spiritual side of things who can make sure' youre doing alright. figure out what the problem is." She noted softly at that, folding her arms a little as she closed her eyes, considering things before she got up and made her way over, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You can stay as long as you need. And don't feel like you owe me any debt or anything. I know you still got that offer from the Assassin's guild and all." She smiled, leaning against the wall.

"You were injured on my property. Long as I'm concerned, you're laright to stay till you're better, then you can get back to your life."

[Raphael Laurent]

She had said that it was ok, that no one could’ve known that he was simply going to drop like
that following a fight against a hollow. She made it sound like no one had ever done so before,
like he was the first instance that she’d seen drop like he had. His hands gripped the sheets
tighter, pulling the fabric of the bed that he was on, up a little bit higher as his frown grew
deeper. The topic of her physicians locked into his head, but he couldn’t think of the best way to
really go about going into this.

He felt that growing warmth when she said that he could stay as long as he liked, though when
she mentioned the Assassins’ Guild, his eyes glassed over and he stared off into the distance.
That was right… Xcution… His mind flashed back, momentarily, to Shizuka who had given him
that friggin’ card. It was...concerning the way that she’d flexed her power in order to get
something that she’d wanted and that did not engender trust.

He shifted his weight sideways, pushing himself off of the bed to take a few steps on the tile on
the ground. Yet, as his hand landed on the side of the bedframe he felt it sink into the metal
frame, and he barely managed to keep himself up, landing on his feet before looking back at the
metal frame of the bed. Raphael took a few breaths, steadying his heartbeat.

“Ms. Taka, did you see that?!” he shouted, looking and gesturing at the metal frame. “What the hell was that? What the fuck just happened??” The frame, by this point, had gone back to normal in an almost elastic way. Shakily, and slowly, Raphael reached forward hesitant and fairly scared to touch it as if it was made of snakes or something. Then, quickly, he smacked the bed frame, but nothing happened. He jumped half backwards when touching it and watched it a few different times before looking back at Taka, shaking a bit. “I won’t lie, Ms. Taka, I feel like I’m going crazy. You DID see that right? The metal had bent...or turned to jello, or something! Please tell me that I’m not losing my mind anymore than I already thought that I was…”

Attachments:

Untitled document.pdf (24.79 KB)

["Taka" Sar]

Taka watched as he seemed to take everything in. She didn't blame him, there was a lot to remember. However she did stand up when she saw him starting to move, taking a few steps closer and of course when he started to stumble she rushed in to gently grab him, and help him to not fall as hard. Though in the process...she was.....a bit surprised when she saw the frame of the bed suddenly warping like some sort of jelly.

Immediately she recognized the phenomenon. Or well, what she thought it was. Her brows knitting together for a moment as he settled down, and she whistled appreciatively when it returned to normal and he settled down....well sortof. Aside from that shocked expression. "Damn, I owe Ted ten bucks." She murmured softly, shaking her head a bit and smiling.

"Oh I saw it alright. Have to admit my money was on you being a Bount or something and just not knowing it. But I guess you being a fullbringer was just as well. Nothing to feel crazy about bud. That's just fullbring. Got a lot of peeps like you in my club actually. So I can safely assure you that you're not going crazy." She assured him. Not that she was 100% sure that's what it was. It just seemed to have all the symptoms of being a fullbring.

All the same, the woman still eased him down, guiding him to properly sit on the edge of the bed before sitting down beside him and tapping her fingertips. "I'm nto real particular on the details but I think its something to do with ...spirit? The spirit of objects. Your kind, if you ARE a fullbringer, can talk to the spirit of an object and get it to do what you want. Was always kinda jealous to be perfectly honest." She chuckled.

[Raphael Laurent]

He watched her with wide eyes as she explained that she had lost something of a bet and owed someone money...? She'd bet on him being a bount...weren't they the vampires? He supposed it could've always been possible but he was still transfixed by the fact that a metal bedframe had just deformed plastically. It didn't make any sense! Yet the way that she explained what it was felt so nonchalant, though he supposed that was to be expected for something like what was going on. She'd seen much more of it, had seen it in her club, though the reassurance that he wasn't going crazy was undoubtedly appreciated. He took a few deep breaths to settle himself as he rested on the bed.

