Turning Back the Clock

[Sieglinde P. Krantz]

Name: Turning Back the Clock

Participants: 1-4 characters of any class. 

Location: The Entirety of the Human World.

Difficulty Level: Hard.

Setting: Non-Death Enabled.

Plotline: Each major faction has been given an anonymous "heads up" about a rather massive amount of spiritually-aided assassinations happening around the world. Little is known about each individual attack, aside from the fact that there are faint amounts of unrecognizable reiatsu left at each site, and that rather odd temporal anomalies tend to occur within a rather large radius around the area of attack. Put in as what is effectively "contract work" for those interested, the informant has promised significant compensation for those able and willing to go out of their way in order to solve these murders, and put an end to the assailant. 

Estimated Enemy Strength: Enemies will be scaled to match the participant(s).

Estimated Time Until Completion: 3-5 pages.

Starts: After a post made from the interested parties to reserve spots, or after one week of this post if not every spot is filled.

Special Conditions: N/A

[William O, Creed]

I'm game

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn is In!!!!

[Ailene Haschiro]

"A murder mystery? Like one of those old Sherlock Holmes novels? How could I resist. Besides, it could be of interest to Lord Kouhai." 

[Irina Davayte]

Ooh can I play?

[Sieglinde P. Krantz]

To Whom It May Concern,

A rather large amount of help is being requested for a rather large issue currently plaguing the Human World. Over the course of the last few months, numerous murders have occurred all across the world. These murders have occurred in a pattern we've been able to identify; one attack every day, with these attacks happening within the same time frame every after noon, give or take an hour or so. Not only that, but after each and every attack, the victims have always been in the same condition.

Enclosed with this letter are a series of six photos from multiple attacks, including but not limited to the first, and the most recent ones. Each and every one have left the victims in similar conditions, each one with a rather noticeable hole through the center of the victim's chest, and with no trace of any kind of identifiable energy signature permeating around the area. While we have ideas as to what this could possibly be, nobody here knows for certain.

Alongside these attacks, various... issues regarding the flow of time have been found to happen around each murder. We haven't quite been able to figure out exactly what the cause of this is, or what the affects of remaining in this area are, but we've come to the conclusion that this must be due to some sort of release. Those that decide to take up this job, please make sure to enter these areas with the utmost caution, for everything is about as unknown as it can possibly be at the moment.

Also Enclosed within this letter is a sum of twenty thousand U.S. dollars. These funds are for the purpose of travelling where you might need to, picking up supplies along the way, as well as any other necessary expenses that might need to be covered. Unfortunately we are unable to provide those involved with transportation or living accommodations, as the last thing we want is any more attention drawn to this job, as every major organization is already being informed.

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee the survival of the parties involved, due to the very nature of the mission. That being said, a reward will certainly be discussed upon the completion of this job. Anything within our power that can be done for those that manage to put an end to this serial killer will be done. We thank you for the time taken to read this letter, and only hope that some will reach out in order to provide the aid that is desperately requested. For those looking to accept this job, a short briefing will be done in the center of the Karakura Town shopping plaza, located in Central Japan, exactly two days upon the arrival of this letter. Look for the man in a silver tuxedo.

Sincerely,
Employee 877-2-3B of The Shade Group.

---

As she read it through for the third time, Priscilla was utterly dumbfounded by the letter she'd received from one of the Captains that had served under her. Having been in effective control of information spread within the Vandenreich due to her rank alone, she knew without a doubt that she couldn't let this information reach some of the lower-ranked members. If this were truly an issue where people were calling out for help, there was a very high likelihood that if this had been made public to the rest of the organization then someone unable to actually hold their own would take this up.

This was something she wasn't about to let happen. Instead, she'd decided to make the journey out on her own, under the guise of it being some undercover mission that she'd need an ample amount of time away from Silbern in order to complete. Once that was out of the way, she began to do what she could in order to prepare for the job to come. The letter alone had made mention that it was sent out to every other main faction within the three worlds, so she could only hope that the others that had decided to take up this mission weren't going to seek out a fight.