Her explanation of how the powers looked however was...not very well explained, something about spirits wasn't exactly helpful. It made him question how exactly his powers worked, what triggered them and, if he wanted to really figure out what exactly he was supposed to do. But...did he want to? What would happen were he to just turn around and walk away? He wanted to say that he would've turned around and walked away at this point but, in truth, how could he? He had just walked into the center of the rabbit hole and dove face first into it. In essence, he was too far in to simply admit that he didn't want to be this far in and try to back out of it. No, at this point he'd been to a haunted house, had fought a hollow, met a murderous little girl... There was way too much that he didn't want to admit that he was stuck into now.

"So... I'm a fullbringer and my powers revolve around the souls of objects. But what does that mean specifically? I can talk to the spirits of objects, so does that mean that each object has its own soul that can be communed with...? And then how does that even work? It's like trying to learn magic without actually understanding what magic is..." He looked down at the metal bedframe again and reached down, grabbing hold of it, focusing hard to try and force it into once more behaving like plastic. This time, however, it didn't budge. He sighed, no he had to focus on the spirit of the object, had to try and commune with the spirit to make it obey... but how? He took in a breath and focused once more on the metal bedframe and placed his hand upon it. He could hear a whispering voice, while trying to commune with the frame as well, when suddenly the bedframe sank back down, and he had to take a bit of a breath. Just getting the bedframe to sink down, just trying to force the item to listen had been very difficult. But that was because of the fact that it was the first time that he'd ever done something like this. "Sorry about the frame... I don't know exactly how it works and was just...wanting to experiment."

["Taka" Sar]

Taka watched calmly as Raphael seemed to be a bit incredulous about the information she was providing, her arms folding for a moment as she watched him both question the information, and then try to apply the logic he'd gained. To success at that. She was not at all surprised that he succeeded in messing with the bed frame again. After all, she could only imagine that he must have gone through some sort of growth spurt. She herself had experienced the same thing when dealing with hollows alongside Luke.

It seemed Raph was in the exact same boat, interestingly enough. Though she gave a bit of a shrug when he seemed so apologetic about the results. "Don't worry about it. Not like I don't have fullbringers I can call on to fix it." She pointed out calmly enough, her eyes glancing off to the side for a moment before she looked back to the young man. "As for all that technical stuff? Beats me. Never had any scientists in my crew. And well, rudimentary knowledge seems to work fine enough. You have to understand that the spirit world works kinda different from the real world."

She opened up her hand, and then spawned a sudden burst of flame in her palm. A long blade that extended two meters out, seemingly made of flames as she held it out and gently waved it slowly through the air, her eyes calm as she considered it, and then glanced at him, that blade vanishing back into her palm. "Eventually, you'll be so good at doing it it'll be like breathing. Though I admit, learning more about how the intricacies works would be beneficial." She closed her eyes.

"If you wanted a place and the funds to do that kinda research that is. Somewhere down the line of course. I know you probably got a lot of things to go exploring. But now that you mention it, getting these things down might not be a bad idea." She noted softly, having honestly never really considered that side of things. She did have.... a lot of plans after all. She walked to the window for a moment and looked out to the water.

"Well in any case. You should be feeling fine soon enough. The physician said that you didn't seem to have suffered any injury. Aside from maybe a little weakness from inactivity, it shouldn't be too hard To get back to normal."

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael watched Taka for a moment as she explained that she knew people that could easily fix it and Raphael nodded, realizing that she, no doubt, had quite a few contacts and favors to call on. Or even repairmen. Though when she explained that she didn't know quite how everything worked and that the most basic knowledge tended to work well enough for her made Raph frown just a little. Basic knowledge of how things worked was fine enough, but to Raphael he wanted to know more, much more. Even when he was young he'd wanted to know how things worked and when someone explained that they weren't that interested to know more it got him annoyed, and to this day he still didn't understand why people didn't want to. Now, however, he had grown enough to accept that people didn't, and that made life easier.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly transfixed as she held out her hand, a flame exploding into life on her hand; and then his eyes widened just a bit as it formed slowly into a blade. Much like her, he watched the sword closely, trying to unravel it and figure out the more esoteric aspects behind a technique like this. Raphael knew that he should've been frightened by the world that he was dropping into, but at the same time he couldn't help his nature. He could feel curiosity bubbling and welling up within him. Fullbringer, the name was suddenly beginning to take on a new context for him and he wanted to start experimenting right away, but he had to restrain himself.

Yet, as she continued, it sounded like she wanted to know more about how such things worked. "When you know how something works you can easily utilize or counter it, depending on the situation," Raphael said, suddenly staring off into the horizon. "That's why I've always been fascinated by science, even though I do IT work." Both of their eyes followed the horizon. She'd almost made it sound like she wanted to offer him a place to do said research, though, given how he was feeling, he wasn't in much of a place to go ask such a question as brazenly as he wanted. He leaned back a bit on the bed, hands resting on the frame, hoping that he didn't make the one that he'd done any worse.

She explained that he was going to be fine, aside from weakness due to how long he'd been laying down but that otherwise he should be able to get back to his normal life whenever he was ready. "H-How long...have I been out, again?" His eyes went fairly wide as his mind began to come back to reality and start to think. "U-Uh... Ms. Taka, do you know where my phone is?" There was legitimate panic in his voice as he looked at her. 

["Taka" Sar]

Taka could see that he was unsatisfied. Of course the notion that one would just accept this kind of thing.... well it all depended on the circumstances. Some people took very well to it, like a fidh to water. Especially those who take in such things in the midst of combat. Nothing makes you ready to accept something like counting on it to save your ass. But of course that wasn't QUITE the case with Raph. These abilities only seemed to pop up after the fact.

She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. all the same, she watched him as he seemed to dip into a panic. He started asking for his phone and she raised her hands disarmingly, gently taking a step forward and let her palms rest on his shoulders as she spoke softly and calmly. "Raph. Take a deep breath. Inhale. And exhale. Look at me." She instructed him gently, rraching up to gently push at his chin, to guide him until their eyes met, those brilliant purples that would aim to keep his attention and focus.

"Your phone isn't here. It's in a lockbox. We didn't exactly want it just lying around. As for you. You've been out for a good couple Months. Your friend was kind enough to visit. I don't know the details, but from what I heard, he was able to tell us about your family support, and well, if you have any, they visited you I'd imagine." She paused. She should get the doctor, but she needed him to calm down for a moment.

"Just take a seat. I'll get one of the nurses, and we can get your phone brought to you. It's gonna be a little hectic. We're not exactly near Karakura. The place has fights and shit that go on all the time, so this place is far from there. If you wanna call your family it might take them a while to get here. So. First, we should get you something for you to eat. And while you eat, the hurse can get your phone." She reasoned. not that she wanted to keep him from his family. But well.. He was a good bit thinner.

It might be better for everyone if Raph had a meal first. get some energy, or all theexcitement might make him pass out. Or something like that. She wasn't exactly a doctor.

[Raphael Laurent]

His heart was pounding, his blood racing and he swore that he could feel the cortisol swelling up in him just amplifying everything to make it much worse than it really was. Her hands were up to show she wasn’t a threat and then her hands were on his shoulders, trying to get him to calm down. It was only a partial success, as his brain tried kicking into overdrive again. But when she forced him to look at her, to focus on something other than how absolutely, royally fucked he probably was, he could feel himself coming down, like it was some kind of high or something. Breathing registered and, where a second ago he’d been taken shallow breaths, now he was inhaling and exhaling slowly. Yes, that had been sorely needed.

She explained his phone was in a lockbox and he felt relief and confusion wash over him in equal parts. It was good that his phone wasn’t just sitting around for a random person to grab, but at the same time he couldn’t have been in here long enough to warrant something like that, could he? But when she told him he’d been here for a few months he felt himself take in an especially large breath in and then out. That…was insane. He couldn’t have been here for months… And yet the atrophy in his legs told a different story. But when Taka explained that Mike had visited and talked about Raph’s parents he felt a bit more relief, though now concern. His mom didn’t know. How would she react, when she found out that he was a fullbringer? Obviously she’d known what it was; had that been the reason for her sending him out to Karakura Town?

Feeling the panic begin to settle and the pit in his stomach shrink, somewhat, Raphael followed Taka’s advice and sat down. He still trying to process everything while she spoke. How had it been several months since their fight with that hollow…? What was he supposed to do now? Was he an even bigger target than he’d been originally?! He could barely say anything, especially to Taka, and just nodded his head, trying to find the words to say.