After dismissing that shred of doubt, and continuing to prep herself both physically and mentally, she glanced back at the letter to determine where a proper meeting point was, and if one had been listed. Thankfully enough, it gave quite a bit of information as to where she needed to go; two days from now, in Karakura. There was even some sort of contact that she needed to look out for, thankfully it didn't get much easier than that! With that said, she simply bided her time for the next two days until she was needed in Karakura.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Priscillas Stats and Skills}
Strength - 100 [60]
Speed - 200
Spiritual Pressure - 400
Reiatsu Strength - 100 [60]
Senses - 80
Instinct - 400 [800]
Energy Sensory - 400 [800]
Healing Expertise - 0


Light Aura - 50
Dark Aura - 50

Stealth - 4
Analyzing - 3
Imitation - 4
Pain Tolerance - 2

[Ailene Haschiro]

Walking through the many winding halls and corridors of Las Noches, Ailene could be seen making, walking at somewhat hastened pace. To some degree, her excitement could not be contained. Lord Kouhai had summoned her personally to the great hall to discuss a topic of great importance. It had been a little while since she had attained the title of Septima Espada from the former holder of that position. When she was promoted, Ailene found it hard to contain her joy. Her strength was being recognized among the Espada by the King of Hueco Mundo no less. It was truly a great honor for someone like Ailene who respected and revered Kouhai for his position. 

As she made her way to the large doors that were swung wide open, she smiled a little as she walked through. Coming into the large room that was a beautiful marble white with pillars around the edges of the room acting as seats and a large rectangular pillar at the front of the hall with an appealing throne nestled atop it, Ailene could see Kouhai. It had been many moons since she saw the King of Hueco Mundo last. He generally seemed to keep to himself, only calling the Espada every now and then if he needed something done. Ailene was well aware, however that the Espada had been dwindling. She had heard about a new addition to the Octava spot recently. Though the rumors were somewhat disturbing as it was allegedly not an Arrancar.

No matter. Ailene would happily embrace more into the fabled ranks of the Espada. She truly believed that the Espada were the gem of Hueco Mundo. An elite force of Arrancar who not only powerful in name due to their title, but actively had to defend their position with that power. It felt unlike anything that she knew of. Most organizations did not have this much infighting as this would naturally cause an instability. The Espada seemed to thrive on this though. They actively sought out greater power for the sake of gaining power. Ailene was a little different. She sought the higher positions of power to attain a greater voice in the Espada. Being looked down upon for her initial ranking of the Noveno Espada, it was difficult to hold weight in conversations.

Alas, her reminiscing would be brought to an end as she heard a voice as cold as ice. Kouhai's tone was always one that seemed to strike a modicum of fear into Ailene at the very minimum. She was not naïve. Despite her respect for Kouhai, she knew that a malicious and almost evil entity sat upon the throne of Hueco Mundo. Yet, Ailene decided to try and swallow her fear. She had to be strong. As an Espada, she could not fear Kouhai. He was her lord and she would serve him to whatever end that he needed her to. Looking up, Ailene's eyes met the equally icy cold glare of the Shinigami before her. It was becoming increasingly unsettling as the man before her acted like a machine. 

"Ailene. My Septima Espada. I'm sure that you are aware why I have brought you here?" The Arrancar sighed for a moment as she simply tried to recollect her composure. Her voice stood strong, even among the weight of Kouhai's imposing aura. "Of course Lord Kouhai. It is to serve you as always. What task do you have planned for me? I promise I will not fail." The King of Hueco Mundo smirked for a moment as he kept looking down upon Ailene from his position upon the throne. A snap of the fingers later, the sound echoing through the hall, and a pillar would rise out just before Ailene. Atop the pillar was a neatly written letter with a few lines. Ailene looked up at the Shinigami for approval to read it. She would be met with a nod. 

As Ailene took the letter in hand and read it, her eyes flashed with intrigue. Numerous murders were being committed in the Human World. It seemed that they needed agents from the various factions to go and seek out the root cause. Despite her intrigue, Ailene was a bit perplexed. She understood that most factions would be contacted, but Las Noches. It was no secret that the bloody legacy of Hueco Mundo followed the Arrancar and Hollows everywhere they went. It was truly a sad truth that Ailene quickly came to terms with. The Arrancar would look up at Kouhai who would appear to be lost in thought. She knew that he was cunning and always considering every angle. Was this no different?

Ailene would speak up in interest. "I understand Lord Kouhai. You wouldn't be calling me here if you didn't expect me to jump at the opportunity." Kouhai simply chuckled, a brief break from his usual character. He resumed speaking in his cold tone. "Very astute observation Ailene. Yes, I do expect you to go and follow up on this opportunity. Among the Espada, you may possess the perfect skill set for this. Rio is...well. He is a bit too gung ho for this assignment and quite frankly, I wouldn't expect him to work well with others. You are unique. You share the calmness of your predecessor yet you have the ferocity of someone befitting th title of Espada. It is a fine line to walk." 

This was more a compliment that anything that Kouhai had ever given her. She was smiling at this point, lulled into comfort by him. Was this another trick? She didn't care. Even if he possessed a silver tongue, Ailene found it admirable. Perhaps she was a little more naïve than she let on. Regardless, she bowed to him and spoke clearly. "Yes of course Lord Kouhai. I will not disappoint you." With that, Ailene would pivot on her heel and begin to make her way out calmly. Before she could leave, however, Kouhai spoke one final time. "Oh and my Espada. I want you to see if the root cause of these events can prove useful to us." He learned forward saying this as Ailene simply nodded in response. As she began to leave, the large doors to the great hall would close with a sudden thud. 

---

---2 Days Later--

In the wide expanses of Karakura town, a Garganta would open up. The black void burst open unveiling Ailene. She was dressed in her typical white garments that marked her as an Espada. She did, however, choose to wear what appeared to be a rose-colored cloak. It wasn't unlike what she wore to the Rukongai when she wanted to just have a nice and relaxing day off. It made sure to cover her white garments and it had a hood, specifically tailored to cover her mask fragment. Her purple eyes, pale skin and face expressions would be very visible. The rose-colored cloak made her stick out like a sore thumb. This was intended as the letter said to look for an agent in a silver tuxedo. This was equally obvious despite the large herd that crowded the shopping district.

She would atleast for now choose to hide her spiritual pressure so that she could not be immediately identified as an Arrancar. As she walked around, she would make her way to the center of the Karakura shopping plaza as discussed in the letter. That being said, there were many individuals all of different races and social upbringing. Though there they were, sticking out like a sore thumb. The silver tuxedo she was looking for. Walking closer, she would do her best to offer him a smile. As she approached closer with little intent at malice, she displayed the letter that displayed the instructions. As she showed the letter, she would speak very clearly. "Hueco Mundo has answered the call." 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats & Skills}Stats while Sealed
Strength - 40
Speed - 120
Spiritual Pressure - 300 
Reiatsu Strength - 400 
Light Aura - 50
Dark Aura - 50
Instinct - 250
Senses - 40
Energy Sensory - 40
Healing Expertise - 160

Stats while Released
Strength - 100 
Speed - 300 
Spiritual Pressure - 750
Reiatsu Strength - 1000
Light Aura - 0
Dark Aura - 100
Instinct - 375
Senses - 100 
Energy Sensory - 100
Healing Expertise - 400

Total SP: [1900 Points]

[Analyzing] [3]
[Calm Mind] [3]
[Cero Mastery] [3]
[Battle Analysis] [3]
[Pain Tolerance] [3]

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

The beginning of this day was the usual for Shawn, waking up from a dream about his siblings, getting dressed for the day ahead, training in the coliseum when he wasn't actively asked to do something but was not his day off. That changed rather dramatically when a Hell Butterfly flew up to him and landed on his shoulder causing a quick message to play in his head. Apparently his captain told this specific Hell Butterfly to land on the first Squad 11 member it found and that just happened to be him.