“I can’t thank you enough, Ms. Taka. I don’t know what happened, though I wish I did.” Suddenly his face twisted in something of a grimace. “…I just thought, if it’s been months…then I’ve probably been fired… Fuuuuck… Just what I needed… Collapsing from spirit related fatigue and then losing my job.” He looked over at her, trying to smile as best he could. “I’m sorry, Ms. Taka… A meal does sound like it would be good…” He rubbed his stomach, but couldn’t shake the anxiety; lord this spirit stuff sounded so damn complicated.

["Taka" Sar]

Taka blinked for a moment as the young man seemed to be rather distraught and she nodded. "Well let's be thankful where it counts eh? Least you're alive! Haha, not gonna lie was a little worried you were gonna vegetable for the rest of your life." She noted with a sheepish smile, folding her arms for a moment and tilting her head. She took a moment to consider his woes before shrugging.

'You said you were offered a job by those Assasins yea? There's always that. And if you really need a place to work, I wouldn't mind letting you in on one of my clubs or something if you need a job. I'm sure my people can find someting for you to do. You took a hit, that's for sure. And yea you'll have to change a lot. But you have a lot of options, and you're hardly alone." She assured him, patting him on the back assuringly.

She did pause for a moment and rub her chin, but as he agreed to get something to eat, she nodded. Offering an arm to help support him, she'd proceed to guide him to the side, get some clothes out for him to change into. Give him some privacy and send in a nurse if needed to help him, and then off they'd go to head to the cafeteria. She was still a little....unsure how to go from here. She had actually begun to worry. After all, she was a bit concerned about him leaping into Xcution after losing his job. But well....she closed her eyes and reminded herself that he was hardly her child. That was his decision to make.

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael watched her for a moment, as she seemed to note how upset he was. He’d always felt like he had to hide who he was and how he was, any and all weakness that hid deep within his heart. But there’d been genuine concern on her part, and it was for him! Only his friends and some of his family had ever been nearly as concerned. He wanted to say something further, but he was still so caught up in everything that was going on that he couldn’t do so. But she quickly cut into some things he could do, like joining up with Xcution as an option, or even doing some work for her at one of her clubs. The assurance that he wasn’t alone was something that he definitely needed, right about now.



He took the offered arm of support and slowly made his way off to the side, grabbing some clothes and watched as she left the room. The moment that it closed he slowly began changing into the clothes. Rubbing at his arms and then legs he couldn’t help but growl a bit in annoyance. Atrophy was more of a bitch than he realized any concept could be. He’d never experienced it before, nor had he ever known anyone that had experienced or undergone muscular atrophy and it wasn’t an experience that he enjoyed.



What exactly was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say?! Was he supposed to just call up Shizuka and say he wanted to join? No. He couldn’t possibly do that, not only was it way too soon but also…he just wasn’t sure if he could do it. What kinds of jobs did they do? According to Shizuka, a lot of different ones, though what, exactly, he didn’t know or care to really find out. He could help but laugh as he finally pulled the shirt over his head. It was exactly like when college had ended; he stood at a crossroads with no idea what he was going to do next, and he was panicking because of it.



Xcution, Uzaki Enterprises, working with Taka… Every option came with it’s own difficulties, transitionary periods, oddities and pros. He couldn’t help himself his idiosyncrasies as he finally put on some shoes and opened the door. “Ms. Taka, I’m not sure what I want to do, just yet. For the time being…” He paused a moment, leaning against the doorframe. “For the time being I would prefer to help you with whatever you need. At least, while I work on getting back onto my feet…”

["Taka" Sar]

Taka could feel for the ....shakyness that came with his plight. She'd gone through it herself. Thinking.....well...so long back. When she'd first been put into that damn pill. And when she'd finally gotten herself a gigai after being stuck in that damn plushie for ages. And then well....even today she just didn't feel like....really herself. So as she guided him to the table and gave him time to get his bearings she felt pangs of sympathy all along the way.

The cafeteria wans't massive or anything. It wasn't like a hispital or anything. Just a few staff and a patient here and there eating. there were maybe a good 10 people in the room. She sat down and nodded to one of the staff to get something for him. All the while she watched as he expressed his frustrations. Verbally and nonverbally at that. she considered what he'd said on the way over here. And she thought about it. She drummed her fingers for a moment and then spoke up.