A letter was found in a normal patrol area for Squad 11 and the Captain Commander told us to handle it? Well, I guess since I'm the chosen one from the captain it's up to me. Heading to the captains quarters Shawn peeks his head in and see's no one there, Well, I wonder where he went? Walking over to his desk Shawn see's the letter and a note besides it written by the captain of squad 11, it says that he had to go on his own mission and so was tasking whoever the Hell Butterfly found first with this mission and that it must be done with care, Care?

Picking up the letter Shawn reads through it, absorbing all of the information he can, Sent to all organizations? No wonder why I need to be careful, wait, does this include the Vandenriech? If so this is going to be harder than I thought as it would be better to work with whoever joins this case, ughh, I hope not but if they do I hope it's someone halfway tolerable. Setting the letter in his cloak pocket Shawn starts to make preparations for this mission he is about to embark on, hoping he isn't going to be in over his head.



-------------------------

Two days later, exiting the Dangai Shawn steps out into a crowd of people in the shopping district of Karakura town where he is supposed to find a man in a silver tuxedo. Luckily Shawn is more acquainted to the advancements of the living world thanks to Celes, so this time he wasn't nearly having a stroke upon seeing all the bright flashing lights and vehicles. Now where am I supposed to start looking? I've never been to this town before. Deciding to just take his chances Shawn follows the flow of people which takes him through most of the actual shopping district before he spots something.

Standing in the middle of a crowd on the sidewalk the man was clearly visible as his tuxedo made him impossible to miss as Shawn was scanning the area he was in. Shawn was about to head over to the man when another person walked up to them before showing off the letter they were given to show they got the message. They don't look like a Vandenriech, I wonder where they came from, making his way over there Shawn would stand on the opposite side of the man and also show his letter before saying, "I'm from Squad 11 of the Gotei Thirteen, we have answered your summons."

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}Strength - 100 Points (-50%=50)



Speed - 100 Points (-50%=50)



Spiritual Pressure - 50 Points



Reiatsu Strength - 115 Points



Light Aura - 100 Points



Dark Aura - 0 Points



Instinct - 100 Points (-50%=50)



Senses - 75 Points (-50%=37.5)



Energy Sensory - 0 Points (-50%=0)



Healing Expertise - 0 Points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Skills}Analyzing: 1



Calm Mind: 1



Learning: 1



Strength of Will: 1



Battle Focus: 1



Martial Arts- Kyusho Jitsu: 1



Battle Analysis: 1



Mental Incantation: 1



Weapon- Jian Sword: 1

[Irina Davayte]

Leaning forward in her desk chair, Irina flipped through the crime scene photos, eyebrows furrowed and holding them a little bit oddly far from her face, as if they were too gross to look at. As someone who, frankly, didn't even like horror movies, and preferred to see people with their organs firmly inside of their bodies, this wasn't something she wanted to devote her mind to. Putting the photos aside, Irina put her reading glasses on and read the letter one more time, back at a regular distance from her face because of the spectacles. The young engineer's mind buzzed with questions.

Daily murders across the world, hmm? She'd love to get a hold of the data on where those were taking place. Were the consecutive days' geographically close enough together to have been carried out by an individual human or two, or were they far enough apart to require a larger organization or some supernatural transportation? And it sounded like time was passing abnormally quickly or slowly in the areas in question. She supposed it must be more complicated than that; if it were just that time was accelerated, they would have said that. Whoever "they" were. What was The Shade Group, anyway? Was she supposed to have heard of that? She'd try Googling it to see if she came up with anything. Every major organization had been informed? Well, that could be... interesting. Hopefully it was just the peaceful ones. Although, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure she actually knew any truly peaceful organizations.

Cash, they don't want to be tracked, blah blah blah. Danger, proportional reward, blah blah blah. Although she'd promised herself not to pick up any more projects before her final exams for graduate school this semester, Irina had already made up her mind. She was a sucker for a request for help, and anyway, if she didn't pursue this, she'd probably die of curiosity, and that wouldn't do. Anyway, it seemed like whatever was going down was based in Karakura, so she was already practically there. A shopping center sounded like an odd place for a meeting, but nonetheless, she'd show up as requested, wearing a t-shirt with jeans and a ball cap, which she supposed was a good enough outfit to blend in. Although, apparently blending in wasn't the goal, she'd think to herself as, two weeks later, she scanned the area for a man in a silver tuxedo as instructed. She'd arrived early, as she usually tried to do, and bought a few slices of pizza to eat while she waited.

[William O, Creed]

Was there ever really a chance that one day all the pain inflicted onto others was just going to be settled? William had the thought as he walked through Karakura, his pseudo new home. He’d received the letter two days ago giving him details about killings that were spread out across the entirety of the human world. At first ther only thing that William had to ponder was how he hadn’t noticed this trend if the letter was legit, now though after doing his own research and finding that everything checked out, the only question he had to ask was how he could put an end to it all. He knew the dangers of the spiritual community inflicting harm on the standard human and others that were blind to the other side of the mirror. Protecting them and putting an end to the spiritual dangers was exactly what he had been raised to do, what he’d been doing his entire life, so accepting this job was a no brainer. “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” William spoke to himself as he neared the meeting place that had been given in the letter. It was a nice phrase, but William knew more times than naught he never charged anyone for being saved.

Money was no issue for him right now though, still the additional funds would be a pleasant addition. William could feel the tension in his shoulders knowing that he was taking a risk by even showing up. Not due to the nature of the assignment, but because of the group that had issued the letter. This Shade Group, something that William knew nothing of and couldn’t find anything about despite his skill at research. Working for an unknown client wasn’t something he liked. It led to an unreasonable amount of potential issues that made jobs far more difficult. This was different though, it wasn’t some random Hollow that was going around town devouring the poor every few days. Whatever this was could traverse the entire planet and was killing everyday in some sort of important time frame. Something potentially big was going down which meant it had to be stopped.

Getting to the shopping district didn’t take long as William stayed the night in a motel not far away. His small apartment in Tokyo being roughly two hours away wasn’t something he wanted to deal with knowing what he was walking into right now. His position as an officer in Tokyo was fine, thanks to the dumb luck that this was occuring on one of his days off. He could just hope to finish this fast enough that he wouldn’t get into hot water with his Captain. His equipment was secure, hidden while he found the individual in the silver suit and began to walk over towards them. On the way over though William noticed quite a few individuals, Shinigami, Quincy and even a familiar face, Irina. “Seems one hired gun isn’t enough.”

[Sieglinde P. Krantz]

As each individual guest began to arrive, the man in question dressed almost entirely in silver let a somewhat noticeable smirk rise to his face. He placed his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket, and kept his posture held tall as two members of the now-gathered group had decided to show their affiliations. "I'm glad to see that a rather nice handful of folks decided to take up this mission for us. Truth be told, jobs like these are usually the kind we like to handle off-the-radar. We don't like to get... outsiders involved with issues pertaining to the flow of time. That said, we've our hands tied regarding all of this; someone seems to think they're too clever to be caught by us."

Pulling his hands out of his pockets, the silver-clad man pulled out six different sets of index cards; each set bound by a rubber band that looked so very close to snapping. He passed out one of these sets to each party involved, and then proceeded to take the band off of one for himself. Tucking the rubber band back in his pocket, he began to flip through the stack of a hundred or so different index cards, each one with a different address, phone number, and lattitude/longitude pair. "Written down here you'll find a pretty comprehensive list of different locations that The Shade Group have scattered across the globe. Generally speaking, there should be a location within a day or two's travel depending on where in the world you lot may decide to touch down. With that out of the way, if you could all flip to the last card."

Following in suit and moving the backmost card to the front of the stack, the man began to read off what had been written down for everyone involved to see as well; "Northern Hemisphere, Eastern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, Western Hemisphere. Noon. Midnight. Morning. Noon. Morning. I'm sure all of you could probably piece this together yourselves, but these are the patterns we've managed to identify in terms of where these killings are taking place with each passing day. The first list is location-based, with the second being time-based; as you could expect, most of these attacks are either in North Asian territory, or one of a few South American countries. It's safe to say that no location is truly 'safe', but there have been a high concentration of victims from those generalized areas. Similarly, most of these attacks have occurred between the hours of 8AM to 3PM latest in their respective time-zones. We haven't had one today yet, but yesterday's attack happened in Santiago, Chile, at about 1AM. The one before that was in Orania, South Africa at 12:23PM sharp. We suspect this to already be part of the pattern aforementioned, but this operation is growing far too costly for us to keep sending our men into these countries only for these platoons to return decimated not long after."