"That's fair enough. I'm sure I can figure something out. I don't exactly know where to start on that kinda deal. I'm sure if you let me know what kinda things you need. I can see about getting it for you. Maybe set aside a little spot you can do your research at. Something like that." She affirmed, thinking for just a moment before she drummed her fingers and then spoke up. "But....on that note. I'd appreciate if you did me a bit of a favor. ONce you're all better. I'd prefer if you never mention this place to.....anyone." She noted softly, running her fingers slowly around the rim of a cup.

"Not that I'm doing any nefarious shit around here or anything. It's just..... this is a place to heal. Xcution? Well we're too small for them to really care about us. But there's....this corporation. Called Uzaki enterprises. Theyr'e real.....kinda hero-y types. Big on morals and all that. Rescue operations, the whole shebang. The only real problem....would be that they are also in Soul society's pocket. soul Society being...well...the government of the spirit world. Oof....man there's so much to unpack for you there. But uhhh, let's just say. I'm sortof.....related to an artificial race. There's these synthetic souls called Mod Souls. I have quite a few in my employ. Many of them even work here." She xplained, nodding to their surroundings.

"and the thing is. Shinigami are to dispose of mod souls on sight. Not kill. Dispose of. We're considered property. And defective property at that. I'm.....not quite synthetic. But I'm sure Soul Society would be rather affixed to the idea of killing me. And a lot of my staff. And well....for all their good intentions. Uzaki does what Soul Society tells them. Generally. So you can see why....I prefer not to have Uzaki sticking it's nose around. Not here.... especially not this place." She murmured, looking around.

And then....she smiled sheepishly, glancing at him. "Which is a bit heavy, I admit, to lay on you. But well. The world we live in and all." She murmured softly. Shaking her head a little as she just....perused her own mental library. Of all the things that any spiritually aware human really aught to know. Yeesh. Man he had a lot to learn. And a whole lot of it was....very unpleasant.

[Raphael Laurent]

The cafeteria that she led him to was rather modest and not at all a large part of the facility, though he was mildly surprised to see more patients than just himself. Despite his ramblings, he watched as someone went off, presumably to get something for Raphael to eat. It was shortly after that she began to explain that she could no doubt find something for him to do, and he was pretty thankful for such a thing. At least until he could get back on his feet enough then he’d be able to start paying her back. He could easily assist with any computer systems or other such things, and when she talked about getting him a place for research, he felt elated.



Mention the place to anyone? He didn’t know who he would mention it to, hell the only person that he even knew that was part of Xcution was Shizuka and it wasn’t like he really saw her all that much. Reminded him about that card. He didn’t know what, exactly, he was gonna do with it, but he’d figure something out to do with it. Then she elaborated a bit more on Uzaki Enterprises and that they were very closely associated with the Shinigami, or at least worked with them a lot. That put something of a sour taste in his mouth about the organization.



The government of the spirit world was certainly an interesting way to phrase that, and it was a lot nicer than what his mother had said about them. He listened intently, though, as she continued explaining that she was a part of an artificial race and one that the Shinigami didn’t seem to see as sentient. As she mentioned that many in her employ in the area were mod souls, he looked around. For some reason it didn’t matter to him, probably because they were still souls, modified and artificial or not, they still had their own experiences and knew that they were unique. Another crime to add on to Soul Society’s list.



“Yeah, I can definitely understand why you wouldn’t want them snooping around this area. If you and many of the staff are these mod souls, then them poking about would be bad.” He smiled at her, as best he could. “Don’t worry Ms. Taka, I won’t say a word to anyone at either Uzaki or Xcution, not that I really know many people from either area. I don’t get why the Soul Society would view something that they created as disposable, especially when groups are capable of sentience. Seems narrow minded and stupid to me, but what do I know? Honestly, I don’t need much and can do quite a bit. If you need computer work, databases and such I’m really good at that, and I don’t need all that much to start my research and experimentation. Mostly different materials of varying composition and density to mess around with. I’d say wood and rock first to start off and most of that I can acquire. Anything that I can find or create I’d be happy to share with you.”