Opening up his suit jacket this time, the man reached into a small pocket right underneath his left sleeve, and pulled out five small watch-like items, each one adorned in black and light gray, with a logo underneath the face that closely resembled a skull masked by smoke. He tossed one to each of the five currently there, and buttoned back up his suit. "Simply as a thanks for taking up this job, The Shade Group has provided each of you with smart devices used by our company in order to assist all of you with information gathering, as well as communication. By simply speaking into the face of the watch, you'll be able to get in contact with us nigh-instantly via a line that's open 24/7 specifically for the five of you. If need be, we'll keep track of any discoveries you lot might come across, and should you decide to split, we can even get you in touch with one another no matter where you might be. Simply put, Verizon doesn't have shit on us." With that, he chuckled to himself. "With that said, you're all free to begin your investigation wherever you might like; we're leaving this entirely in your hands. If there's any other information that hasn't been provided about the case you'd like to get your hands on, don't hesitate to get in contact with us; if we have it, we'll share it. If not, then I wish you all a happy hunting, and may everything turn out in the favor of all of you."

[Ailene Haschiro]

Ailene, being the first to arrive, bore witness to each of the other participants who she would be working with. First among them was what appeared to be a young man. Blonde hair, seemingly frail and a nasty scar running across his face. While she stayed silent, she was immediately intrigued as she heard Shawn speak. "I'm from Squad 11 of the Gotei Thirteen, we have answered your summons." The Espada stood, unfazed though her mind was racing. She would be working together with a Shinigami. This would certainly be a fascinating experience. She was no stranger to working together with Shinigami though it truly depended on how cooperative he and the others would be.

As the other two trickled in, Ailene give them a probing look. She tried to get all she could out of a first glance. They did not wear Shihakushos like Shinigami nor did they wear robes like her own. Naturally if another Espada participated, Ailene likely be in the know about it. Ailene would need to certainly be diplomatic with these individuals though despite that understanding, one thing was for sure. She was here on behalf of Lord Kouhai. If this group proved to be useful for Hueco Mundo, Ailene would need to interact with them and see what their asking price was. She hated to be so deceptive or to have ulterior motives, but then again who was to say that the Soul Society did not have their own reasons either.

As each member of this investigation congregated around their informant, Ailene would listen with a calm intensity. "I'm glad to see that a rather nice handful of folks decided to take up this mission for us. Truth be told, jobs like these are usually the kind we like to handle off-the-radar. We don't like to get... outsiders involved with issues pertaining to the flow of time. That said, we've our hands tied regarding all of this; someone seems to think they're too clever to be caught by us." She chuckled a little. It seems this little group had bitten off more than they could chew and they needed the help of others to stop this malevolent group of assassins and thugs. Oh how Ailene hated thugs. 

As each one of them received the index cards that were all neatly packed, Ailene couldn't help, but appreciate the tidiness of this whole operation. She was a scholar after all. Her life was spent in books, charts and tables of information. To have it all laid out like this was impressive. As he delved into the depths of these attacks, Ailene tried to focus on these patterns. The hemispheric patterns were simple enough, but at first she was not sure if there was any rhyme or reason to the pattern relevant to time. She would continue to listen to the last known attacks. "Most of these attacks have occurred between the hours of 8AM to 3PM latest in their respective time-zones. We haven't had one today yet, but yesterday's attack happened in Santiago, Chile, at about 1AM. The one before that was in Orania, South Africa at 12:23PM sharp. We suspect this to already be part of the pattern aforementioned, but this operation is growing far too costly for us to keep sending our men into these countries only for these platoons to return decimated not long after."

The Espada tried to piece everything together as best as she could. She had impressive analytical skills and hopefully these would prove useful to her for this operation. She began to mutter to herself as he continued. "Chile...then South Africa. Around Midnight...then noon. East..then South. So next must be..." Ailene held off on it for now. She needed to verify all this using tools. A map for starters. Thankfully they were in the shopping district. A map would likely be easier to find. As the informant went into detail about the devices that they were given, Ailene chuckled. What nifty piece of equipment. Back in her time, letters on horseback were the only effective ways of relaying adequate amounts of information. 

Regardless she would nod in appreciation as he turned the investigation over to them. With that she would turn to each of her compatriots. With one more scan of her eyes she would smile. With a polite bow, she looked to honor each of them. Ailene would speak in calming tone. "Well, I suppose that before we continue, we should know who we all are. The greatest teamwork is built on trust and as a show of good faith.." Ailene paused as she lowered her hood. Revealing a bone-like fragment stretching across her forehead, the Arrancar smiled. Offering another bow she would continue. "Pleased to meet you. Ailene Haschiro. One of Lord Kouhai's chosen. Septima Espada." 

Was it risky to reveal herself like this? Sure. But like she said, she truly did believe in building trust and secrets would help none of them. Regardless Ailene was prepared for the risks of facing stigma. Assuming each one of them introduced themselves, Ailene would propose the first piece of deduction. "So then. As for where we are to be headed. It's been a while since I have looked at modern geography, but if my skills don't fail me then the pattern would put the next attack on Western Hemisphere. As for time, I would believe it to be in the morning. If any of you have another hypothesis, I would be very receptive to hearing it. Additionally, I believe that we should verify via map." Ailene smiled at each of them as she wanted to stimulate conversation to analyze the information that they had. Assuming that any jabs were made at her being an Arrancar, Ailene would likely choose to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. 

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn was the second to arrive and therefore was there when more people showed up clearly wanting to take part in the mission ahead. After a short wait the man in the silver tux decided it was time to fill them in on what they are here for. "I'm glad to see that a rather nice handful of folks decided to take up this mission for us. Truth be told, jobs like these are usually the kind we like to handle off-the-radar. We don't like to get... outsiders involved with issues pertaining to the flow of time. That said, we've our hands tied regarding all of this; someone seems to think they're too clever to be caught by us." He spoke as if this was just any other normal day, no urgency in his voice and what was in his voice was nothing but calm.



There are some pieces of information here I should probably remember in case something pops up in the future, like the fact he called all of us outsiders and they don't like allowing others involved with issues dealing with the flow of time? That's definitely something to keep in mind. The other bit I should probably keep in mind is the fact he stated they have been running into trouble and can't seem to deal with this problem themselves, this is very concerning considering the fact they deal with time related stuff. Shawn was going over this in his mind when the man handed them all a set of index cards with information they would need for this job, he then asked if everyone could flip to the last card.



Listening to the man, Shawn would then flip through the cards until it landed on the last one, this card held locations including hemisphere's as well as time's for when the actual murder took place. The man read the information listed, "It's safe to say that no location is truly 'safe', but there has been a high concentration of victims from those generalized areas. Similarly, most of these attacks have occurred between the hours of 8AM to 3PM latest in their respective time-zones. We haven't had one today yet, but yesterday's attack happened in Santiago, Chile, at about 1AM. The one before that was in Orania, South Africa at 12:23PM sharp. We suspect this to already be part of the pattern aforementioned, but this operation is growing far too costly for us to keep sending our men into these countries only for these platoons to return decimated not long after." Finishing up the man reached into a hidden pocket under his left sleeve, pulling out what looked to be wristwatches of some sort.



When Shawn was handed this device he was utterly perplexed, up until this point an Ipod is the most advanced piece of technology he has ever used. Listening to the man go into detail of what this watch thing could do there was only one question on his mind, What the crap is Verison? Trying to wrap his head around the new device he almost didn't notice one of the people who he would be working with begin speaking. The one speaking was a woman and she was talking about how knowing who each other was and how teamwork is built on trust, pausing she would pull back her hood revealing a mask fragment. Oh, an Arrancar, this will be interesting, hope she isn’t like the ones I keep hearing stories about. She then finishes her introduction, "Pleased to meet you. Ailene Haschiro. One of Lord Kouhai's chosen. Septima Espada."



It took Shawn a minute to process what he just heard, Wait, did she just say Septima Espada!?. It would be wrong if nobody else introduced themselves; That and what she said holds truth, so in the end he decides to make his own introduction, “Shawn Rabuburedo, Squad 11 officer of the Gotei Thirteen, Glad to meet you all.” With that he would listen if anyone else decided to chime in about who they are and what organization they might be part of, taking down notes in his mind.



With all of that out of the way the time for forming a plan comes, and Ailene seems to jump in to start it off. Talking about how it’s been some time since she last looked at modern geography she suggests the next attack might happen somewhere in the western hemisphere. She also believes the attack may take place during the morning and that is something Shawn could agree with. Now it’s time for him to speak up, “While I can’t say anything about the next geographical location, I can agree to your assumption of them attacking during the morning this time due to the information we have received.” Now it’s time to see what everyone else thinks, and who knows, maybe they might choose a place to start at.

[Irina Davayte]

Irina finished her pizza, carefully putting her garbage in a bin before joining the rest of the odd group. She smiled crookedly, as if she was trying to be serious but couldn't quite resist, in response to William's greeting. "Apparently not. Wonder what we've gotten ourselves into?" Even if they split up in this mission, it was reassuring to have someone she actually knew in the group. Their apparent leader began to explain the plan. She accepted the bundle of index cards, thinking that it'd be more stable to keep these together with a book ring. She'd attach them that way later. Couldn't have anything falling out or getting out of order, she figured.

She hesitantly accepted the watch/tracking device, making a mental note to ditch that thing the second she was done with this mission. Not only had smoky skulls never been a part of her style, but also, she wasn't convinced they were the kind of people she wanted tracking her. Although...it seemed that this group might be able to track her down just fine without it if they wanted to. She turned to Ailene, who spoke first.

When Ailene revealed the partial mask on her face, Irina intentionally played it cool, reacting neither to it nor her introduction as a member of the Espada with anything but a nod of greeting. Ailene had a calm enough demeanor, and she didn't feel unsafe. (Although, as always, she'd keep her eyes and ears open as she worked with this odd group.) Sure, she was pretty sure that, not long ago, Luca had gotten into a scrape with some Espada or other, but if she had to hazard a guess, she'd say he probably went looking for that fight. Shawn introduced himself as a somewhat low-ranking Shinigami officer, and she nodded with a small smile to him as well. It was her turn, she supposed. But how to introduce herself?

"My name is Irina Davayte," she said in her usual Russian accent, softened from years of living in Karakura, but still distinctly Russian. "I'm mostly an engineer, but I'm also the head of the Spiritual Emergency team at Uzaki Enterprises," she said, deciding to not oversell her skills. Naturally, she had let Kazura know that she was taking on this request for help before she'd left. Since UE had been contacted for this matter, not Irina herself, it seemed only expected. She'd refrain from indicating that she knew William, leaving that up to him.

Analytically-minded, Irina liked the map idea, and, unaware of Ailene's thought to get a physical copy, she took her laptop out of her backpack, beginning a spreadsheet of the locations and times indicated on the left side of her screen and a map on the right side. "So, a column for address, city, providence/state, country, hemisphere. Then for time on a 24-hour clock and one for time of day?" She'd type as she spoke, putting the first few data points from the index cards into the document. It seemed intuitively obvious to her that it would be easiest to handle the data this way, which would allow them to manually sort data by date, location, or whichever category they wanted.

Their location, a mall of all places, seemed to be terribly unsecure, but she went with it: if whomever was in charge thought it was an inconspicuous-enough place to meet, she supposed it was good enough for her. Not yet finished with it, she pressed the "share" button on the spreadsheet, then hesitated before asking how to add the recipients. "Do you all have email?" She addressed them equally to be diplomatic, but Irina was uncertain about whether the Shinigami and Arrancar could be contacted this way.